Why not have a decal made of a watercolour I painted during a typically Canadian weekend at a cottage on the lake? Sure, no problem, says Art Petch (Ottawa).”Let’s see how close I can get to the colours in your original.” I left it to him to decide how to convert the RGB image file to the CMYK colour profile suitable for the ceramic pigments in the printing.

On the wheel, I had thrown a series of standard, large mugs of the same height and diameter. I needed the sides to be perpendicular, to allow for a smooth application of the decal. Applying the decal should be straightforward, only requiring careful smoothing of the surface, to remove any air bubbles or water trapped beneath the film.

But mistakes do happen; they may, of course, lead to intriguing results. Once, in a moment of inattention, I applied the decal the wrong way round. The decal itself should lie on the glazed surface, with the lamination on top. Switching this around gets you an unexpected, crackled effect.

Stoneware, hand thrown; decals.

Fired to cone 6, in oxidation.

Ht: 7 cm; dia at rim: 5.5 cm

Ht: 6.5 cm; dia at rim 5.5 cm

Audrey Blackman porcelain, fired in oxidation to Cone 6.

I threw these while taking a workshop at the Baambrugge pottery near Amsterdam, with the English potter Chris Keenan. We were to make pieces that worked together as families; these are the  two smallest from a series of increasingly large mugs. I like their shape. I can see now with hindsight, that under his attentive eye, I really paid  attention to the lines of the piece itself:  the wall narrows as it moves from its wide, sharp-angled base to the smaller rim,  and  the bottom of the handle firmly emphasizes  that first lower, lifting line.

I thought a squirt of a bright-coloured glaze would highlight the luscious whiteness of this  porcelain. Then I used a few touches of a red underglaze over the blue to further attract the eye. I poured a transparent glaze into the inside, and then, holding the mug upside-down, I  dipped the rim into the same glaze, ensuring a thicker, smooth finish where lips will touch it. To finish off the mug, I used an atomiser to spray a light layer of the same transparent glaze over the outside, giving it a sightly dappled effect once fired.

Below, a close-up of the red speckles:

Using “Bright White” porcelaneous stoneware for these mugs, I’ve glazed the inside and the rim with a plain transparent glaze. For the outside, I used the same glazes I’ve used for the wide, distorted bowls, but here on a vertical surface. I love the tension of choosing the appropriate nib for the slip/glaze trailer, setting out a big bowl to catch the drips, holding the mug in what I hope is exactly the right position, then squirting the glaze and watching where it runs over the curved surface. Needless to say, even after years of practice, it doesn’t always do what I had planned. Did I plan for the Bailey’s Red to creep over the top border and into the transparent at the rim? Well, no. But then maybe it is the unexpected that adds that extra little something. At least that is what I am telling myself…

Porcelaneous stoneware, fired in oxidation, to Cone 6.