The reason our business is named Stone Leaf Pottery is because for so many years my favorite motif was leaves. In the 70s I used to produce a line of stoneware with underglaze leaves on it. By the time I opened Stone Leaf Pottery a lot of my work was press molded with leaves.
Tip of the Month: test any leaf before you proceed to use it in production! Some leaves, like rose bush leaves and aspen tree leaves, do not leave a good impression. Aspen leaves on a tree that is sick or hasn’t had adequate water sometimes work, but most of the time they don’t leave a good impression. Peach tree leaves, which grow in a curve, will leave a fold in the impression. I have had beautiful impressions from oak tree leaves, poinsettia leaves, sunflower leaves, and green bean leaves. If you like the shape of a leaf, turn the leaf and look at the underside. You want a distinct, clear, raised pattern.
A leaf that is still moist leaves a more pronounced pattern and is easier to remove from the clay. Once I used some fuzzy, purple leaves, I don’t know what kind of plant they came from. The chemistry in the leaves was so powerful glaze crawled off the leaf impressions during firing, and the mold I used to press into was ruined. Despite scrubbing the mold and firing it again, every pot made in the mold also caused glaze to crawl. Test! Always test! I do not fire with leaves in my clay because I don’t want ash in my kiln. I remove the still-damp leaves using a pithing needle, inserting it under the central vein of the leaf, lifting the leaf and pulling it away with my fingers. Happy firing!
