Thursday, October 4, 2012

Mishima in a Sling Mold

Mishima, misleadingly named for a Japanese city from which it did not originate, is a method of inlaying slip, engobe, or soft contrasting clay into carved or impressed texture. As I'm still having fun with my homemade texture roller, I decided to try some mishima decorating with my Monday-funday Handbuilding class. It worked so well I reprised the demo for the Tuesday Afternoon Delights and the Tuesday Awesomeness gang.

It was a sort of two-fold demo: I started by making an ad hoc mold from a rubbermaid bin and an old sheet. This is great if you want to build a larger platter or shallow bowl than you have a mold for; any container can become a sling mold. I just lay the sheet over the top, then tie a rope or bungee cords around the bin to hold it in place.The device looks a bit like a bassinet, when the sheet is secured in place. You can adjust the curve to be deeper or more shallow.

I rolled out a relatively thick slab - 1/4 inch or thereabouts. I then used the handy-dandy hot-glue texture roller that I made a couple of days ago in my home studio to impress a texture, before laying the slab in the mold. I trimmed the edges, and then lightly paddled the edges to compress.

I left it alone for a couple hours, hoping it would firm up some, but it really didn't; it was raining outside and quite cool in the studio, and of course the bin was plastic. I decided to go ahead with the mishima so the class could see the technique, even if it was less than ideal; but actually it worked just fine even on wet clay.


I spread thick slip from the sides of the bucket over the surface of the platter, then used a rubber rib to remove most of the slip, leaving behind whatever had sunk into the texture.
After letting the piece dry for a few more hours, I added a rim, made of flattened and stretched coils. Once it was leatherhard enough to move without distortion, I threw a foot - basically just a cylinder with no bottom, which I altered to be a loose rectangle - and attached it by laying the platter on top of it, while the foot ring was still quite wet. 
I ended up altering the foot much more than it appears at the top of this post, because the foot seemed so...static - in contrast to the loose, dynamic rim. (This is a constant issue when combining thrown and handbuilt elements.)


This piece will not be dry enough for the next bisque, but will make it into the one after that; I expect it to be finished around the end of this month.If it comes out especially well, I'll list it in the Pottery Shop!

7 comments:

Barbara Rogers said...

Goodie goodie, something else I want to try!

Sue Pariseau Pottery said...

Love the white and dark clay contrasts. Can't wait to see how it looks after it's done.

P MacGillivray said...

I was searching for an old picture frame. Thanks for the idea to use a Rubbermaid tub.

Michelle in Saskatoon said...

good idea, i like the part about the bungee cord to keep the sheet in place, also, the trown foot is really nice, that tray will be a great centrepiece,

Quietly Otaku said...

Great technique! I like how this would pick up detail in the pattern with another colour. Id love to see this when your done.

thegaylery said...

You inspired me to try a similar piece (without the inlay)! It just came out of the bisque fire and I will glaze fire soon. If I'm happy with the results I would like to post it on my blog. I would give you credit of course. Would that be alright?

Lori Watts said...

Hi, thegaylery -
I'm so glad you decided to try it!! It's SO okay with me if you post it. If you mention me, that's great but I should admit that I didn't invent the technique - I don't remember who showed me, but somebody did, probably 20 years ago or more. I hope you have spectacular results & I look forward to seeing them!