How To Make Your Own Bisque Mold

By Arthur of Arthur Halvorsen Ceramics

Over this winter, since I am laid off from my full time job, I take it as my time to be in the studio and get paid for it. I love this time of year for me and my work. I am currently working on a body of work in the studio to apply to grad school. In the mean time I wanted to share some studio happenings with you, and give you all a little look into my world of ceramics.

The work I create has already been found out in the world but not necessarily in ceramic form, that is where I feel like I have artistic license. The most basic building block for me starts at the bisque mold. Bisque meaning clay that has been through a firing,the first firing where a piece goes from being green to bisque also the firing in between the green and glaze firing.

First I start out with what I want to make a mold of, in this case a Dala Horse cake pan, I need a needle tool and cooking spray.

Spray what you want to make a mold of with the cooking spray. I do this first because the oil needs time for it to dry and by the time your ready it'll be ready. Cheese cloth also works well. You need to use some sort of separator in between the clay and in this case the cake pan.

Roll out a slab of clay that's bigger then the desired mold. You want to make sure you have room for a good edge.

Measure twice cut once... famous last words haha

When you place the slab into the cake pan you'll need to press the clay into all the corners. The more complicated the form the more important this step is. Make sure you get all the detail so it's replicated in the mold and will replicate in your pieces.

Finally cut the excess off using your needle tool held at a 45 degree angle so when you go to use the mold it'll give you a nice edge. Then wait for the clay to dry a bit and flip off your master piece and bisque to temperature.