Hello all! I've talked a little about the cracked surface pottery I've been making and figured I would share some info with you and some in-progress photos of the pieces I have drying now.
The cracked surface effect is created by brushing a chemical onto the surface of your wet clay called sodium silicate. Sodium silicate is the common name for a compound sodium metasilicate, and is also referred to as liquid glass. It's commonly used in ceramics as a deflocculant in slip preparation, when brushed onto pottery on the wheel, it creates a hard layer of clay on the outside while leaving the inside clay moist.
After I brush the sodium silicate onto the piece, I let mine sit for 20 minutes. The longer you let it sit, the longer the clay will absorb the s.s and the more cracks you'll get.
Before I stretch the clay, I like to add a texture/detail or underglazes that will make my pieces pop! Then it's just time to stretch the clay and see the results!
Lately, now that I've been getting more comfortable with the technique, I've been adding more colors into the pots. I love the blending that happens where the two colors converge on the piece, and when I stretch upwards they pull and morph into new colors.
And the best part is I have so many options to explore. How will glazes look on the pieces? How many combos can I find? Endless discoveries, that's one of my favorite things about art! Hope to share more with you soon, if you'd like to learn more about throwing cracked surface pottery I have some videos here on my site, as well as on my YouTube channel. that you can check out to see the process. Until next time, thank you so much for the support and I hope you're staying happy & healthy!