KenSwinson.com

Transferring woodcuts onto pottery – via screenprint

I work in a lot of different media, and am always looking for ways to cross the different mediums. One dream I have is printing woodcuts onto ceramic. After some research, I learned that the woodcut process does not work well with ceramic materials, but screenprinting does.

screens for screenprinting

Using a technique that i learned while studying in Oaxaca, Mexico, I copied a few of my favorite woodcut designs onto a screen

silkscreen loaded with blue ceramic underglaze

then printed the designs onto rice paper using ceramic underglaze as the ‘ink’

screen printed design using ceramic underglaze on rice paper

then, i transferred the underglaze onto unfired clay…in a technique similar to old fashioned temporary tattoos

rice paper decal of squirrel playing fiddle and banjo
animation of rice paper being removed from clay surface.
an underglaze plate covered with blue pig and acorn decals
a plate, decorated with my woodcut designs!
holding a greenware mug with decal of squirrel playing guitar
a mug, decorated and ready to fire!
holding a small greenware pitcher decorated with blue pig with acorns and oak leaves
…and a pig on a mug…keep watching to see how they look ofter the firing!

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