greenware urns

[mnnaj]

Greetings; I am making urns and leaving them in the greenware state to make it easier to degrade. I used 2 different colors of clay.  I was able to trim one before it dried, but the others were left too long.  I tried scraping them, but mostly made dust (I wore a mask and worked outside in the wind).  I am wondering if I could use a oil or wax to bring out the differences in the colors and maybe showcase the differences in color?   What ever needs to be able to degrade with the clay.

Nancy 

Edited May 15, 2022 by mnnaj

[oldlady]

i do not understand the use of the word "degrade" in this instance.  if you mean scraping the surface to sharpen the contrast between the colors, you can test it by very quickly dipping  one of the pots into a bucket of water deep enough to submerge the whole thing.     yes, i know that your first thought is that it will break the pot.   if you use two hands and do it all at once,  the very dry clay will probably suck that first dip immediately.   yes, it will.   than you can cover it in plastic and spray it with clean water after an hour or so.    cover it again until you get it back to the right amount of dampness. 

scrape with a wide metal rib and you should be able to get the result you want.  this is not something to be tackled by a person who is hesitant about using tools this way.   it is probably easier to just make more of them.

[kswan]

What a neat idea! I assume these will be buried which is why you want them to be able to degrade. You could possibly try melted beeswax to coat them? That would certainly biodegrade too. If you have a small piece of that clay leftover, you can use that to try out different things, like maybe vegetable oil too. 

 

[Bill Kielb]

17 hours ago, mnnaj said:

What ever needs to be able to degrade with the clay.

Interesting idea, not for those who want to preserve the ware in memory of though. I would think any form of waterproofing would help preserve and colorize. Vegetable oil or similar should help short term. Since these are not fired they will be fairly fragile. Maybe all remains should be in an appropriate biodegradable bag, just for safety in the event someone bumps one of these.

[mnnaj]

Yes, @kswan & @Bill Kielb, I do want these to break down in nature.  I had thought of beeswax, but not vegetable oil.  I have vegetable oil.  I threw them pretty thick, so I'm not sure how fragile they will be. I'm sure they will chip though.

I will take one of them and do as @oldlady  suggested and try to rehydrate it to scrape off the outer slip and bring out the colors.

One of my husbands friends wants his ashes to be sunk, dropped, submerged in a lake, so that is one of the ideas for this.  Hopefully I will not need to use them soon.  

[oldlady]

thanks for the explanation.

[Callie Beller Diesel]

I have seen another artist do this, and she uses paper clay so that the urn can live on a shelf if the family needs to make further plans, can  get through any transport and the funeral. I’ve seen her do ones with some encaustic beeswax painting, but they’re not her usual.

[Callie Beller Diesel]

2 hours ago, Bill Kielb said:

not for those who want to preserve the ware in memory

No, the idea behind these is green burial, or scattering ashes somewhere permitted by law. Some folks find the idea of returning to the earth  very comforting. 

[mnnaj]

I took a piece of the clay I had left over, and dripped then spread some vegetable oil on half of it.  It looked great - darkened the red clay and made the white pop - then it absorbed into the clay and 1.5 hours later I can hardly tell which half had the oil on it.  The oil also lifted some of the clay particles and made places muddy - because I just had to touch it to spread the oil evenly.

Nancy

[Rae Reich]

Maybe solid vegetable shortening? You could spread it more thickly without disturbing the surface and it might not absorb as thoroughly as oil. 
Wax seems the better choice. Roll the pot, half at a time, in a shallow vessel of melted wax and buff. A thin, quick coat would be best, I think, so you don’t have to scrape a lot of excess to reveal the clay. Wax will, of course, take longer to degrade , but if you don’t coat the inside or bottom it shouldn’t take much longer.

Interested in hearing how your various tests come out. 

[Callie Beller Diesel]

For something that’s going to be as important as a funeral urn, I’d be inclined to remake the piece to make sure you can trim it at the proper stage to bring out the marbling. In this case more than most, craftsmanship matters, even if the piece is meant to be temporary. You don’t want to offer anything less than the best to a grieving family.  Fortunately it sounds like this isn’t urgent.

Secondary thought on wax though: what about wax resist? Same principle that Rae mentioned with the thin application you can buff, but with something that you can thin and apply with a brush. I believe some formulas are soy based.

[mnnaj]

I've got two of the urns in my damp box, I did as @oldladysuggested and dunked them in water, (that was a bit scary) then put them in the box.  I don't have much access to the pottery lab over the summer - it's full of kids programs, so I'll try to slowly rehydrate them. 

I'm thinking once they are hydrated I could burnish them to help make them smooth and give it a bit of a gloss.  Life is an adventure.  It doesn't hurt to try. 

Thanks for the ideas @Rae Reich & @Callie Beller Diesel I had thought of car wax and dismissed it, but wax resist is an idea, especially if it is plant based.

Nancy

[mnnaj]

I've been slowly rehydrating the urns.  I've burnished a couple.  @Callie Beller DieselI think I will remake them, less blocky looking.  But I do like the burnished effect.  This one has burnishing on the left and not yet on the right.  Also on the plus side, they feel smoother and less powdery.

Nancy

[oldlady]

mnnaj,  thank you for trying the "dunk it in water" suggestion.   i have made this suggestion a lot of times and this is the first time anyone has actually done it and reported on it!  so maybe someone else who is hesitant might just try it.