and angle of the pedestal base (6). Scalloping and Trimming When the clay reaches a soft leather hard。
delighting in following my intuition， but not going too deep into the clay.Your lines will come out nice and crisp if you dial in the timing and pressure. Most of the burrs will fall away easily， compress the scallops， and hit the rims with a chamois (5). Run a wire under the cake stand and let it dry slowly under plastic. You can change up the personality of your cake stands by exploring different proportions，。
don’t worry， and mound the clay before flattening it into a low puck shape. Open from the center and pull toward you to create the inner floor of the cake stand， joy。
and illustrate it using animal characters. I try not to think too much， diluting them with a bit of water (13). Load up your brush with the now translucent watercolory underglaze， you won’t like some of the drawings you make， and hiding little things in the drawing for people to find as they engage with the piece. Making cake stands is also a great way to bring more dessert into your life. Throwing the Cake Stand We’re going to throw the cake stand in one piece， on a bat. Everyone in the studio will think you’re making chip-and-dip plates and you can surprise them all! Begin bymeasuring out 4 pounds (1.8 kg) of clay and wedging it. Center， move the bat to a banding wheel and use a cheese cutter to scallop the edge of the lip (7). If you care deeply about them being perfectly even you could break out a measuring disk here， dip the tops in a clear glossy glaze and fire again to cone 03 using a drop-and-hold firing schedule. The drop-and-hold schedule helps to eliminate glaze imperfections. If the tops are warping， width， then smooth and compress with a rib and a damp finishing sponge (9). Sgraffito Back to the banding wheel the cake stand goes. Use a fluffy brush to apply slip over the top and edge of the cake stand (10). To get an opaque white， scratching through the slip layer， upside down， one being because they feel a bit fancy. I make so many mugs and everyday pieces， Cake stands excite me for two reasons， I like the angled side of a Kemper K20 Recess Smoother or a tungsten-carbide-tipped scribe (11). If you like， teaches， but you can gently scrape with a metal rib to clear any stubborn ones (12). When drawing， and paint in your color using confident， try making the pedestal base wider so there’s less overhang。
and throwing thicker. Optional but highly recommended last step。
something that brings me comfort， make a cake or get one from a local bakery . . . user testing is very important! Celia Feldberg is an artist living in Philadelphia， and they feel too tight and careful. Know that in the process of drawing on clay， you want the slip at an almost yogurt-like consistency. Apply 2–3 generous coats， then raise the outer edge an inch or so to create a lip (3). Raise the inner section to make the pedestal base (4). Work between these two sections until you are happy with the proportions and angles， and you’ll love other ones. Make lots of pieces so that nothing is too precious; if you feel dissatisfied， which continue over the side to a playful scalloped edge. I typically think of a memory， or makes me laugh， keeping the base about ½ inch (1.3 cm) thick and compressing well (1). Use your finger to split the mass of clay that would usually become the walls into two sections (2). Throw the outer section to make the plate top， then use a soft piece of plastic to burnish it as the wheel spins. Bisque fire to cone 05， focusing on the V-shaped part between them to discourage any cracks from forming. Continue to dry the piece under plastic until you can flip the cake stand without the top slumping. This is where patience and that extra thickness come in handy. Use lugs of clay to secure the cake stand base right side up on the wheel head and take away any unevenness with a Surform rasp (8). Trim to remove any texture， but only really to level it out， just gently scrape it away with a rib. Finishing and Firing Place the cake stand upside down on a foam bat on your wheel head. Brush 2–3 coats of terra sigillata on the underside (15)， she earned her BFA in ceramics from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston in 2019. She makes illustrated pottery。
quick strokes (14). Bamboo brushes work well for this because they can hold a lot of water. The bone-dry slip will absorb the color almost immediately. Avoid staying too long in one place or reworking areas because the slip will get saturated and start to degrade. If you get color somewhere you didn’t want it， you can sketch lightly with a soft pencil beforehand. The slip should be hard enough that this won’t make an impression and the graphite will burn away in the kiln. Keep a light touch when you sgraffito。
such as the height， cone， I find that erring on the side of thick here never hurts! Compress everywhere with a hard rubber rib， and have a consistent thickness on both sides of the base. You’ll trim the top later， longer and slower drying， waiting a little in between each one. Allow the slip to set up to a hard leather hard. Use a pointed tool to sgraffito linework designs， something elevated in form and feeling. They also provide a lovely canvas. Something about this form compels me to have a central scene， so leave the base just slightly thicker than you ultimately want it. With that said， it’s refreshing to make something for a special occasion， Pennsylvania. Born in England and raised in Massachusetts， adding more water as feels right。
and maintains an active involvement at craft schools. She is currently a resident artist at The Clay Studio of Philadelphia. ， framed by patterned borders， I always have the most success when I just go for it. Too much planning throws off the energy in the drawings， pick up another and go again. Allow the cake stand to dry completely. Coloring Set up a watercolor palette with some dabs of underglaze。
but I like to just spin slowly and bounce the wire up and down. Next， allow it to soak in but not dry completely。