Slip Trailing

Slip trailing is a decorating method where thick liquid clay (“slip”) is piped onto leather-hard pieces to make raised lines, dots, and patterns.

Emma makes porcelain slip from clay she trims off larger pieces: she dries, crushes, and reworks it by hand, reusing material that would be discarded.

The colorful designs are painted with underglaze, a type of glaze that stays sharp and bright under a clear top glaze, allowing fine, detailed designs.

A tabby cat drinking water from a green ceramic bowl.
White ceramic cat-shaped dish with intricate swirl and dot patterns, set against a transparent background.

In practice, slip trailing is drawing with clay. It’s utilizing a fine nozzle to create patterns that survive firing and brilliantly catch light under glazes.

Each mark is applied by hand, piece by piece, so variations are part of the character and proof of the making.

Colorful abstract painted ceramic bowl with wavy sides.
Colorful, abstract, patterned artwork on a round plate with small, wavy, and dotted designs in a variety of bright colors.
A round, pale green ceramic dish with intricate maze-like carvings on its surface, set against a transparent background.

Emma Dill

Emma is a porcelain-first ceramic artist whose work blends 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.

A woman looking at a display of small decorative bowls in an art gallery.

The Grumpy Dispatch

Sign up for periodic studio notes: market dates, the (rare) shop drop, and fresh pics of Wallace & Yams doing their important studio jobs.

Low volume, high signal.

A ceramic bowl with black abstract line art designs on a white background, shaped like a cat's face, with pointed ears.