Yes you can! In fact they are an amazing way to add beautiful decorative details to pottery.

Silicone sugar craft moulds from cake making can be used by Potters who want to create intricate surface decorations for their pots. Clay is simply pressed into the mould, left to dry a little, removed from the mould and then attached to pottery as a sprig decoration.

I use silicone moulds in my pottery to make dragonfly, butterfly and bird decorations that I then attach onto my pottery with slip.  In this episode, I share with you 5 tips I’ve learned when using silicone sugarcraft moulds in pottery:

✨Dust a little cornflour into the mould before using it to help the clay sprig decoration release from the mould. 

✨Add a little paper pulp to the clay you’re using to press into your mould. Paper makes clay super strong and prevents the clay sprig decoration from breaking when being removed from the mould. 

✨Use vinegar (applied to the main body of the pot), and slip to attach the decoration to the pot. 

✨Dry your pottery slowly in a plastic storage box to prevent the sprig decoration from cracking off the pot.  

✨Press out your designs from the mould onto a folded cloth or tea towel so the clay decorations are not damaged as they are removed from the mould.

You can watch the video version of this episode on YouTube.

✨Support the Podcast: https://www.oxfordclay.co.uk/support

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Resources for Potters:

⭐ Pottery eBooks

⭐ Pottery Paperback Books available from Amazon

Free Pottery Guides:

🆓 Download the Free How to Make a Pottery Glaze Workbook (suitable for beginners):

🆓 Download the Free How to programme an Electric Kiln for bisque and stoneware glaze firings (includes full kiln firing schedule)

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Get your pottery question answered on the podcast!

Submit your pottery question to the Oxford Clay podcast by emailing your question to: [email protected] with the subject line ‘Podcast Question’. 

For the last 200 years, industrial society has used a linear economic model that takes raw materials, makes them into products, sells them to consumers who then eventually throw them away. Natural resources are ‘lost’ in this process and this model is widely regarded as unsustainable. 

Contrastingly in the circular economic model, resources are continuously reused, recycled and retained in the supply chain.

In this episode, I talk about some opportunities for Potters to use the circular economy model and reuse materials in their work, such as; 

♻️ - Copper from electrical waste 

♻️ - Rusting iron 

♻️ - Post-consumer glass (you could also use sea glass found on the beach!) 

♻️ - Ash from wood-burning stoves and heaters  

♻️ - Leaves naturally fallen from trees and shrubs

The book that inspired this episode is called ‘Doughnut Economics: Seven ways to think like a 21st-century Economist. By Kate Raworth published in 2017 by Random House. 

You can watch the video version of this episode on YouTube.

✨Support the Podcast: https://www.oxfordclay.co.uk/support

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Resources for Potters:

⭐ Pottery eBooks

⭐ Pottery Paperback Books available from Amazon

Free Pottery Guides:

🆓 Download the Free How to Make a Pottery Glaze Workbook (suitable for beginners):

🆓 Download the Free How to programme an Electric Kiln for bisque and stoneware glaze firings (includes full kiln firing schedule)

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Get your pottery question answered on the podcast!

Submit your pottery question to the Oxford Clay podcast by emailing your question to: [email protected] with the subject line ‘Podcast Question’. 

In this episode, I talk to you about the 6 different ways in which I use my favourite pottery tool - a cotton tea towel! 

💡 - To reclaim wet clay on. 

💡 - To wedge (or knead) clay on to remove excess water from clay thats a little bit too wet. 

💡 - As a rolling cloth when rolling out clay. 

💡 - Between pieces of wet flat clay as it’s drying. 

💡 - In a technique to make a perfectly flat rim or base of a pot. 

💡 - To remove condensation in a damp box when drying clay slowly and evenly. 

You can watch the video version of this episode on YouTube.

✨Support the Podcast: https://www.oxfordclay.co.uk/support

-------------------------------

Resources for Potters:

⭐ Pottery eBooks

⭐ Pottery Paperback Books available from Amazon

Free Pottery Guides:

🆓 Download the Free How to Make a Pottery Glaze Workbook (suitable for beginners):

🆓 Download the Free How to programme an Electric Kiln for bisque and stoneware glaze firings (includes full kiln firing schedule)

------------------------------------

Get your pottery question answered on the podcast!

Submit your pottery question to the Oxford Clay podcast by emailing your question to: [email protected] with the subject line ‘Podcast Question’. 

Some thoughts created by our brains, support us when making pottery, and some definitely less so! Join me for this episode where I talk about some thoughts I've had in pottery that haven’t supported my pottery such as ‘I’ll never be good at pottery’, ‘I’ll never be as good as them’ (in an evening class setting) and ‘I don't like my finished pot’!  

I talk about some alternative thoughts you can replace these with to truly support yourself in your pottery-making and make your mind a safer and kinder space to learn. 

You can watch the video version of this episode on YouTube.

✨Support the Podcast: https://www.oxfordclay.co.uk/support

-------------------------------

Resources for Potters:

⭐ Pottery eBooks

⭐ Pottery Paperback Books available from Amazon

Free Pottery Guides:

🆓 Download the Free How to Make a Pottery Glaze Workbook (suitable for beginners):

🆓 Download the Free How to programme an Electric Kiln for bisque and stoneware glaze firings (includes full kiln firing schedule)

------------------------------------

Get your pottery question answered on the podcast!

Submit your pottery question to the Oxford Clay podcast by emailing your question to: [email protected] with the subject line ‘Podcast Question’. 

I created this episode for anyone who thinks they might like to write a book but hasn't yet - you can do it!

The world needs to hear your ideas and unique voice! 

In this episode, I talk about how I follow my curiosity to write books on pottery. I speak about how my ideas form, and how I experiment, research, write and format my books before publishing. 

You can watch the video version of this episode on YouTube.

✨Support the Podcast: https://www.oxfordclay.co.uk/support

-------------------------------

Resources for Potters:

⭐ Pottery eBooks

⭐ Pottery Paperback Books available from Amazon

Free Pottery Guides:

🆓 Download the Free How to Make a Pottery Glaze Workbook (suitable for beginners):

🆓 Download the Free How to programme an Electric Kiln for bisque and stoneware glaze firings (includes full kiln firing schedule)

------------------------------------

Get your pottery question answered on the podcast!

Submit your pottery question to the Oxford Clay podcast by emailing your question to: [email protected] with the subject line ‘Podcast Question’. 

Designing for the environment is a way of creating products where the minimum possible negative environmental impact on the environment is intrinsic to their design. 

In design for the environment, a product is thought of holistically, from the raw materials used to make it to its manufacturing process. 

Potters have a huge opportunity to design for the environment because we have direct control over how our pottery is made and the ingredients we make it with. 

In this episode, I explain the three different aspects I used to create a design for the environment framework at Oxford Clay in which to make my pottery. The three aspects of designing for the environment framework in pottery are: 

⭐ Raw materials

⭐ Pot design 

⭐ Pottery-making processes 

The books mentioned in this episode are: 

Eco-conscious Pottery Glazing: Make your own pottery glazes with minimal harm to humans, animals and the environment.

Eco-Friendly Pottery: 30 Simple Ways: to make your pottery practice more ethical and sustainable.

You can watch the video version of this episode on YouTube.

✨Support the Podcast: https://www.oxfordclay.co.uk/support

-------------------------------

Resources for Potters:

⭐ Pottery eBooks

⭐ Pottery Paperback Books available from Amazon

Free Pottery Guides:

🆓 Download the Free How to Make a Pottery Glaze Workbook (suitable for beginners):

🆓 Download the Free How to programme an Electric Kiln for bisque and stoneware glaze firings (includes full kiln firing schedule)

------------------------------------

Get your pottery question answered on the podcast!

Submit your pottery question to the Oxford Clay podcast by emailing your question to: [email protected] with the subject line ‘Podcast Question’. 

Clay can be infinitely recycled before it’s fired! This process is called ‘reclaiming’ and it involves turning clay that is either too dry or too wet, back into a usable state. 

In this episode, we talk about how to reclaim your own clay without any specialist equipment, in four very simple steps. 

*Scooping sloppy wet clay out of the reclaiming bucket onto a tea towel, inside away from wind and sun.

*Waiting a few days for the clay to dry out. 

* Wedging the clay on another tea towel or cotton cloth to keep the wedging / kneading area free of clay. 

*Storing the clay in an airtight container.

You can watch the video version of this episode on YouTube.

✨Support the Podcast: https://www.oxfordclay.co.uk/support

-------------------------------

Resources for Potters:

⭐ Pottery eBooks

⭐ Pottery Paperback Books available from Amazon

Free Pottery Guides:

🆓 Download the Free How to Make a Pottery Glaze Workbook (suitable for beginners):

🆓 Download the Free How to programme an Electric Kiln for bisque and stoneware glaze firings (includes full kiln firing schedule)

------------------------------------

Get your pottery question answered on the podcast!

Submit your pottery question to the Oxford Clay podcast by emailing your question to: [email protected] with the subject line ‘Podcast Question’. 

I read a really interesting book recently on regenerative fashion and it really got me thinking about whether any of the concepts could be applied to the handmade pottery industry. In this episode, I explore author Safia Minney’s ideas in the book Regenerative Fashion: A Nature-based Approach to Fibres, Livelihoods and Leadership and think about ways we could use them as Potters. 

The ideas from Regenerative Fashion I think about are; 

*Thinking about pottery holistically, from where the materials have come from, who has mined them and where, how they have been processed and transported. 

*Whether we can use renewable materials in pottery 

*Eliminating fossil fuels in pottery 

*Using local materials to reduce global transportation. 

*Sustainable design in pottery - designing for the environment rather than for purely aesthetics

If you would like more information on pottery materials, knowing where they come from and their environmental impact, these books from Oxford Clay are particularly focused on this issue: 

Eco-Friendly Pottery: 30 Simple Ways: to make your pottery practice more ethical and sustainable

Eco-conscious Pottery Glazing: Make your own pottery glazes with minimal harm to humans, animals and the environment   

The blog post on Designing Pottery for the Environment mentioned in this episode can be found here. 

The book featured in this episode is Regenerative Fashion: A Nature-based Approach to Fibres, Livelihoods and Leadership Paperback – 28 Nov. 2022 by Safia Minney (Author).

You can watch the video version of this episode on YouTube.

✨Support the Podcast

-------------------------------

Resources for Potters:

⭐ Pottery eBooks

⭐ Pottery Paperback Books available from Amazon

Free Pottery Guides:

🆓 Download the Free How to Make a Pottery Glaze Workbook (suitable for beginners):

🆓 Download the Free How to programme an Electric Kiln for bisque and stoneware glaze firings (includes full kiln firing schedule)

------------------------------------

Get your pottery question answered on the podcast!

Submit your pottery question to the Oxford Clay podcast by emailing your question to: [email protected] with the subject line ‘Podcast Question’. 

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year! ⭐In this episode, I tell you about my four New Year’s resolutions in pottery.  

*Talking to myself kindly about my pottery, especially when things go wrong - an inevitable part of the pottery-making process! Creating a kind, safe space in my own thoughts to make mistakes.

*Prioritise experimentation and playing in pottery.

*Creating a joy list of things I really enjoy doing in pottery (one of them is this podcast!) and only doing those things.  

*To stop rushing through making pottery and instead savour the process of creation. 

You can watch the video version of this episode on YouTube.

✨Support the Podcast

-------------------------------

Resources for Potters:

⭐ Pottery eBooks

⭐ Pottery Paperback Books available from Amazon

Free Pottery Guides:

🆓 Download the Free How to Make a Pottery Glaze Workbook (suitable for beginners):

🆓 Download the Free How to programme an Electric Kiln for bisque and stoneware glaze firings (includes full kiln firing schedule)

------------------------------------

Get your pottery question answered on the podcast!

Submit your pottery question to the Oxford Clay podcast by emailing your question to: [email protected] with the subject line ‘Podcast Question’. 

Every person creating in clay is totally unique and therefore has a totally unique creative style in pottery! In this episode, I talk about the ways you can cultivate your own unique creative style in pottery, such as; 

*The importance of following your curiosity and joy in pottery.  

*How practising pottery techniques reduces the gap between what you want to make and what you can actually make, opening up new creative possibilities. 

*The importance of making ‘mistakes’ and things going ‘wrong’ in pottery for growing your skills. 

You can watch the video version of this episode on YouTube.

✨Support the Podcast

-------------------------------

Resources for Potters:

⭐ Pottery eBooks

⭐ Pottery Paperback Books available from Amazon

Free Pottery Guides:

🆓 Download the Free How to Make a Pottery Glaze Workbook (suitable for beginners):

🆓 Download the Free How to programme an Electric Kiln for bisque and stoneware glaze firings (includes full kiln firing schedule)

------------------------------------

Get your pottery question answered on the podcast!

Submit your pottery question to the Oxford Clay podcast by emailing your question to: [email protected] with the subject line ‘Podcast Question’.