The workshop took place at the magnificent Studio Le Bol in Agen. A place I already knew well (another Moonjar workshop), with professional ceramist Valérie Blaize, who was doing her first workshop as a trainer. She was fantastic. With great generosity and kindness, she passed on all her technique and all the little tricks that make all the difference and, above all, save an incredible amount of time!
Course objectives
– acquire and master the image transfer technique
– ink manufacturing
– adapt image on computer
– integrating slip into the transfer (3 techniques)
– create a composition
– reflections on the personal appropriation of technology
1st day of course
I chose a funny cocotte for my first transfer with a blue “Azafata” pigment. 
First one, then two, then a little cocotte story :))
The result is really good. The difficulty lies more in managing the wet paper that remains when I remove it. Not really a problem, but a waste of time to clean up afterwards. But I found the know-how and the solution so that the transfer could take place without this inconvenience on the 3rd day of the course. Picture perfect!
Image transfer onto ceramics is carried out on earthenware, in this case sandstone and porcelain. On earthenware, powdered enamel must be added to the ink to fix the pigments in the bisque, otherwise it gets everywhere!
The ink is made with lead-free mass pigments, preferably for food use, and linseed oil. The aim is to find the right ink consistency, neither too thick nor too liquid. In all cases, linseed oil is added by the drop. Important note.
It’s a very fun technique because it immediately gives a very satisfying visual result for a beginner, but it requires very precise gestures and quite a bit of concentration to master. I really enjoyed it! Of course, the field of possibilities is immense when it comes to transcribing my graphic production onto ceramics, and what’s more, in color! Until now, I’d only seen NB transfers, and for me, who loves color, that was pretty frustrating. Let’s take a look at the engobe technique.
Day 2
This day was devoted to adding slip to the piece with transferring and transferring multiple images to acquire the technique. Make do it again, make mistakes and succeed.
First, simply apply a flat layer of colored slip, either with a brush or a sponge, then transfer the image to the dry slip. This gives the background depth.
For the training, I obviously transferred one of my drawings to see if it works. And yes, it does! Above on Instagram .
Another way for engobe, the monotype technique. Valerie has taught us much more than transferring. What a joy! And finally, pour diluted engobe over the fresh transfer to give a fading effect and depth to the image. To explore .
Day 3
The final day’s challenge: create a complete composition on the theme of our choice.
Conclusion
This professional training course was extraordinarily rich in both technical and human terms. I’m going home with a well-stocked toolbox that will enable me to refine one of my objectives: transferring my graphic works to ceramics!
100% SATISFACTION 🤩🙌🌈❤️
