A few weeks ago I threw my largest plate yet on the wheel. It was lovely, and I had plans for it. I painted the middle in a denim blue underglaze and painstakingly carefully freehanded in the filigree.
Alas, something happened between then and when I got the bisqueware out of the kiln – the filigree section was damaged and had a few ‘bald spots’. I decided to try just glazing it blue, hoping that the centre where the underglaze was would turn a deeper blue, and the glaze would pool in the filigree and become black, thus rescuing the design. The plate I got back was just…. blue. Not an even blue, which I would have been content with, but a blue with a few crummy lines in the middle, marking where my design used to be, and to me, obviously looking like a flaw.
I refused to let this plate die – I got out my polymer clays, YouTube and of course, resin.
The plate took about 4 hours to cover completely. I poured the resin over the top of just the clay design, without baking the clay first because I was afraid that shrinkage and curling would ruin the perfect fit on the plate. Here are my results:
The resin cured to a perfect, glassy finish.
I will never put it in the microwave, oven or dishwasher, because I’m honestly not sure what would happen. In fact, it will never be used for food at all, the plate is on display in our home.
I’m sure one day when I actually know what I’m doing with polymer clay this plate will look wonky and asymmetrical, but for now, as rescues go, I’m pretty happy :) It’s also fired up my enthusiasm for polymer clay!