Ceramic and Plaster BW Workshop

I signed up to a series of 3D twilight session workshops that have been offered this term as a way of expanding my professional practice beyond just digital understandings. I asked for there to be a way of being inducted into other workshops in my pastoral with Orlando at the start of the year therefore when they were offered I was very excited.

This workshop is about latex, jesmonite, plaster, clay and reliefs.
Notes:
board
cloth
and rolling out pin
lump of clay and roll it out onto the cloth on the board but keep it thick to create a relief texture
whatever you print onto the clay(the negative) will come out inverted in the latex then when plaster is painted onto the latexit will come out in the correct way.but lettering should be printed backwards - letters backward and words backwards * just like letterpress process
undercut- creating a curve so that the latex is not stuck underneath. smooth it out to stop something being stuck under the gap
then grab a knife to cut off the excess (the tile doesnt have to be square it can be any shape) then use the excess to build the walls. roll out the walls - want it to be about an inch thick as it needs to withstand the weight of the plaster
the walls have to be pressed hard against the tile to make sure the latex doesnt steep out
clay is free to use in this room versus the ceramics room because its recycled (mold making clay not for the kiln)
better to roll out clay on cloth because itll stick to the board
can create texture on the side of the walls
can use vac form to create mold - plastic can be used but nothing absorbent e.g wood unless glazed so that there are no absorbent material appeared
jesmonite - sets like plastic can be polished and shiny
plaster - really cheap can be experimented with
375/70 grams of plaster in one bucket
half a pint of water in another
using warm water will help speed up the reaction
mix all the powder in at the same time abd let it settle in then using hand to mix it together until its smooth - if theres lumps squeeze it through your fingers
tap bucket after mixing to bring bubbles to surface then smooth it out

jesmonite
need to wear gloves
mix the powder not with water

Steps:

Get a board and place a cloth on it to prevent clay for sticking. Get a slab of clay and then roll it out but keep it a few inches thick, especially when embossing.

Use tools or even your fingers to dent the clay, or add shapes of clay onto the base layer. Make sure to smooth the join out to avoid it making the mould difficult to take out. When embossing, the outcome will be protruding. When debossing, the outcome will be intruding.

 Slice the base clay into a clean rectangle, or any shape as long as it's easy to build walls around.

Build walls with clay that are sturdy enough to withstand the plaster or jesmonite, and the height needs to be as high as you want the mould depth. It needs to be higher than anything protruding unless you want to create holes.

Mix the plaster or jesmonite in accordance to the ratios on the sheet. Always tap the bucket against the table to get rid of air bubbles unless you purposely want a bubbly effect.

My outcomes - I aimed to make a tray inspired my my favourite ceramics artist, and also explore functionality. I already saw issues in the levelling of the protruding clay. I also indented a floral shape to explore natural forms.

 Always wear a dust mask and gloves when mixing.

 Can create a marbling effect by pouring a colour into another and swirling. Note* Jesmonite isn't completely white. If you want it white - need to mix white pigment.

For my jesmonite, I mixed a white pigment with a navy/purple pigment and for my marbling effect I wanted it to be large and organic therefore I just poured it in. The plaster outcome, we began exploring using latex to create a mould that can just be reused.

 Final Outcomes:

Due to time limitations and skillset, the tray wasn't as successful but still provides me with a starting point for my own practice, especially with my personal branding studio practice. The hole that I thought would happen did, and the issues I had with measuring the amount of jesmonite I needed meant that the navy didn't penetrate. Next time I will use a wooden stick to ensure it's sunk to the bottom of the mould.

The plaster was a much easier mould, and the latex was quite sturdy even though I only used on layer. I will continue to explore this method for reusable mould making, and build a sturdier latex mould.