Ceramic flower for fragrance diffusers

[Maureen Remerant]

Hi Everyone,

I am new here and to pottery. Having been made redundant recently due to the covid. I want to start doing some pottery, modelling.

My project is making flowers for home fragrance diffuser. Here are my questions:

I am going to use bone china for this project:  Do you think is it a good clay for my project

If so, what is the programme to fire my flowers at for them to become a bisque?, for them to be hard ceramic but still porous for the fragrance to travel through?

I thank everyone in advance for their help and sharing your great expertises

Maureen

[Sorcery]

I would use a low fire clay to save mad loot on firing costs.

There are many "flowers" though.

Some 2d, some highly intracate.

I guess that matters too.

 

Sorce

[oldlady]

maureen. welcome to the forum.

it sounds as though you have never worked with clay before in a classroom or any structured way.   if so, i would recommend that you find some written basic information on using clay.  i assume from your language that you are in the UK so i would not know the names of any books, textbooks are what i am thinking of, that you might find in your local library.   starting with a textbook will allow you to learn the vocabulary and the meaning of words you might hear on the forum that have a different meaning when used by potters.

how did you decide on bone china clay?   that is a term unfamiliar to me.   potters refer to clay types by cone number,  the time and temperature of firing those clays to maturity, their densest state after firing.   for your purpose, almost any clay will work once it is fired to its bisque temperature so what you use will depend on your preference for clay color and other factors.

posting your location would help those members who live in your country know what suppliers might be nearby.

[PeterH]

First, a reference to making flowers out of bone china, with some videos:
https://www.cazamic.com/ceramic-flower-making/
Bone china clay is the best flower making clay if want crack free beautiful delicate clay flowers. They will need to be fired to 1230c.

Now I certainly don't think you want to fire your ware to maturity as she does, as it will be completely non-porous. Although (as you say it)  could fire it to a lower temperature which leaves it sufficiently porous, which may require some experimentation. [For anything other than bone china this would be somewhere around the manufacturers recommended bisque temperature.  However for bone china the first (bisque) firing traditionally takes the body to maturity (often requiring supports to prevent sagging), and the glaze firing is at a lower temperature.to suit the glaze. ]

At this point I was expected to be saying something like: but there are better more plastic clays about ... But that doesn't seem to be the view of the author of the previous reference:
Below are videos of me making bone china flowers at Coalport China Museum in Shropshire.  If you really want to become an expert in flower making you should start with bone china.  Bone china is the softest and most difficult clay to sculpt with.  However for flowers its the easiest medium to use.  However you can only make small to palm sized flowers.  But if you learn with bone china, you will learn tricks and techniques which are paramount for the success of crack free flowers in any clay medium.

Which can of course be read in two ways. Either bone china is the best medium for beginners to use, or once you can manage bone china all other clays will seem easy afterwards. 

PS Some eye-candy at
https://www.pinterest.com/lisamagnanocrai/ceramic-flowers/
https://www.pinterest.ie/ceramicforms/ceramic-flower-power/
https://www.pinterest.com/camillalyle/clay-flowers/
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/195906652514154982/