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Capturing Marks in Clay

I love hanging out with the Lino-Ladies and really enjoy cutting lino-blocks. It’s a wonderfully meditative process. Despite being interested in and having tried most printing methods, I just don’t seem to care much about actually printing, once the blocks or plates are made.

For every technique there’s a way to do things differently. I’ve moved the lino-block into the ceramic studio, where the fabulous cutting marks and textures can be transferred and captured in clay. There are various approaches to try, playing with positive and negative surfaces, but for now I’m going to talk about applying the technique to clay tiles. I do enjoy making these multiples.

The How-to

Start by cutting a lino-block. Cut away where you’ll want the high areas in the tile to be. Leave texture marks if you want. Here I wanted an organic border and raised lettering. This block is about 5” x 8”. Notice that the type needs to be mirror-image.


Start with a soft clay, not wet, but very pliable. You can use a slab roller or a rolling pin to roll the clay to about 3/8” thick.

Using an old credit card or other straight edge, lightly scrape the surface to smooth it out and compress the clay.


Place the block, cut side toward the clay, on the slab. Use a rolling pin to press the block into the clay by gently rocking the pin in short motions rather than large motions like you might use for pastry. Press, rock, move to another section and repeat. Roll lightly along the edge of the block, then use your hand to press on inner portions of the block. The clay should be about level with the backing on the block.


Press with the hand.


The clay is level with the backing.


At this point you can cut around the edges of the block or create a wider border. To create a nice even border, find a narrow strip of wood or a ruler. Lay it along the edge of the block and cut along the outer edge.



If the clay is very wet, wait 30-60 minutes before proceeding, so it can set up a bit.

You can glue hanging devices onto your fired tile later, but I like to create loops for a hanging wire since wire works well with most hanging systems.

To add the loops, flip the tile and place on a smooth surface, like drywall, or a crease-free piece of t-shirt material. Make two ¼” thick worms of clay. Lay down a skewer or other small wooden piece (a matchstick would do) where you’ll want the ends of the wire. I generally place the loops at a height between ¼ and 1/3 from the tile top. The wider the span, the more stability you’ll get when hanging. Lay the worm over the wood and press the ends into the clay gently. Remove the wooden pieces. At this point you can sign your piece.


Now, to peel off the block. Hold the clay in the flat of your hand and pull very gently to curl it toward your hand on one corner, allowing it to separate from the block. Then take the corner of the block and lift in a gradual motion from one side to the other. It takes some practice to do this without distorting the tile.


Lay the tile on a drying rack. The rack needs to be one where the loops can tuck down between bars, so they don’t get smooshed. If you don’t have a rack with bars, place the tile face down. To keep the tile from distorting during drying, gently place pieces of clay, cardboard, foam-core (many things will do), along all of the edges. Otherwise the edges will rise up as they dry more quickly than the center.


Once the tile is fully dry, you can bisque-fire it, then glaze and fire in whatever methods you like. I’m a fan of raku.

Have fun!


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