Handbuilding
1. Separate out ¼ of your clay and set aside.
2. Smack the remaining ¾ of your clay into a sphere.
3. Push thumb into center of ball and start pinching, rotating your piece slightly each time you pinch to form walls all the way around.
4. Continue rotating and pitching until the walls are slightly thicker than a pencil and your piece is twice the size of the original ball.
5. Mold pot to sit open side down.
6. Smooth out any cracks with your fingers, adding a small amount of water if needed.
7. Create ridges of the cactus by pressing the side of your pencil firmly into your pot and rocking up and down until an impression is made.
8. Draw out flower pattern on a piece of paper and cut out to use as a stencil.
9. Flatten the remaining ¼ of your clay with your hand to be slightly thinner than your pencil, smooth out any cracks if needed.
10. Trace flower onto clay with pencil tip and cut out with knife. Set scraps aside.
11. Roll a small ball out of your scrap clay for flower center.
12. Score on back and center of flower by making small hatch marks with pencil tip.
13. Add a small amount of water to scored area with your finger and attach pieces by pressing down firmly.
14. Mold flower petals with your hands.
15. Attach the bottom of your flower to the top of your cactus with the same slip and scoring technique.
16. Add texture to the center of your flower and around your cactus by making small holes with the tip of your pencil.
17. Clean up your ridges and any imperfections by smoothing the clay with your finger or pencil eraser.
Glazing
1. Antique cactus body with SC-8 Just Froggy by painting one heavy coat and letting it set, then wipe away with a dry sponge.
2. Antique center of flower using SC-6 Sunkissed with the same technique.
3. Using SC-89 Cutie Pie Coral and SC-2 Melon-choly paint the flower pedals, using the two colors to extenuate the highlights and shadows on the pedals.
4. Use SC-98 Slime Time to paint in the highlights on the cactus body, applying one thick coat of glaze.
5. Once dried fully fire to Cone 06.
Form
Colors
Accessories
