I started this particular topic in my previous blog post on 'Kiln Repairing Glazed Ceramics' so this is Part 2, continuation of the kiln repair of a Hagen Renaker 'Sherif' Arabian foal.  In this post I will talk about after the kiln repair of the already glazed piece.  If all I were doing to this earthenware foal was repairing it, I'd simply add white underglaze to match the body with a little grey shading, fire that, then clear glaze so that the entire body had the same sheen.  Tada!  All finished!  But as refiring any piece in the kiln will render it no longer truly 'original finish' then we may as well save OF pieces for cold repair techniques, and instead use kiln repairs to set up a piece for customizing.

After firing the leg repairs I wanted to push forward to also reshape the hooves to have nice, sharper edges, sand the bottom of the feet so the piece stands perfectly without any hint of wobble, resculpt the missing ear so it's flipped backwards, and redo the mane & tail to have more style!  This is the same 'Sherif' fired to repair the legs but without any glaze yet added to the bisque repairs.

Here is the other side showing her or his missing ear reculpted and flipped back.  I have used the same techniques to score the base of the ear deeply with toothy cuts so the new clay can grip & interlock with the already fired ceramic.  Then I also did the same to the mane and tail.  Already glazed, I simply cut deep toothy scoring into the mane & tail or I could have removed them entirely to add new replacements with or without using Kanthal rod to help me shape the tail.  Again I used bisque mender only here but I could have applied it initially for it's greater strength as dried greenware and then added regular earthenware clay right over it.

Here is a top view to show the mane and tail resculpting in progress before firing.  DO remember to wear protective mask suited to working with silica clay if you are at any point sanding or shaping DRIED clay or bisque mender.  Otherwise always work it while it's still damp or wet so there is no clay dust.  Here you can see I have added & detailed the mane but not yet detailed the tail in this shot.  If it cracks when drying, simply fill in any cracks as you go because the clay will shrink.  After bisque firing it, more cracks may appear as the clay shrank again while fired.  Fill those cracks in as well then you are ready to proceed either onto over glazes, or clear glazing.

Contrary to popular belief, YES you can add underglazes right over top of an already glazed piece!  If the glaze is also low fire then the underglaze will simply sink right into the glaze when you bisque fire it to cone 04 to mature the underglaze.  Work it as normal to lift, etch & otherwise prep each layer.  Fire as if it were a regular earthenware bisque.  As long as the underglaze you are adding isn't super thick it'll be fine & sink into the glaze layer below it.  If you apply the underglaze TOO thickly then it may form a crust that cracks rather than sinks into the glaze.  If that happens you can also repair it but better to not add too super thick a layer in the first place. 

Now we have the same Hagen Renaker 'Sherif' foal with the first layer of underglaze fired!  At this point the leg & ear repair are pretty hidden.  I continued on with the next layer of underglaze to detail the mane with hand painting.  Push everything as far as you need to in steps, add all the details you want, then bisque fire one more time.  After that you are ready to add your clear glaze and do what may be your final firing to cone 06 as normal, just the same as if this piece had been a bisque & not already glazed.

Tada!  This is the completed kiln repaired, resculpted & reglazed Hagen Renaker 'Sherif' Arabian foal to a soft baby 'black'.  Black foals are often grey or get sunburnt brown before they shed out their baby coat for a true black adult coat.  My client was thrilled with this piece and I am too.  Alternatively, if you overglaze, I could easily then continue working to custom glaze this piece to push it further.  Or if you don't work with underglazes, skip that stage to move right into clear glazing and then overglazing.  The actual kiln repairs can show however if you don't cover them with opaque colors so keep that in mind to build up layers or use specifically opaque rather than transparent over glazes such as opaque enamels before you progress to transparent china paints.  Have fun with it!

Watch out for future posts on how I actually resculpt a bisque or glazed piece to add a new mane & tail from start to finish.