I'm working on repairing/ improving a piece of ceramic art I made, probably in middle school. This cute dragon sculpture!
The whole thing was too heavy and when it was fired, the head and one or two of the limbs broke off. It wasn't too hard to fix at the time, but at the suggestion of my instructor at the time, I didn't glaze it (so as to avoid any further damage during firing), and opted for just painting it instead. Over time, that paint has worn off, and some pieces have broken off as well.
So, I've decided not just to glue the pieces back together haphazardly, but also to improve on the original by doing a more detailed (and hopefully longer lasting) paint job on it.
First, removing the current paint!
As it seems it was painted with latex paint, and I appear not to have used any kind of gesso on the surprisingly smooth surface of the ceramic, the paint was already peeling, so for a first pass, I've just pulled it off.
firstpasspaintremovalpieces.jpg
That's all I've managed to get done so far, I think I'm going to try taking atoothbrush or something to it to get the last pieces of paint off of it, and then I'm going to do a little research on painting on ceramics. My guess is I'll end up possibly sanding it, definitely gessoing it, and then painting!
What method I'll use to reaffix the pieces is still up in the air. The glue that had been used to attach one of the arms came off along with the paint! I'd rather not experience that again down the line. If anyone reading this has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!
