Hi guys and welcome back to my channel, Blue Nose Trading. My name is Tori Solis, and today I'm going to show you how I made my hexagon kiln cookie system.
Kiln cookies are super helpful in providing extra protection to your kiln shelf when you want to try out questionable things in your kiln, but you don't want to risk your shelf.
I'm using a cone 10 stoneware because I don't fire higher than cone 6. You can make your cookies out of whatever kind of clay you want, but it's good to make them out of a higher temperature body than you would normally fire to so they last a little bit longer. I'm rolling them out to about 1/4", and them I'm going to use a hexagon cookie cutter to cut them out.
These are going to be very thin tiles of ceramic that you can set under your work during firing. If any glaze drips or runs, your kiln cookies can catch it, and if you're lucky, you can knock the cookie off the piece, sand down the bottom and save the piece.
In the studios that I work in, we have a lot of cookies in different sizes. Honestly, the disorganized chaos of all the different cookies in a shared studio space just wasn't going to work for me. The system I came up with uses smaller 3" hexagon cookies. They are easy to store and you can use them in endless combinations to accommodate numerous sizes, shapes and forms. I've found it's difficult to keep larger cookies to stay flat when you are making them without them warping, and with added heat over time they also tend to warp. With these tiles, it's easy to dry them flat, using HardieBacker boards, which I made a video on how to shape those down if you'd like to see it I'll link the link. You only need to throw away a tiny segment of cookie if something goes wrong.
I stamped all of my cookies with a "C" before I fired them so I can remember that those are the cookies. I also have some low fire test tiles in here. They are all bisqued up and nice, and they all came out pretty great. Everyone stayed flat. I fired them about 6 cookies high without any problems. How many high you can go is just a matter of how much you're willing to risk.
The next thing I want to do with these cookies is to cover them in a layer of kiln wash. This is my kiln wash, I've already pre-mixed it. I'll put a link to where you can find some kiln wash. It's basically just an extra extra protection for your extra protection. It's going to help you unstick the cookies if something does drip down. Again, if a cookie gets ruined, these are pretty easy to make.
If you can make Christmas cookies, you can make kiln cookies, and you probably should because why not just have that extra protection. Especially if you're going to be messing with glaze experimentation, or just doing general weird stuff in your kiln. It will save you a lot of time. Instead of having to break a piece off a whole kiln shelf, all you have to do is break the cookie off the bottom. You might even be able to sand it down and save the piece still. These are way cheaper than kiln shelves, I promise.
I plan to develop my own glazes and also work with some glazes that are notoriously runny, and experiment with different glaze combinations. So these are going to be an invaluable tool for me in my studio. I got the hexagon idea from bees. I see a lot of people make round cookies, but these are just so much more space efficient. Since they are small, it's easy to keep them from warping too bad. And like I said, you can just throw away one little piece instead of throwing away a huge piece. They are easy to stack up and store in a nice little box near your kiln.
I hope you found this video helpful, and that you can figure out a way to make kiln cookies that work for you. Or maybe you've just decided that kiln cookies aren't something you need, and that's fine too.
You can find detailed written instructions on how to make these, as well as some links to some of the tools I used in the description below, and if you're on my website, it'll be in the blog description.
If you'd like to see a weekly art video, you can subscribe to my channel, Blue Nose Trading. There's a new video every Friday at 5:30 central time. If you'd like to support my channel and gain early access to all of my YouTube videos, as well as exclusive access to some exclusive content, you can find me at patreon.com/bluenosetrading. I will see you guys next week.
INSTRUCTIONS::
1. Roll out a 1/4" thick slab of cone 10 stoneware.
2. Cut as many cookies as you need with your 3" hexagon cookie cutter.
3. Sandwich cookies between HardieBacker (or other flat surface, but HardieBacker is what I find ideal for fast, even drying without any warping)
4. Bisque fire your cookies. (I fired mine in stacks of 6)
5. Paint on 1-2 layers of kiln wash.
6. Store for use.
MATERAILS::
► Cone 10 Stoneware Clay:: https://tinyurl.com/48tpkz2p
► Rolling Pin (or slab roller)
► 3" Hexagon Cookie Cutter:: https://tinyurl.com/mrxx7c5t
► HardieBacker boards:: https://youtu.be/HjJf-9WtQBs
► Kiln wash:: https://tinyurl.com/8tb2ddk4
► Paintbrush for kiln wash:: https://tinyurl.com/2p95xexw
► I used a "C" stamp to help identify my cookies, but I'm a bit extra.:: https://tinyurl.com/2exsdcvn
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