Here are some examples of how the Olmec influenced my work this past month. These pieces have coated with terra sigillata and then fired to cone 04 and then pit fired.
Here is a recipe for Terra Sigillata from Clay Arts Utah: http://clayarts.websitetoolbox.com/post/easy-terra-sigillata-recipe-1507600
Here is a recipe for Terra Sigillata from Clay Arts Utah: http://clayarts.websitetoolbox.com/post/easy-terra-sigillata-recipe-1507600
Recipe for Terra Sigillata
- 10 lbs. dry powdered ball clay (although you can use any
dry clay).
- approximately 14 quarts water. Ideally use distilled or
filtered water but water out of the tap is fine.
- 1/2 oz. soda ash and 1/2 oz. sodium silicate. Both of
these ingredients are very inexpensive but you can substitute 1 oz. Calgon.
Sodium silicate comes as a liquid but you weigh the liquid the same as you
would a powder.
Use a 10 gallon bucket for mixing. Dissolve the
deflocculants (soda ash and sodium silicate) in one cup on hot water. Once
dissolved, mix into 14 quarts water and then mix in the clay. Mix using your
hand or some type of mixer. If you have a hydrometer it should read about 1.15
specific gravity after it is mixed. Once mixed, put the mixture on a table and
leave UNDISTURBED for 20 hours.
After the 20 hours the larger heavier particles have settled
to the bottom of the bucket. The terra sigillata is the uppermost, thinnest
liquid in the bucket. Use a flexible clear plastic hose to siphon off the thin
liquid into another bucket. Make sure you don't agitate the mixture or move the
container at any time during the process. Siphon from the top of the bucket and
not the bottom. Try to keep the siphon hose tip barely immersed in the mixture
- this makes it easier to tell when you begin to reach the thicker material. As
soon as you start reaching the thicker material, STOP siphoning. You should
have approximately 11-12 quarts of terra sigillata. The thicker material left
remaining in the bucket should be thrown away.
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