Technologies learned at the ICS

Kazu's Cubes - a day's work, drying. These were initially planned to be an installation.

After building a structure of his cast cubes, and while they were still damp and soft, Kazu opened up the shape with his arm. A wonderful demonstration of how a piece constructed of rigid and predictable forms can be altered to an organic and dynamic affect.

Balazc and instructor from the Sobron University experimented with hot glass being pushed into a press mould. There were other glass kilns that were used for slumping.

An example of the deep raku oil reduction - ICS style... deeply reduced porcelain from Betul's raku kiln.

Example of Mary's screens on her cast boxes, or pillows, as she calls them.

The giant stone table was a great asset.

Metka wanted to make a tea tray. The metal shape reflects the side profile of the tray and had to be grafted, traced, cut, and then fixed in place by making a plaster handle.

Steve showed us a screen within a screen method for making a flat and tight surface for the photosensitive emulsion.

This is the first part of the mould made for casting Mary's square bowls. There is a base piece as well, and the casting slip will be poured through the smaller opening.

I wanted to learn how to use the architectural images to make decals to transfer after bisque.

It became apparent that many of the processes of plaster mould design and making, were still done by hand. Success depends on excellent hand skills and a good eye. Ed is carving a foot ring on a form. This carving must be done while the plaster is still malleable.

When too much plaster is made, it is usually thrown out...I made shapes with it, to see how much playing around can be done in a short time!

Ed Bentley is a plaster designer, www.bentleystoll.com from the UK. Here he is demonstrating sledging. He is altering the shape of the wet plaster with an edged shape-making tool that he designed and made for this shape.

Ed is demonstrating how to separate 2 sides of a mould, while it is still soft, using a string instead of shims.

How to graft square bowls. This diagram also helps design the shape-making tool that forms the side profile.

Mary's porcelain stackable cast bowls on the left, the fired result of a non circular shape mould - first grafting, making a shaping tool, sledging, then casting.

All the images I am using are from architectural photos I took in Canada - Vancouver and Halifax, Hungary, and Germany. The screen material is soft, and I can wrap it around the shape of a piece, and still get a fairly sharp image.

A clutch of shape makers made by the members of the class for their individual moulds.