Hawthorn Tree Texture Roller

by Sarah Pike @sarahpikepottery

953
42
1

wrapping the design around the clay cylinder

tracing the design onto the cylinder using a pin tool

final touches carving the design into the cylinder

texture roller bisqued and ready to roll

soft slab with texture rolled onto its surface

I make my texture tools out of finely sieved clay, meaning there aren't any larger particle pieces of sand or grog in the clay.
For my texture rollers, I make a rectangular slab of clay and join the two ends to form a cylinder.
While the cylinder is setting up to a hard leather hard, I draw a picture of what I would like on my texture roller on a piece of paper. The paper should be the same dimension as the original rectangular slab or smaller.
When the cylinder is ready, I wrap my drawing around the cylinder and trace my drawing over the slab. The pressure of my tool leaves an impression in the clay.
I carve out the areas of my design that I would like raised on my future projects.
The texture roller is then dried slowly, and bisqued.
Once bisque, the texture roller can be rolled across a soft slab to reveal the new design. This textured slab can now be used for a variety of projects.