Create Soft Pastel Satin Matte Bottles

Ages 5–7
Clays
Mid Fire
Intermediate
Advanced Techniques

SM Bottles Process 2 — Watch the Tutorial Video

Step 1

Start by making the bottle form. Using 2 pounds of clay, throw a bottle on the wheel. Make it a little thick to allow for some shaving later. Use a throwing stick to bell out the body of the bottle, and wooden ribs to shape it.

Step 2

Once the bottle is thrown, wait until it’s a little firmer to paddle it. Paddle gently.

Step 3

After the bottle is leather-hard, use a sureform to shave the bottle and give the paddled sides a sharp, planed edge.

Step 4

Use a metal clay scraper to clean up any marks left from the sureform or hands, and let the bottle dry. Bisque to Cone 04.

Step 5

Using a standard graphite pencil, draw the flower design on the bottle. Graphite completely burns out in firing.

Step 6

Use the pencil lines as a guide for applying wax resist. AMACO wax resist can be thinned with a small amount of water and applied quickly and carefully using an underglaze applicator. Wherever the wax resist is applied, the clay will remain white.

The glaze will not adhere in areas where the wax is present. If the wax is applied incorrectly, the piece will need to be bisque fired again.

Step 7

While the wax dries, mix the Satin Matte glaze to achieve the desired pastel shade. The Satin Matte glaze line is intermixable, so mixing white, you can get a more pastel version of the saturated colors. Here I used a metric measuring set to mix 100 milliliters of white to 25 milliliters of teal, a ratio of 4 parts white to one part colored glaze. Mix the glaze well.

Step 8

Using a fan brush, apply 3 coats of the pastel Satin Matte Glazes to the bottle, allowing each coat to dry before applying the next coat. Where the wax was applied, the glaze beads up and resists. If it doesn’t completely bead up, it can be easily removed with a damp sponge. Leave some of the beaded glaze in place, and it will stay on the bottle as small freckles of glaze on the unglazed white clay.

Step 9

Apply two colors to the bottle: a deeper shade to the flattened, flower-patterned faces and a lighter or contrasting color to the rounded sides of the bottle.

Step 10

Fire the bottle to Cone 5 in an electric kiln. The light green on the edges of the bottle is 4 parts SM-11 White and 1 part SM-44 Chartreuse; the darker green around the flowers is 4 parts SM-11 White to 1 part SM-27 Teal.

Mix and test your own combinations to get just the shade you’re looking for.

Happy glazing!