Wednesday, March 09, 2016

Using sprigs on your pottery

Several of our potters use sprigs to decorate their work.

What is a sprig?

Ceramic Art Lesson Plan: Making Sprigs  From Ceramics Arts Daily 

Sprig molds provide a great way to decorate your work.

Made from fossils, shells, found objects, or by carving into clay, there’s no limit to the variety. Sprig molds provide a great way to decorate your work. Made from fossils, shells, found objects, or by carving into clay, there’s no limit to the variety.


Terms

Sprig: press-molded clay piece added to leather-hard work. Sprigs are created using small molds made of bisque-fired clay or plaster.

Press mold: a mold, usually plaster, into which moist clay is pressed to create multiples.

Undercut: common flaw in plaster or bisque molds, where the clay or casting catches and will not pull free without breaking or distorting. To judge whether a mold of an object will have undercuts, look at the object from above, and slowly move your fingertip from the top of the piece down the side. If at any point the tip of your finger is hidden by the piece, that spot would translate into an undercut in a mold because the object goes from wider to narrower. When cast in plaster, the opening on the mold would conform to the narrower section, making it impossible to remove the form in one piece. Objects with undercuts require multiple-part molds and are not suitable for sprig molds.

One of our best examples of using sprigs on pottery at Carolina Creations is the work we have by Charlestowne Pottery.


The Process
Begin by using the finest grain clay you have. While porcelain is best, I used fine-grain white stoneware with good results.

Another example at Carolina Creations is pieces by Jeffcoat Pottery.

Sprigs will work best when the piece and the sprigged form are made from the same clay, and when attached at the soft leather hard stage of drying.

Note: Sprigs can be used in several ways.

They’ve been used as feet and in a surface decoration.


On a bottle sprigs form the handles and glazing highlights a sprig decoration on the side.


Here is a mold for making sprig handles. The beauty of using sprig handles is that you can get a more consistent size for your handles.

Even our potters that have been working at their craft for years can learn new techniques!

See more examples of the fabulous pottery we have at Carolina Creations by clicking here.


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