In October I made ornaments using the pottery technique of Mocha Diffusion. I used Listerine with a green ceramic stain for the acid-base. When I put a drop on the ornament it kept growing until it reach the edge of the ornament. https://thebutlerspottery.ca/2022/10/13/when-an-acid-base-ceramic-stain-touches-alkaline-clay-magic-happens/

Apparently, tobacco tea works best. Tobacco is expensive, therefore I hesitated to buy some. Someone gave my son-in-law a small pack of cigarettes. He doesn’t smoke so I relieved him of them. I took the tobacco out of the cigarettes and made my tobacco tea, by steeping it in boiled water.

Using the cooled tobacco tea I made two colours. One with green teal mason stain and the other with black iron oxide. After trying it out on a rubber spatula I turned a few tumblers on my wheel, waited until they were leather-hard, poured clay slip over them then started dripping the stain.

The green tobacco tea turned out fantastic. The black iron oxide tobacco tea didn’t spread into bushy round trees. They looked more like dead wood trees, or bare trees with no leaves. I think it looks like a haunted forest. What do you think it looks like?

I did try the Listerine mix on one of these tumblers, but it spread too much to look like trees. I wiped them off the cup, added more clay slip and dripped the tobacco tea on it. Much better. I’ll keep the Listerine mocha tea for starbursts or maybe an abstract design.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Joyce Butler (@thebutlerspottery)

My favourite is the tobacco tea mixed with the green ceramic stain. I’ll have to try other colours of mason ceramic stains.

I’ll post a blog with the finished product after they’ve been fired in my kiln. Often the kiln changes its colour slightly. I have no idea what they’ll look like. We’ll have to wait a while for the finished cups, as I have decided to slow down and only make the pottery that turns my crank instead of making lots of mugs or bowls just to fill my kiln. I’m anxious to see how these will turn out. In the meantime, I’ll make more pieces of pottery experimenting with Mocha Diffusion and other creation of pottery which I’ll blog about.

I have a lot of other pottery on my shelves for sale. I have been adding a few pieces to my shop here. The blue button below will take you there. I have lots on Etsy, click on the orange button below.

• WordPress

• Etsy

Don’t forget to subscribe to my website and be notified when I share what I am doing in my pottery studio.

If you are enjoying my blogging feel free to comment or make a donation.