New Maker’s Mark and Work in Progress

I’m going to order one of those crisp little maker’s mark stamps from Babette Cox, but I wanted to do a bit of testing first to be sure I do it right.  For example, do I want my mark to be embossed or debossed, or in simpler terms, will the letters be “inny” or “outty”?  How large do I want the mark to be?  Do I want to replicate my handwritten “WMc” I’ve been using for years, or use my logo font to make it look more finished?  My solution to having so many unanswered questions was to create a few small photopolymer plates to test out my ideas.  Here’s where I landed.  I used the font and I dropped the little “c”, but might just add it back.  I prefer to have the letters raised in the impression.  And, I need the whole thing to be really teeny, like 1/4″ across.  I can cut out the piece with a tiny circle cutter, which aligns it with my brand.  I’m not sure anyone else will notice this, but it makes a big difference to me.  I’m going to work with this plate for a while until I’m sure I like the results in all applications before I order the stamp.

I’ve been working on a pair of dragons.  I’m taking a more planned approach to the carving and I really like the results.  Here are the dragons in the greenware state before going into the kiln.  I also took a quick shot of the larger dragon with the luscious patina.  I get really pretty colors by adding salt and ammonia to the liver of sulfur solution.  I’m also learning the art of when to stop.  Even after you dunk the piece in cold water and transfer to a cup of water loaded with baking soda, the color continues to develop.  It really is part science and part art.  This piece polished up beautifully and those gorgeous purple hues stayed in the carved areas.  I’ll show the finished piece soon.