Thursday, July 26, 2012

Terra Sigillata

This is my first attempt at making terra sigillata. I want to make more pit-fired pots as well as do some horse-hair pieces and I have found out that I DO NOT like burnishing my pots with a spoon, marble or whatever. It is too time consuming and very boring.
Anyway I found this terra sig recipe on the internet, http://ceramicartsdaily.org/pottery-making-techniques/ceramic-decorating-techniques/terra-sigillata-101-how-to-make-apply-and-troubleshoot-terra-sig/.
I wrote it down on the 5-gallon jug and decided to try this one recipe in particular because I had the materials on hand. I wasn't sure about sodium silicate I used because it was several years old and took a lot of shaking and stirring to get it uniform again. I don't know. Can Sodium Silicate go bad? It also took 4 days for the terra sig to settle to the point where I siphoned 2 gallons from the 5-gallon container.
I haven't used it yet but hope to make some pots this weekend and give it a try.