Cosmic Water Dish
Project #1
“Cosmic Water Dish”
Ø      Level: Easy
Ø      Duration: Short (1-2 hrs)
Materials needed: 5 lbs. of low fire white 
moist clay, HS01 hump/slump, one yard 
of canvas, XL rolling pin, Sandbag (place 
one cup of play sand into handkerchief 
and tie to close), wooden fettling knife, 
small round sponge, medium glaze brush, 
squeeze bottle for slip trail.
 
Plaster forms and tools can be successfully used
to create imaginative and unique clay pieces.
Because of the absorbent nature of plaster, clay
can be depressed into highly detailed sprig molds
and lifted from the mold without sticking. Minute
details can be successfully transferred from plaster
 to clay. The absorbent plaster forms help to assure
an even and timely draw of moisture from the clay
body, limiting cracks and sticking.  Convex plaster
forms are known as "hump molds" while concave
plaster forms are known as "slump molds". Plaster
forms help even the first time student create clay
hand building projects with fantastic results!  
squaredish copy.JPG (41914 bytes)
To create this small dish in a slump mold begin by cutting an appropriate quantity of clay (approximately 3 lbs) from a block of moist clay. Place 
the clay on a piece of thick canvas or muslin. “Wedge” the clay body a 
little bit to remove any air bubbles and to ready the clay for work. Be careful 
not to fold more air into the clay. Pat the clay down to flatten it slightly. 
Begin rolling the clay with a rolling pin. Roll the clay  2 times and pick it up 
and turn it over. Roll the clay 2 times and pick the clay up and turn it over. 
You will need to repeat the roll and flip steps until your clay is 
approximately 5/16” thick.
 
Carefully lift the slab and place it 
over the slump portion of the hump/slump mold. Lift the sides 
of the clay and ease the clay 
down into the center recess 
of the slump. Use a handkerchief 
full of sand to pounce the clay 
into the center slump and around 
the top brim of the slump.
With a wooden tool trim the excess clay in a random zig zag pattern as shown. Use a round sponge and water to clean the edge of the clay. 
To make the spiral design in 
the center of the dish, create slip 
by adding a little water to dry clay trimmings and mix until smooth. 
Swirl the slip into the center of 
the dish with a large brush. Use a small squeeze bottle full of this slip to create the raised swirls and dots on the edge of the dish.
Use a ruler or brush handle to create random depressions into the clay on the brim as shown. Allow the piece to dry in the mold for several hours before removing. Allow the piece to dry completely  (at least one week) before firing. 
Decorate the fired bisque using a aqua shade of semi transparent non toxic glaze in the “water” area and semi transparent non toxic golden tan on the rim.
The moist clay used in the projects featured is a moist low fire (cone 06-04) white clay, 
available from most ceramic/pottery suppliers. This clay body when fired to cone 04,
can be painted with any glaze currently used on standard bisque ware
Project #1
“Cosmic Water Dish”