It is the inventiveness you display in using the techniques of ceramics that will determine how personal and unusual your pieces will turn out.So experiment! Here is an example of how you can put your interesting ideas to work.In this in­stance we start with the throwing of a small-necked vase.When throwing is completed there are many ways of com­bining techniques to decorate.Here we show how black underglaze engobes are worked into etched lines of varying widths and partially removed to show the black lines on a background of the clay body.Glossy glazes, matte glazes, texture glazes and flowing glazes could be used as well for final decoration.•

Above, Harold Castor first affixes small mound of clay to wheel.With hands wet.he places both thumbs inside center of clay and, by keeping his other fingers outside, shapes and centers clay.

Top right, with right-hand thumb over edge of lip the four fingers and left hand control thickness.

Right, after pulling cylinder to desired height for small-necked vase, cylinder is trimmed off about an inch or two above the finished height.

Below, belly or bowl of vase is formed by pull­ing areas closer together.Place hands together in cupping shape and.using a pulling movement, bring upper one-third of the cylinder up and in.

Bottom right, small amount of clay left at top is pulled outward and over thumb to form neck and lip.When vase has dried leather-hard, foot is formed.The vase is then allowed to dry slowly.

With vase bone-dry, we're ready to dec­orate and design.Divide up vase area into interesting spaces, using a soft pencil.Then design within the marked-off spaces, keeping harmony with basic shape of vase and working for imagi­native rather than realistic patterns.

Design completed, scratching tool (in this case an X-acto Ceramic tool kit) is used to scratch decoration into sur­face.Vary the lines or they will seem monotonous, and do not scratch deeper than 1/64 to 1/32 inch.Don't "trace."

Now a black underglaze color is heav­ily brushed over the whole design area.Let it dry; this takes nearly 15 minutes.

Using metal scraper, scrape off area of underglaze color.This will leave the black underglaze within the lines that were scratched, and thus accent them.

If more lines are needed, repeat proc­ess until you have a complete designaround the vase.Vase is then fired in bisque kiln to 1800° F.After it has cooled from firing, use a transparent glossy glaze for interior in the stone­ware temperatures.Spray the exterior with transparent matte glaze and fire it again in kiln to Cone 4.Underglaze color will permeate for diffused effect.

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