Drop Ornament

This ornament was completed in two fires (except for the signature which was done in a subsequent fire).

I have lately been firing all my china to cone 015, higher than I used to fire.  Many china painters are starting to do this as some of the newer paints are able to take a higher fire.  I have even been firing my luster painted pieces to cone 015 (about 1450-1500 degrees Fahrenheit - 750-800 Celsius).  That is the temperature that I fired these ornaments.  But I believe that the higher fire is the reason that the green luster, applied to these ornaments, came out blue.  I used to fire lusters at about cone 018-017.

I painted the two luster colors on the ornament first, then fired it.  I used Hanovia Halo Rose Red and Hanovia Halo Surf Green.  The Halo Surf Green came out more blue.  As I said above, I believe this was caused by the higher fire.  

For painting on this ornament, I tried something that was suggested to me by my PPIO partner, Marci, some time ago.  Instead of painting the luster with a brush, I used Q-Tips.  I really like using the Q-Tips.  I think you get a smoother surface, if that is what you want.   Also, cleanup is much easier as you can just throw the used Q-Tips away.

To create the "halo" effect, I first applied a luster color.  Then, while the paint was still wet, I touched the paint with the tip of the Q-Tip, still coated with luster.  This causes the paint to "Halo" (creates circles or rings in the paint).  The more you touch the surface, the more circles you get.  I let the paint run down the side of the ornament a little.  After the first color was about dry, I turned the ornament around and applied the other Halo Luster color using the same procedure.

For the second fire, using Liquid Bright Gold and a pen, I made penwork "squiggles" and lines on the ornament.  For much of the area, I just followed some of the halo outlines on the ornament.  In some places, I created cartouches with scrolling and criss-cross lines. I did all of this rather randomly.

Then I fired the ornament to cone 015.  That was it.  Only because I forgot to sign it, I had to fire it in a third fire.  If I had not forgotten, I could have signed it for the second fire.