Hydrangea Lamp

To Create the Lamp:

• Holes need to be drilled in greenware prior to bisque firing for lamp cord and hardware. Center hole in top should be 5/16” in diameter. Hole for cord (3/16” in diameter) should be along the trim about 1” from the bottom of the ware.  

Glazing:

1. Wipe down the bisque with a moistened synthetic sponge.
2. Trace the basic shapes of the design onto the middle section of the pedestal using a pencil and AC-230 Clay Carbon. If you feel confident enough you can freehand the placement of the flowers and leaves to avoid the tracing of the pattern.
3. On a tile put out some SG-405 Green Designer Liner. Thicken it with some AC-310 Silk Screen Medium until a peanut butter consistency. Use the Pallet Knife to fully mix the medium into the color. Color will thicken up after initial mixing as it absorbs more moisture from the color. Store the color into some airtight jars for later use. Repeat this mixing process with 3 parts SG-410 Bright Blue Designer Liner with 1 part SG-404 Blue Designer Liner to the same consistency as peanut butter. Store mixture in an air tight jar for later use. This is easier to mix up a larger quantity and use it as needed than to be constantly mixing color to use.
4. Cut out the hydrangea flowers from the DSS-0149 Botanical Flowers sheet of screen designs. Allow at least ½” border around each screen you cut out.
5. Cut out separately each of the three leaves from the DSS-0111 Leaves Screen. The pattern shows you some of the various leaf placement, and you can also use the leaves from the hydrangea screen as single leaves on the overall design. 
   1. You can rotate the flower screen when printing the design to give a different look, too. Some of the leaves can overlap the flowers and the flower can hide portions of the leaves to give added interest in the design.
6. With the shiny side of the screen next to the ware, pick up some of the thickened blue mixture and start rubbing firmly in a circular motion over the screen’s center and moving outward until the entire screen has been covered (you can secure it with some blue masking tape to aid in keeping the screen in place while printing). Do not go past the edge of the screen. When you have completed rubbing the color over the screen, lift the screen up. 
   1. Using the screen more than one printing is possible but a washing of the screen may be necessary between printing. Use a paper towel to dry the screen between uses.  
7. Use the various leaf and stem screens to complete the design using the green mixture over the screens. Let dry.
8. Load CB-404 Pointed Round with water and tip with SC-76 Cara-Bein Blue to shade under the individual petals of the flowers. Keep the shading heavier towards the outer petals of the flower ball to give dimension to the flowers.
9. Use CB-404 Pointed Round to apply 1-2 coats of the various colors to paint in the petals of the flowers with SC-1 Pink-A-Boo, SC-65 Peri-Twinkle, SC-96 Aqu-ward and CN-261 Light Grape. Depending on your needs, you can apply more of one color than others to compliment your décor.
10. Use CB-404 Pointed Round to apply 1-2 coats of thinned amounts of the various colors (SC-10 Teal Next Time, SC-25 Crackerjack Brown, SC-39 Army Surplus and SC-52 Toad-ily Green) for the leaves and stems in a watercolor technique. The colors should be transparent enough to still see the underlying dark green screen printing of the leaves. Let dry. 
    1. The darker colors are used to shade overlaps and where the flowers appear over the leaves.
11. Apply 2-3 coats of S-2101 Crystal Clear Brushing using CB-604 Soft Fan over the middle section of the pedestal and over the design.
12. Apply 3 coats of FN-001 White to the top and bottom trim of the pedestal using CB-604 Soft Fan. For a bolder look you can apply a Foundation color rather than white.
13. Stilt and fire the ware to shelf cone 05-06.
14. Wire lamp to completion.