Hyn Patty

A while back I mentioned on my Workshops Facebook group that my large Skutt kiln cost a small fortune in electricity to fire and that a newer kiln wouldn't have that issue.  Which turns out to be true - in a simplified way.   A long firing using my Skutt after 20 years was taking too long and eating a lot of power.   It might run me $50 in electricity to do a single long, slow firing and that's nuts. I had no idea until my husband commented on how much our power bill had jumped up when I started using that kiln again.   But for a while I had used this kiln so little until the past year that I forgot how long the firing schedule should have been.

While firing a Cybis 'Nashua' I've been working on for a while, one evening my kiln finally threw an error code and aborted the firing.  Thankfully my client's Cybis wasn't ruined.  It merely didn't fire up to temperature.  Either one of my kiln elements had blown or my thermocouple had gone bad.  Testing was in order.  A simple multimeter (while the power was disconnected) showed me a LOT of resistance in the elements that still worked.  I then ordered new elements for my Skutt and they arrived yesterday!  Mind you, BOTH of my kilns have been used much of the past 20 YEARS and NEVER had anything replaced on them until last year.   My Skutt especially still looks brand new and I try to keep both kilns in top condition, but....  My Olympic suddenly blew a relay last year and that was a wake up call for me!  Now this.

Needless to say I should have replaced the relays and elements YEARS ago.  Expensive as they are I've surely wasted several times the cost in electricity in just the past few years due to having worn out elements and not realizing it.   All my firings have continued to go just fine - I just wasn't keeping a log of how long it took for those firings.  If I had been I'd have seen that my firing times were getting longer and longer over the years.  It did that so slowly I didn't even notice.  I barely even use this large Skutt kiln compared to my little Olympic Doll E so why would I have caught that?  Now I feel stupid for not catching it sooner.
As I am fond of saying, 'No matter how much you think you know about anything, there is ALWAYS more to learn!'  Ceramics is definitely no exception to that rule.  So guess what I am doing today?   Replacing all four elements in my Skutt.  I've got this!  There's a YouTube video for almost anything out there...
 

A while back I mentioned on my Workshops Facebook group that my large Skutt kiln cost a small fortune in electricity to fire and that a newer kiln wouldn't have that issue.  Which turns out to be true - in a simplified way.   A long firing using my Skutt after 20 years was taking too long and eating a lot of power.   It might run me $50 in electricity to do a single long, slow firing and that's nuts. I had no idea until my husband commented on how much our power bill had jumped up when I started using that kiln again.   But for a while I had used this kiln so little until the past year that I forgot how long the firing schedule should have been.

While firing a Cybis 'Nashua' I've been working on for a while, one evening my kiln finally threw an error code and aborted the firing.  Thankfully my client's Cybis wasn't ruined.  It merely didn't fire up to temperature.  Either one of my kiln elements had blown or my thermocouple had gone bad.  Testing was in order.  A simple multimeter (while the power was disconnected) showed me a LOT of resistance in the elements that still worked.  I then ordered new elements for my Skutt and they arrived yesterday!  Mind you, BOTH of my kilns have been used much of the past 20 YEARS and NEVER had anything replaced on them until last year.   My Skutt especially still looks brand new and I try to keep both kilns in top condition, but....  My Olympic suddenly blew a relay last year and that was a wake up call for me!  Now this.

Needless to say I should have replaced the relays and elements YEARS ago.  Expensive as they are I've surely wasted several times the cost in electricity in just the past few years due to having worn out elements and not realizing it.   All my firings have continued to go just fine - I just wasn't keeping a log of how long it took for those firings.  If I had been I'd have seen that my firing times were getting longer and longer over the years.  It did that so slowly I didn't even notice.  I barely even use this large Skutt kiln compared to my little Olympic Doll E so why would I have caught that?  Now I feel stupid for not catching it sooner.
As I am fond of saying, 'No matter how much you think you know about anything, there is ALWAYS more to learn!'  Ceramics is definitely no exception to that rule.  So guess what I am doing today?   Replacing all four elements in my Skutt.  I've got this!  There's a YouTube video for almost anything out there...
 

I feel you.  My now 20 year old Skutt failed to reach temp on a firing for the first time recently and gave me an error code that suggests either the elements or the thermocouple are failing.  Ugh.  With the price of rhodium gone through the roof, that could be costly.  Tbh I haven't replaced ANYTHING on this kiln, or my Olympic, since I got them new 20 years ago with the exception of the relays - and I have used them a lot.   The relays went out on both kilns in the past year so they are brand new.  As much as I have used the heck out of my Olympic Doll E, I have no clue how on earth I haven't had to replace anything else in all these years.  I've just been amazingly lucky, I suppose.  My SKutt however was in storage for about a decade and has been used a great deal less than my little Olympic.
Good news is I found a platinum rhodium replacement thermocouple S out of China that only cost $15 shipped (instead of $400) but I haven't tested it yet.  It is supposed to be good to fire up to cone 16 and since both of my kilns only fire up to cone 10, that would do very well if it works.  I'll be swapping it to test shortly but hadn't gotten around to trying it yet. 
Alas, testing my elements on my big Skutt showed a lot of resistance and one bad element.   No wonder my electric bill has been going higher and higher when using the Skutt.  Thankfully a full set of 4 new elements for my KM1018 have come down in price.  During COVID I had already priced them and they were about $400 USD with shipping.  OUCH.  But now I got them for $253 postage paid.  Whew!  That is a nice surprise.
 

Good to know!  Of course it does depend on what kind of underglaze you are using.  I don't have Amaco Velvets though I keep meaning to get some to try.  I agree, doing tests - that's always wise before you commit to working on an important piece.

I did test tiles of black underglaze with  brighter colors of underglaze over the black.  I was pleasantly surprised to see the bright colors stayed bright.  I thought the black underglaze would "swallow" the  brighter colors.  It did not.  However, black porcelain is different that painting a test tile with black underglaze.  It really will be something you have to test.  I was using Amaco Velvets.  

It depends on the kind of underglaze you use.  If it is a transparent underglaze then no, it won't work.  The black will show through and kill your red.  If that's the only kind of underglaze red you have, first mask it off and apply an opaque white underglaze where you want the red of the lady bug.  Then apply your red over it and it should really pop and stand out nicely.
Conversely, if you have an opaque red underglaze it might work if you layer it up thickly enough.  It will still probably come out a fairly dark red though.  If you want a bright red against the black, do the same as above by laying down an opaque white base where you want the red to be, then layer the opaque red over it.  This is handy though because you can easily make the white variable.  Thicker where you want the brightest areas to pop, and thinner or absent where you want the red darkest for a more 3d lighting effect.  Like laying in primatura for a chiaroscuro effect in an oil painting.
I hope this helps - have fun with it!  Oh, and then  you can always clear glaze just the lady bug part to a high gloss against the matte black porcelain if you want it to really stand out.  I frequently use different sheens in my glazes on the same piece when I work on my equine sculpture.  Maybe a matte base with a satin horse with high glossed eyes and hooves for example.

It depends on the kind of underglaze you use.  If it is a transparent underglaze then no, it won't work.  The black will show through and kill your red.  If that's the only kind of underglaze red you have, first mask it off and apply an opaque white underglaze where you want the red of the lady bug.  Then apply your red over it and it should really pop and stand out nicely.
Conversely, if you have an opaque red underglaze it might work if you layer it up thickly enough.  It will still probably come out a fairly dark red though.  If you want a bright red against the black, do the same as above by laying down an opaque white base where you want the red to be, then layer the opaque red over it.  This is handy though because you can easily make the white variable.  Thicker where you want the brightest areas to pop, and thinner or absent where you want the red darkest for a more 3d lighting effect.  Like laying in primatura for a chiaroscuro effect in an oil painting.
I hope this helps - have fun with it!  Oh, and then  you can always clear glaze just the lady bug part to a high gloss against the matte black porcelain if you want it to really stand out.  I frequently use different sheens in my glazes on the same piece when I work on my equine sculpture.  Maybe a matte base with a satin horse with high glossed eyes and hooves for example.

As an animal sculptor myself, your pieces are beautiful.  Lovely work! 
I agree using a bisque mender (I don't bother adding paper fiber myself) will work great and you can carefully tint it with underglaze or clay to match your original clay.  If the color after firing is off just a touch and bothers you, you can softly apply a little opaque underglaze to the area to blend it in and re-bisque one last time to hide it.  Again matching your colors to your original unglazed piece so it's not visually a problem.   I repair bisques of various kinds this way all of the time, even thin broken legs.  If you are able to rough up the edges of the break the mend will be stronger than just filling in a smooth crack.
If it is at all possible to deal with your thickness issue you should.   Even with hand building you can always start with a wadded up bit of paper as your core for pieces that will be too small to get your fingers into to hollow out properly.  Dry it slowly and the paper will burn out in the first firing.   
May even want to make plaster molds of various parts before assembly so you can slip cast replicas that then you can resculpt anew into individual pieces and save you both some time and cracking, but up  to you.  Good luck with it!

I'd prewash your items by hand before throwing them into the wash or simply hand wash and not use machines at all. 
To remove clay residue from the washer afterwards I'd suggest running empty loads with vinegar added - the same as you would with hard water build up in a dishwasher.   But that won't help if it's in your dryer.  You REALLY do NOT want clay dust in your dryer anyway.  It will throw all that dust up into the air when running a drying cycle and that is a health hazard for everyone involved.
If it's really important to get clay stains out of cloth, use a color safe or regular bleach.  Pretreat the stain as you would blood as mentioned.   But again, that will degrade your cloth items over time with chemical decomposition that will make fibers fade and become brittle.  So probably best to have specific sets of clothes and aprons and rags for working with clay and not worry about stains.

It depends on the kind of underglaze you use.  If it is a transparent underglaze then no, it won't work.  The black will show through and kill your red.  If that's the only kind of underglaze red you have, first mask it off and apply an opaque white underglaze where you want the red of the lady bug.  Then apply your red over it and it should really pop and stand out nicely.
Conversely, if you have an opaque red underglaze it might work if you layer it up thickly enough.  It will still probably come out a fairly dark red though.  If you want a bright red against the black, do the same as above by laying down an opaque white base where you want the red to be, then layer the opaque red over it.  This is handy though because you can easily make the white variable.  Thicker where you want the brightest areas to pop, and thinner or absent where you want the red darkest for a more 3d lighting effect.  Like laying in primatura for a chiaroscuro effect in an oil painting.
I hope this helps - have fun with it!  Oh, and then  you can always clear glaze just the lady bug part to a high gloss against the matte black porcelain if you want it to really stand out.  I frequently use different sheens in my glazes on the same piece when I work on my equine sculpture.  Maybe a matte base with a satin horse with high glossed eyes and hooves for example.

Good info, thank you for sharing.  Being relatively new to over glazes and having found so very little online to assist me, I've had to dive in and simply use trial and error.  I've been doing under glazing for years but the past three years or so I have added china painting and enamels to my work for color adjustments.  I find I'm using it more and more.  But I have had to wing a lot of it and ask my fellow artists directly for tips who have used over glazes longer than I. 
Speaking recently with the owner of one of the two largest china painting companies in the USA, she sadly informed me that sales are way down and she was gladly giving people like me free samples to try.  She predicted that china painting would be a dead art form in the USA within ten years or less.  Our 'Baby Boomers' are dying off and no one is taking their place to continue with over glazes.  Partly due to the fact that the techniques and information to get started is so closely guarded that new painters have a terrible time getting started.  There are some workshops out there and a few books but as mentioned, they are far and few between and pricy.  
I need to make more blog posts of my own on the techniques and materials I am using.  What little I know is still very useful for others to get started with and from there they can at least do a lot of test tiles and forge their own way if need be - as long as we can still get the materials in the coming years.  How I am using china paints however is far from the more usual traditional methods, I imagine.  Not having any instruction in their use I'm finding my own way and what works for me with horse sculpture rather than dishware.

Good info, thank you for sharing.  Being relatively new to over glazes and having found so very little online to assist me, I've had to dive in and simply use trial and error.  I've been doing under glazing for years but the past three years or so I have added china painting and enamels to my work for color adjustments.  I find I'm using it more and more.  But I have had to wing a lot of it and ask my fellow artists directly for tips who have used over glazes longer than I. 
Speaking recently with the owner of one of the two largest china painting companies in the USA, she sadly informed me that sales are way down and she was gladly giving people like me free samples to try.  She predicted that china painting would be a dead art form in the USA within ten years or less.  Our 'Baby Boomers' are dying off and no one is taking their place to continue with over glazes.  Partly due to the fact that the techniques and information to get started is so closely guarded that new painters have a terrible time getting started.  There are some workshops out there and a few books but as mentioned, they are far and few between and pricy.  
I need to make more blog posts of my own on the techniques and materials I am using.  What little I know is still very useful for others to get started with and from there they can at least do a lot of test tiles and forge their own way if need be - as long as we can still get the materials in the coming years.  How I am using china paints however is far from the more usual traditional methods, I imagine.  Not having any instruction in their use I'm finding my own way and what works for me with horse sculpture rather than dishware.

I have been looking at some digital scales and other tools lately, and wondered what others would buy if they had some extra bucks. 
QotW: If I gave you $150 to spend on a tool/tools, what would you buy?
Myself, I figure I'll go for the digital scale. Only have to figure which one!
 
best,
Pres

I have used stencils, and weeds, flowers, branches, artificial plastic greens and stems for spraying with the atomizer in the beginning and then the air gun. I don't worry about over spray as it is about building an image slowly. then I use the same stains and glazes with a brush to bring in more detail to select areas to bring up images that were not there before. Then I use the same to add movement lines and such on the pieces.
 
best,
Pres

Great piece - thanks for posting, Pres. I understand now what you were talking about in building up the surface visually. Really nice!
Also appreciate the info about the useage of latex, Patty. Will avoid it w/ stencils (hadn't considered the possibility/probability of the stencil actually pulling off the drying latex.)
1. I have small disposable foam rollers that should work okay w/ wax on the stencil. Also have a handheld (non-electric) metal spray device to try, though may be problematic to clean. 2. Amaco Underglaze requires less coats than other underglazes, and will likely be my first choice. Since I'm working on fairly flat planes of clay, I think it'll work well enough for stenciling (occasional leakage I can live with).
3. There's always screening too and making my own Underglaze transfer sheets onto rice paper and go from there.
Had read in a post here about spray starch protecting underglaze designs to avoid smudging until object is fired, which has worked for me in some instances.

Lately I have been using the stencils, stamps and branches etc directly on the slab after rolling, actually embedding into the slab a design. In the slab piece here, I used a large slab, decorated completely then cut to slabs for use so the design went around the piece. After bisque, cobalt and iron stains were used under the glaze,  
Glazing was completed using dipping, pouring and atomizing layers of opaque, and transparent glazes to build up the surface.
best,
Pres

Liquid latex does not behave like latex paint.  You could try but I doubt it would work too well.  You will likely only get a one time use of the roller and have to throw it away - unless you are an amazing and super fast scrubber and can get the latex back out of it before it is a  mess.  Soaking it in soap and water afterwards is of limited benefit.  Latex masking fluid, thick or thinned,  is hell to get out of paint brushes unless you soap up the brush bristles first so the latex can't get up into it.   I'm not sure how that would work with a roller but maybe someone else here has experience with that to share.
Also with a plastic stencil, one that can't adhere to the bisque in a thin snug layer, will allow the latex to seep under the edges readily.  Doing some tests is a very good idea.
What you can do is use a wide brush to blot it on or use a sponge you don't mind throwing away after.  Either way you may need to apply multiple layers of latex.  A soaped up brush works well for this and is easy to clean between layers.  I put a heater fan on the masked area to dry it rapidly.  Thin layers don't cover well and are very difficult to find and remove once covered up with underglaze, tinted slip, or glaze.  Thicker, globby built up layers of latex are much easier to find and remove it all afterwards.  Any latex left behind by accident can ruin your final finish in firing depending on what you are masking so you need to find and remove it all.  I tint my own latex with a few drops of food coloring to help me see exactly where I am applying it so it's easier to build up layers without missing spots I already applied in the first layer. 
Keep in mind that the final difficulty of using liquid latex with a stencil is that when you go to peel the stencil off, it will also pull off the latex if it's had any chance to start drying.   You have to work fast and remove any stencil right away after applying that first layer.   Any additional layers of latex would then have to be applied by hand without the stencil still in place.  Generally you use either latex  a or a stencil but not both together.   It definitely complicates things, IMO.  Others here may have more helpful input.
Alternatively, applying wax with a stencil is much easier - again you need the stencil to adhere snugly against the bisque or liquified wax may seep under the edges.  Problem is that you can't remove the wax before firing.  You'll have to burn it off in the kiln.  That works well for some people because the wax itself makes it difficult to adhere layers of tinted slip, underglaze, or glaze over it - it acts as a resist where as latex doesn't.  In my rather precise work it's not good enough and doesn't fire off cleanly.  If you aren't too picky though and do not require precision it can work well,  less troublesome than using latex, but harder to keep everything crisp, clean and sharp in the final fired product.  With wax you'll have no pre-firing control to clean up and fine tune your edges.  So you need that wax application to be as precise as possible from the start.
If you are going for a rustic, variable end result then wax is the way to go. Faster and easier.
Again, others here may have a wider experience in using wax as a masking product and have useful suggestions to help you.

If you use masking fluid or a stencil and do NOT get a nice clean edge, just remember that you can go back in with a craft knife and clean off the underglaze to achieve that crispness and level of detail you want before firing.  You can also re-edge it with a fine brush in the same or another color.  Also with using liquid latex masking you can 'roll' the edges with a fingertip to help shape it after it dries.  
Some people also use painter's or masking tape which they then cut so I see no reason why you can't also use Cricket vinyl, with either a sponge application or airbrushing.  Just be sure to lightly burnish all of your edges of the vinyl against the bisque with your fingernail or bone folder, something, to press it down for a crisp adhesion edge.  That way you could mass produce the same design stencil over and over to fit your needs and clean up any rough edges after it's dry and the stencil has been removed.
Good luck with it!

Depending on how 'clean' you need your edges, or how much time you are willing to put into clean up, and what kind of bisque - some being more slick and others more porous, there are lots of options. 
I mask a lot of my patterns using liquid latex so that I may airbrush on my underglazes, then remove the latex and tidy up edges using an exacto knife.  Or you may want to print up a vinyl adhesive 'sticker' using a Cricut machine so you may reproduce the same pattern over and over and try to press it down to get the crispest possible edges.  That's liable to only work well on vitrified ware that's slick and not porous - but still worth trying on earthenware, etc.   Or you can do as you say and just use paper, cut our your pattern and use spray adhesive or tape to secure it into position and dab your pattern into place using a sponge.  Lots of options but each one is going to give you different results.  Or you can dab on wax, remove the stencil and /then/ apply your glaze or underglaze.  So many options.
Do you have a photo of the sort of effect you are aiming for specifically?  If you can share an image we might be able to make better, more specific suggestions.

You mention a 'picture' image.  Yet another method is to make a silk screen with emulsion to block application areas.  Lay it against your bisqueware and then dab your glaze or underglaze through the cloth 'grid' pattern.  Remove it and simply wash it off, then you can use it over and over just like silk screening T-shirts.  This also allows you the benefit of actually using photo images where you want more 'grey' tone transitions for different values.  Obviously that'll work best with non-flowing underglazes than say with glazes.

Oh, and yet /another/ way is to cut a piece of foam sheet (like neoprene) to shape and use it to 'stamp'  your designs.  WAY back decades ago in Girl Scouts we even sliced up potatoes of all things.  You can cut them like a stencil, then use it like a rubber stamp.  Press it into your pigment and you can use it over and over again to 'stamp' your image onto your ware.  You can leave it rough and primitive or you can go back and clean it up in creative ways afterwards.  So yeah, many, many different options depending on the end result you are shooting for.

Kind words, thank you.  It's taken me most of a life time to get where I am, having started my art studio and equine art in general way back in 1976.  I didn't really start sculpting horses until around 1984, and my first attempts at mold making also in High School, before I went onto the Savannah College of Art & Design where sculpture wasn't available as a major, but I did eat up all the sculpting and mold making classes that were available (only two if I recall back then, alas).  So I have had to learn most of what I know about sculpting and mold making on my own, scouring the internet (once it became available to me in the early 90's) through a great deal of trial and error.  I did however come away from college with both a BFA in Illustration and a MFA in  Painting at least, with double minors in jewelry and art history.  Well worth the effort!

I just checked out your website--amazing work!! I can not even fathom the patience and focus you must have to do such detailed and precise images, whether paintings (love Mac/dog & bear w/water!) or the fine ceramics horses! 

I used an ultra thin jeweler's saw to cut these pieces up.  Now is the finicky part of prep to make sure each piece fits back together as precisely as possible before I proceed.  A good friend reminds me that it is a better idea to take the leap into making a poured rubber mold and casting a rubber master.  A rubber master can be cut up using a sharp blade and therefor suffer no material loss.  It is also much easier to make very precise molds, and make production replacement molds, if you have a rubber master of the sculpture to work from.  This method shown above utilizing a rigid original that is cut up will also work but isn't as practical for production molds where you need to be able to make a lot of casts.
This version of my Porthos isn't the one I really want to be producing.  It is my new Pasture Porthos I really want to get into production.  So this is a screw around project to knock some rust off.   I took a decade off from my studio years ago when I suffered from Lyme Disease and then a bad motorcycle accident that left me unable to walk.   Surgery and lots of PT eventually got me back on my feet but my art studio was closed for a decade because of it.
Even so, I can (and have in the past) made useful molds this way for very small editions on a tight budget.  My Wee Bairn sculpture is a good example of that where I was only aiming for a 10 piece edition. 
Casting rubbers are pretty expensive and you will need a lot to make block molds and pour rubber masters.  Several hundred dollars worth of rubber at a time which is easy to screw up and waste.  So starting out practicing making small, simply shaped rubber masters.  I am currently working on making a rubber master for a medallion to brush up on rubber mold making skills I haven't used in more than a decade.  By comparison, brush on or thinly poured rubbers used to make layer waste molds are far easier to work with - but won't get this kind of work done.

I've refired old and dirty bisques many times before.  Clients send me pieces from all over the world that are decades old and been handled with oily hands, etc.  I refire these clean as a matter of standard procedure before I attempt any glazing so that I know the bisque is super clean before I proceed.  I agree, wash off what you can but if the clay may be porous at all, do NOT SOAK in water.  Water can dissolve salts and calcium out of your clay so merely wash up with a scrubby and a little soap, then rinse.  Set aside to dry.  I use a heater fan to help such pieces dry faster.
If you don't want to wait days to be sure the bisque is dry enough to fire, I go ahead and load it up into the kiln and fire on a low temp pre-soak for a couple of hours  before going ahead with the new bisque firing.   Cooks off any moisture left but do it slowly.  Obviously that is not an issue if the ware is fully vitrified  but I advise it for porous earthenware.
If after firing you are left with any dirty grey ghost marks you may sand the bisque to remove it if the glaze or underglaze you plan to apply isn't opaque enough to conceal it.  Alternatively you can also add a layer of opaque white underglaze and fire that before you proceed with color.