Creating Designs

	Wilson Creek Pottery Functional Stoneware by Peggy Ahlgren
	CREATING DESIGNS
	I use a Japanese paint brush to draw the designs on top of the base coat of glaze. I try to make the designs simple. Each design changes to fit the size and shape of the piece. Every pattern is similar but slightly different.
	Details of the iris and leaf patterns.	Various oxides are used to provide the colors in the patterns. The blues are from cobalt carbonate, a pink powder from Africa. Chromium will fire to green and the browns and greens are created by using different forms of iron, such as red iron oxide, yellow ochre, rutile or black iron oxide.
	Several of the abstract designs are created by allowing hot wax to run on the surface of a bisqued pot before I have put any glaze on it. It is just like waxing your car. The glaze does not adhere to the surface where the pot has been waxed and creates a pattern by simply allowing the fired clay to form the design. Each pot is dipped into a large bucket of glaze twice and then I paint the designs on the surface.

Wilson Creek Pottery
E6101 County Road WC, Spring Green, WI 53588
Open most days from 10-5, but it is always best to call first
and make sure the studio is really open. 608-588-2195
website: www.wilsoncreekpottery.com
email: peggy@wilsoncreekpottery.com