Screen Printing on Pottery: Or How I Almost Glued a Sieve to a Bowl

The idea came to me one morning, sipping coffee from a cup that felt a little too proper for my taste.
What if I added some graphic design to my pieces? Not a hand-painted pattern—something sharper, more regular, more... experimental.
That’s when the word popped into my head: screen printing.
I was excited. Bright-eyed. Blissfully unaware of the creative mess ahead.

? Step One: Figuring It Out (or Not)

Spoiler alert: I had no clue.
I watched ten videos, read three tutorials, ordered a screen and a frame, telling myself—naively—“this will be fine.”

First obstacle: the photosensitive emulsion.
Even the name made me nervous. The texture? Somewhere between overcooked jam and wood glue. The instructions? Seemed to be translated from Finnish.
I spread it (poorly), let it dry (too long), exposed it (randomly), rinsed it (with hope).
Result: a pitch-black screen with a blurry blob vaguely shaped like a hedgehog. Not quite what I had in mind.

? Step Two: Printing on Clay

But I didn’t give up. I tried again. And again.
Eventually, I got a somewhat clean design. I even did a small victory dance (alone, in the studio, naturally).
I applied it to a slab of raw stoneware—focused, precise, ready to make a masterpiece.
I ink, I lift the screen… and there it goes: smudging, slipping, spreading in every direction.

Lesson learned: screen printing on paper is one thing. Printing on a raw clay bowl drying too fast in a sun-soaked Provençal studio? That’s a whole different game.

? Step Three: The Trial by Fire

One pattern holds. At last!
I glaze it carefully, like I’m handling a Fabergé egg.
Firing. Suspense.
And the next morning, I open the kiln…

✨ There it is. My little screen-printed bowl.
Sharp lines. Not too blurry. No runs.
A small miracle.
It’s not perfect—but it worked. And honestly? It’s a thrill.

❤️ In the End: Plenty of Fails, Plenty of Joy

Since then, I’ve kept experimenting. I grumble, I stain my sleeves with ink, I mutter while cleaning screens, I uncover mistakes I couldn’t have imagined. But I keep going.
Screen printing on pottery is demanding. Technical. But so rewarding.

And now that I’ve started… I’m already dreaming of botanical patterns, bird silhouettes, spiraling texts…
It might just be turning into an obsession.
And I’m totally fine with that.

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