The dragon and headframe linocut forms I made earlier are now being put to the test in their intended medium – clay for firing. I rolled out some slabs and pressed out a dozen dragon impressions and about five McIntyre Headframe scenes. I used the leftover clay to make two pinchpot bowls (only one photographed here). Right now, the linocut discs are in a rough stage (also not an even thickness); they will have some more work done on them next week. These pieces are being made on a pottery class held by Lindo Guiho of Wawaitin Clayworks in town.
The Gaelic Nisei 
I am sure you have tried it already, but anyway: linocut knives work really nice on leather hard greenware. I make textures with them all the time.
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I was wondering how well the knives themselves would work directly on the clay – do you have a preference? I’ve seen squared gouges that look like they would make good designs.
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I just bought a basic set when I was looking around the art store for texturing tools – I don’t actually work with lino. Some fairly small, V and U shaped blades. It works best if the clay is not grogged. And you have to be careful to catch the right time: to soft and it will look messy, to hard the clay and it will look “scratched”.
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Sounds interesting, and I may give it a try at a later point. The only thing I would be concerned with is that that blades may get dull from the clay texture? (Of course, they’re not very expensive to replace.) Do you carve forward into the clay? There is actually a type of blade (Speedball Lino Zips) that are designed to carve by pulling backwards, too.
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Haven’t heard of them before, I will check them out – thanks! Yes, I usually carve forward. It takes some time to get used to, but after you do, works just fine. And yes, they do get dull after a while, especially if the clay is grogged and/or too hard. But they cost only around 5 € per set, (where I live) so it’s no biggie.
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