270 
RERAMIC STUDIO 
clay and whiting should be shoveled over to one side and 
then shoveled back, repeating the operation three or four 
times. The whole can then be piled up in a heap or put 
back into the clay barrels, it will keep for ever. 
To prepare for use, a quantity of the mixture should 
be thrown into water to soak. If wanted for casting 
the liquid must be vigorously stirred and strained through 
the 40 mesh sieve. All the lumps may be rubbed through 
but stones must be rejected. It is a good plan to run the 
slip a second time through the sieve so as to secure a perfect 
mixture. 
In order to make a clay stiff enough for building or 
wheel work the slip may be thickened by evaporation or 
the water may be absorbed by plaster. In fact plaster 
of Paris is so necessary in clay-working that every would- 
be potter should be versed in the use of it. A shallow 
plaster bowl or dish for use in stiffening of clay is not 
difficult to make and affords good practice. A barrel of 
plaster* can be bought for about two dollars and will last 
some time. It will not deteriorate if kept in a dry place. 
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On the wheel-head or turntable a mound of clay is 
reared of the diameter and depth of the proposed dish. 
It should be about three inches deep and as wide as possible, 
leaving a margin of one inch or a little more. A strip of 
sheet tin or galvanized iron is procured. It should be seven 
or eight inches wide and long enough to encircle the turn- 
table and overlap a couple of inches. This is bent around 
the turntable head and tied firmly with string. This 
will give a circular pan with the clay mound in the middle. 
An estimate must now be made of the amount of liquid 
this pan will hold. Probably the first trial will prove too 
much or too little but a note made will enable a correct 
amount to be prepared the second time. The water is 
to be measured and two and three quarter pounds of dry 
plaster provided for each quart of water. The plaster 
is put into the water and allowed to soak for some min- 
utes and then the whole is gently stirred with the hand. 
Soon a thick creamy feeling will announce that setting 
has begun but this must be allowed to proceed until the 
cream becomes really thick but not pasty. It must flow 
freely. The cream is now poured rapidly into the pan, 
covering the clay mound to the depth of a full inch or 
rather more. If the turntable head itself be of plaster 
the exposed part must be thoroughly soaped or else the 
new plaster will unite with it. When the newly poured 
plaster has set firmly but not quite hard the metal sheet 
should be removed and a groove cut from the plaster on 
the upper angle as marked in the figure. This is tech- 
nically named a "handhole" and is to admit the fingers so 
that the plaster dish can readily be lifted, for of course it 
is upside down and when in use the top as it now is will 
*Calvin Tompkins, 2 Battery Place, New York. 
be the bottom. When quite hard a sharp knock will de- 
tach the newly made dish from the head and the clay can 
be removed. Those who need a good many of these dishes 
and they are always useful, will find it a good plan to make 
a reverse in plaster so as to avoid the use of the clay mound 
over and over. If this be done the first dish must be well 
soaped to prevent sticking and then the metal band is 
tied around it and the whole filled with liquid plaster as 
already described, only that enough must be used to pro- 
vide a thickness of an inch or more on the edge over and 
above the depth of the dish itself. These plaster dishes 
must be well dried and they can be repeatedly used for 
thickening clay as the porous body rapidly absorbs the 
water from the slip. As soon as a dish becomes saturated 
it is dried out and used again. 
(To be continued.) 
IRIS (Supplement) 
Laura Overly. 
First fire: Ground lay vase with Azure Glaze, use 
Fry's Special Tinting Oil. 
Second fire: Paint flowers with Banding Blue and 
Violet, use a bit of Black in Violet for dark shadows. 
Leaves: Yellow Green and Dark Green. 
Third fire: Tint entire vase with thin Copenhagen 
Blue and Violet, dust over leaves and background with 
Copenhagen Grey. 
Paint top of vase very dark, use Dark Green, Violet 
and Copenhagen Blue. 
SHOP NOTES 
Green & Co., Chicago, have moved to their new loca- 
tion at 934 Fine Arts Building. 
On May ist., M. T. Wynne will remove to her new 
location at 39 West 21st street, between Fifth and Sixth 
avenues. New York. 
POPLAR DESIGN FOR VASE 
Sabella Randolph 
No. I. Sky dark greenish blue at top, shading 
through yellow to red. Use Dark Green No. 7 with a 
touch of Banding Blue for the dark greenish blue, use 
this also for outlines of poplar and the line of trees along the 
horizon, for yellow use Yellow Ochre and for red, Orange 
or Flame Red. For the middle distance use Ochre with a 
touch of Red and Dark Green No. 7, leaves touches of this 
color through poplar tree, for poplars and foreground use 
Brown Green with a touch of Dark Green No. 7, for the 
large stone at left of poplar use Red and Dark Green No. 7 
thin with a touch of Ochre. Before painting tint the whole 
vase with Ochre and fire, after finishing tint the whole vase 
with Pearl Grey and fire. This will give a harmonious 
color throughout and an even glaze. 
No. 2 . Tint the vase with Grey Green and fire. Second 
fire tint sky lightly with Ochre, go over middle distance 
with another tinting of Grey Green, make line of trees 
along horizon, foreground and outlines a darker grey 
green, poplars and large stones a blue grey green, using 
Dark Green No. 7 with a touch of Banding Blue. Third 
fire tint with Pearl Grev. 
