Image Transfers onto Clay Surfaces
Some time ago I began trying to figure out how to transfer images onto clay. A few years back, I went to a one day workshop with Chris Snedden (www.chrissnedden.com) called “Transferring Images Onto Clay” where we used slip to transfer our images onto a surface either threw a screen or by transferring them onto a paper surface and then once it was dry, soaking the transfer in water and then adhering it to the surface.
Ceramics Arts Daily gave a good demonstration of this using a different method than I learned. Nevertheless, it is a good demo on doing transfers onto clay. See “Photo Lithography on Clay: A Surprisingly Simple Way to Print Images On Clay”.
Here is a piece that I made while I was at the workshop. I liked this method but I found it didn’t always work out the way that I wanted although I love what Chris Snedden has done with his work.
The other method that we used was transferring an image using a light sensitive emulsion. When the emulsion is applied to the screen fabric and has sufficient exposure to light, it is transformed into a hardened film. Since completing my one day workshop with this, I worked with it for a while and found that I wasn’t willing to spend too much time trying to get it right. I have been interested in transferring images for some time and more recently moved onto waterslide transfers. If you have worked with any of these methods, I would love to hear about them and would love to write about your experiences with them.
