KERAMIC STUDIO 
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imaginations, unexpected results revealing undreamt of beau- 
ties, and form and color and texture follow readily the hand 
and the mind behind it. The art is distinctly a creative one — 
each independent creation is a separate expression of the union 
of artistic feeling and responsive craftsmanship. To the query, 
" How is this glass made?" Mr. Tiffany replies: "It is made 
by a careful study of the natural decay of glass — checking 
this process by reversing the action in such way as to arrive 
at the effects without disintegration." At the same time he 
refers us to Sir David Brewster, who says : "There is perhaps 
no material body that ceases to exist with so much grace and 
beauty when it surrenders itself to time, and not to disease, 
as glass. In damp locations where acids and alkalies prevail 
in the soil the glass rots as it were by a process which it is 
difficult to study— it may be broken between the fingers of an 
infant, and in. this state we generally find in the middle of it a 
fragment— a thin fiber of the original glass which has not 
yielded to the process of decay. In dry localities where 
Roman, Greek and Assyrian glass has been found the decom- 
position is exceeding!}/ interesting and its results singularly 
beautiful. At one or more points in the surface of the glass 
the decomposition begins. It extends around that point in a 
spherical surface so that the first film is a minute hemispheri- 
cal one of exceeding thinness. Film after film is formed in a 
similar manner till perhaps twenty or thirty are crowded into 
the tenth of an inch. They now resemble the sections of a 
pear or an onion and we see brilliant colors of thin plates 
when we look down through their edges, which form the sur- 
face of the glass. These edges being exposed to the elements 
decompose. * * * *" Finally," he says, " when a drop of 
water, alcohol or oil is applied to this or any other specimen, 
the fluid enters between the films and the polarized light and 
the splendid colors disappear." To catch and hold this 
witchery of color and permanently imprison its beauty in the 
bosom of the glass has been a triumph of the nineteenth 
century. 
TREATMENT OF RUSSIAN DESIGN ON CUP AND 
SAUCER 
Anna B. Leonard 
THE lower part of the cup and the center of the saucer 
should be a dark color, green being preferable. The 
upper part of the cup and the outer part of the saucer is in 
gold, the design coming between the gold and the color. The 
darkest parts of the design are painted in a dark blue ( dark 
blue, a touch of deep blue green and ruby purple). The 
pear-shaped ornament filled in with dots can be painted in 
carmine No. 3, and the space between the two lines forming 
an arch can be painted in light green. The tiny black squares 
are of ruby purple. The entire design is outlined in the finest 
lines of paste, and it may be considerably elaborated by fol- 
lowing the lines with enamel dots. The ornaments represent- 
ing wings are painted in light green, and the five loop 
ornament should be a turquoise blue (deep blue green and 
night green). The settings for jewels (enamel) should be made 
of paste dots, as fine as possible and as near together without 
touching. This simple design can be used very effectively on 
the rims of plates. 
TREATMENT OF HAWTHORN 
Let a Ho r locker 
AFTER design is drawn and properly placed on the plate, 
first lay the green leaves and delicate background sur- 
rounding the flowers, fading the edges off gently into the 
white china, or by using an ivory glaze all over the surface 
left clear of the decoration, thus blending it all into a soft 
even glaze. This glaze is used similarly to a wash of water 
over the surface of water color paper, to blend the edges 
softly into the background. Before washing in the color on 
the flowers, take a short pointed brush, a "digger," and round 
out the petals clear and clean, suggesting the shadowy flowers 
in the background, indicating the centers. Then wash the 
pink delicately in the foremost flowers, filling in centers care- 
fully and with finish. Let your first painting be clear, simple, 
suggestive, with color tones evenly balanced. 
SECOND PAINTING — Do not begin by painting all the 
parts a second time, but aim to bring forward those leaves 
and flowers desired to give character and individuality to 
your design, accenting the edges of leaves and stems and 
petals with a few crisp touches. 
Colors for palette : Moss green, brown green, blue green, 
lemon yellow, yellow brown, sepia brown, Copenhagen blue, 
rose pompadour (with */ flux for first wash of flowers), carmine 
No. 2 or Fry's pink for second painting, ivory glaze. 
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TREATMENT OF PLATE DESIGN 
E. Mason 
THE outside border of the plate should be ground laid with 
blue green, bringing the same color down into that 
portion of the design crossed by lines. The medallions in 
which the flower sprays are shown should be left white, the 
flowers being painted in natural colors. Those medallions in 
which are hung the festoons should be tinted in blue green, 
the color being applied wet, not ground laid. This gives a 
paler tone of the border color. . The festoons, as well as all 
the rococo design, are to be carried out in raised paste. 
The color plan may, of course, be varied. The outside border 
in rose for grounds, the medallions in Russian green, make 
a very effective combination. 
