Slip Trailing
Slip trailing is an old decorating technique in clay: thickened liquid clay (“slip”) is piped onto leather-hard pots to draw raised lines, dots, and patterns. The approach became a hallmark of 17th-century English slipware—think Staffordshire dishes signed by makers like Thomas Toft—and later traveled with potters to North America, where Pennsylvania redware often featured bold, trailed designs. Earlier traditions in China’s Cizhou kilns show how slip decoration more broadly (painting, carving through slip) has deep roots across cultures.
In practice, slip trailing is drawing with clay. It’s utilizing a fine nozzle to lay down controlled relief that survives firing and brilliantly catches light under the transparent glazes. It’s an additive technique (as opposed to carving/sgraffito), which keeps the surface soft to the touch while adding graphic detail. On porcelain the clean, bright ground makes those raised lines read crisp and luminous.
We use slip trailing to give each piece a little “lift.” Each mark is applied by hand, piece by piece, so variations are part of the character and proof of the making.
Emma Dill
Emma is a porcelain-first ceramic artist whose work blends saturated color, abstract shapes, and fine pattern work.
Refined but never precious, each piece is made to be used, collected, and enjoyed. The studio takes its name from her two “Grumpy Girls,” Wallace and Yams.
The Grumpy Dispatch
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