How My Ceramics Are Created

I missed the beauty in everyday things. I craved uniqueness. So, I decided to combine sculpture with dishware creation. To make small sculpture utilitarian. I'm a big fan of black coffee, so there's always a drive in me to make my coffee ritual even more enjoyable...

That's how I started creating my cups.

I hand-mold each piece. Every one is unique and made in a single edition. No copies or custom orders. Just my desire to create and my ideas.

First, I create a mini-sculpture. I strive to make it as comfortable for the hands as possible, without losing its form. At the start, I calculate the size. Each clay shrinks in volume after drying and firing. So, it's important to know the shrinkage percentage for each type of clay.

The work is partially dried, and then it begins its transformation into a cup... Slowly, tenderly, and carefully, I remove clay from the inside, maintaining uniform thickness throughout the piece and trying to make the walls thin enough. This is a delicate moment, as each clay has its minimum thickness while preserving a complex shape. And this is crucial because uniform and proper thickness prevents cracking during drying.

Once this stage is complete, a tail-handle and small details are added to the cup. These are the thinnest parts and dry very quickly, so they always need to be added at the last moment-otherwise, the risk of damaging them is extremely high.

The next stage is smoothing the piece. Soft and hard sponges (professional ones are best), brushes, silicone tools, and water. Carefully, without over-wetting, I smooth the clay, even out the piece, add details, and reveal effects. Then, I send it off to dry. It's best to do this under a light cover. It takes longer, but the drying happens more evenly, and you can prevent cracks from forming.

Once the piece has dried, the smoothing is repeated. For some pieces, polishing is needed too, if they won't be glazed. And onward! The first firing. It's also called biscuit firing because it's done at a low temperature, just 1050 degrees, and after it, the clay retains open pores. Open pores absorb moisture well, making it much easier to apply glaze to the "biscuit."

After firing, the piece must be washed to remove all the dust and combustion products. And repolished in the areas that won't be glazed.

Next comes glazing! I conduct a huge number of glaze tests for each type of clay and each batch of porcelain. It's not just about selecting a beautiful color solution but also matching the coefficient of thermal expansion. Each clay and each glaze has its own CTE value. If they don't match, cracks can appear on the glaze surface. Or the piece might even shatter in the kiln... Manufacturers often change compositions, so I test the "fickle" clays every time.

Another key point is chemical composition. Some clays and glazes react during firing. Excessive gas release, uncontrolled oxidation, pigment loss... None of this is bad if it's intentional to create the desired effect. So, tests and more tests!

Glaze is applied in thin layers. Each layer needs to be as even as possible, without air bubbles. Optimally, about 3 layers, each around 0.5 mm thick. This could be one glaze or a combination of several. Additional additives like oxides, salts, or crystals... Oh, so many combinations and so much room for creativity!

After glazing, the parts of the piece that will touch the kiln shelf are carefully cleaned so it doesn't fuse to the surface. I also use ceramic paper additionally. It better preserves the pieces in the kiln.

It's time for the second firing-high-temperature. For each glaze, you need to select a unique temperature and hold time depending on the effect you want to achieve. So, the temperature varies each time from 1180 to 1280 degrees. The ramp-up time plays a role too. I prefer a fairly slow ramp for most clays and glazes, about 100-115 degrees per hour. This is the most gentle regime. Though for "flowing" glazes, it's sometimes worth ramping faster after 1000 degrees. 12 hours of firing, and then the kiln cools for about 25 hours. Once the temperature drops below 60 degrees, the pieces can be removed. It's important not to rush and to give the glaze time to go through the full transformation cycle without thermal shock.

After the glaze firing, the piece is washed again, and after that, it can be used!

For creating certain effects, I sometimes fire the cups from two to five times with glaze at high temperature.

And sometimes, the final touch turns out to be a hammer...

Since each of my works is unique, the approach is often unique too and takes a lot of time. Creating one cup from a lump of clay to the finished piece takes about two weeks, or sometimes more if achieving the effects requires more than two firings.