The process: behind the scenes

I have always been fascinated by the perfect combination of colors, shapes and forms. I love creative process because I get to follow my imagination and bring the ideas into life.

The process of making porcelain and ceramics is constantly evolving, thus you need to keep your learning mode on. A variety of different materials and techniques lead me continually experimenting and exploring different ways in my working process. This is a reason why you will always find something new in my collection.

I do all the processes by myself: from the sketch of the model to the finished product. I enjoy working with my hands and see how the final product comes to life. It's very rewarding work, and I'm grateful to do what I love.

Porcelain and ceramics making is a complex and time-consuming process but I enjoy all the stages, from the idea and modelling in 3D, to making plaster moulds, painting with underglaze and onglaze, and especially making glazes via recipe. Each stage presents its own challenges, each step is important and contributes to the final product. The result is always worth the effort.

The first thing you should do is create a model. The size should be bigger than the final size, because after several firings, the clay will shrink. You should keep this in mind. If this is a figurine, then it could be sculpted in clay. For small and medium-sized objects, such as mugs and coffee cups , I draw them using 3D software and print out on a 3D printer. Occasionally I ask my ceramic friends to make models on a potter’s wheel. In any case, the first thing you should do is create a “rough” model which you should grind, copy with the silicone mould, refine it, and finally get the final product.

When you have a model ready, you need to create a plaster mould. I love doing this: it's a constructor with puzzle. Plaster is a material which is commonly used for casting. There are different types of plaster and it can be tricky to work with this material. The best proportions need to be taken into account when it comes to making a casting mould that fits each design. The simpler model you build, the more simple the mould will be. The more pieces the casting mould is, the more complicated and expensive it will be.

For example, my shape for a stoned bowl consists of 6 pieces, the shape of a rabbit of three, the shape of a black egg of 4, the shape for cups of one (The cup handles design and molding is a separate conversation for hours:)

In order to cast your own porcelain, you will need to prepare clay in the right way - turn soft clay into a casting material. This liquid substance is called slip. Slip is, in fact, clay mixed with water in the right proportions. Some more ingredients are added for fluidity. The most important thing here is not to overdo it. It happened to me once :) I went too far with the additives and the liquid was rolling into lumps. At this point there are many things that can go wrong. If the slip isn't prepared properly, it could cause cracking. If the mould hasn't made correctly, the creation won't come out from plaster mould at all. I've been through all of these nervous situations and every time I need to find a balance between all those factors.

Luckily, I have had great colleagues and friendly community who have been open and willing to help me out with advice. Some persons from ceramic community I haven't even met in person but we connect through Instagram.

When your product is out of plaster mold and dried up, you need to “wash it out” - to smooth out the sharp edges. Porcelain prefers smoothed corners, roundness. As a material, it has a "memory" - it is strongly deformed during firing if you do many manipulations with it. It has deformation even if there are heavy elements on the model. Therefore, a cup with a handle at the time of firing is deformed towards the handle.

For handmade products, it is incredibly difficult to control such deformation during firing, especially glazed ones. You can expect planned result but after firing get a completely different effect.

Several firings may occur, depending on the final design. Advanced textured, patterns need to be fired even to ten times.
The classic firing process includes three essential parts: bisque (900 °C ), glazing (1020 - 1300 °C) and gold / lustre firing (870 °C)