How to make Clay Rings
How to make ceramic rings by hand or Clay Rings:
In the manufacture of ceramic rings, imagination and the joy of experimentation are in the foreground, as is the case with all other creations made of terracotta and especially artistic and handcrafted jewelry.
Of course, this type of ring can also be made of raku ceramic.
But how do you make this type of ceramic ring?
The earth can be modeled freehand or with shapes and forms or with small stamping forms of various shapes. These are just a few of the tools that can be used to make truly unique rings!
Modeling of ceramic rings
You can make rings for subsequent gluing with special adhesives on silver substrates or nickel-free adjustable metals or make objects from the largest to the smallest with a ring pen.
But still take into account the natural shrinkage of the drying earth.
My techniques for designing and coloring
For the first rings we used small cookie cutters, for example in the shape of a heart, which I engraved the day after production and a few days later.
Engraved with a punch to get lettering or decorations engobbio brings out the natural color of the earth.
Later I also began to use the spindle for rings as a base to wrap my creations in constructions: very thin aligned pigeons, sometimes superimposed, or tapes, knots, spirals gave future rings unique ceramics.
In contrast to engobés, these latter models have to be baked before dyeing, also because their shape is very decorative in itself and the many curls created by the tight pigeons are ideal for a subsequent subcrystalline dyeing.
The clay I use for my rings is usually white tower clay for classic ceramics or semi-refractory white clay for the raku firing.
Firing of ceramic creations
The undyed drying rings and engobés are cooked for several hours at a high temperature in an electric oven.
After the first firing, the first are colored with subcrystalline and crystalline colors in order to obtain classic ceramic jewelry, or enamelled with metal oxides in order to then carry out the raku firing.
The engobed rings are essentially ready-to-use as they have a rustic “terracotta” effect when they are fired individually, but like all the others they can be given a second firing if you opt for crystallization.
Every creation is baked with special care, because the enamelled parts must not touch the carriers that keep the rings in suspension, otherwise the enamels with the carriers themselves will melt and the work will be ruined.
Raku objects are burned in a gas oven, extracts are burned off and placed in sawdust for a few minutes.
The final result
Opening the oven after the second cook is always an emotion and one almost suffers from it while waiting for the inside to be cold enough to be able to open the door without damaging the coils.
Curiosity continues to grow: Are expectations met? Will there be surprises? Will any parts be glued together?
Fortunately, everything is usually in order and here you can see all the spaced ceramic rings on the temples with the door open, which show themselves well with their bright colors.
Image of freshly baked rings and other jewelry from Terra Accesa
Freshly baked ceramic rings
Diploma
Wearing an artisanal ceramic ring means wearing a unique model that has been created through long and patient work.
The noble and at the same time rustic material gives the skin a pleasant feeling of body and meaning, strength and lightness at the same time.
It may be because I personally like rings very much, but I find this impression of having a valuable object on my finger fantastic, and that this value is given.
And still renewed precisely through the care of an old process, is a quality each deserves a unique piece that you want to bring with you.
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