Friday, 14 September 2012

Playing with textures

Just lately I've been exploring new textures, using a variety of tools to carve and scrape the clay into shape. I'm looking for stone-like surfaces which I can fire in a wood kiln without a glaze, but it hasn't proved easy to achieve textures which look natural and authentic, as well as being pleasing to the eye. There is, I think, a fine balance to be achieved between texture and shape..it seems that the more dramatic and "loose" the texture, the harder it is to keep control of the form.

Here are a few examples of pieces I've produced over the last week or so. Just greenware at the moment, but hopefully I will be able to fire them at the end of this month.











The sake cups in the third and fourth photos down were very experimental. Made from very coarse clay with extra sand and grog added, they were formed by placing a soft ball of clay over the end of a wooden rolling pin. The clay was then carved just using the side of an index finger. I like this kind of random surface but the overall shape is less appealing..and it's impossible to remove the piece and adjust the form without destroying the rough texture.

9 comments:

  1. They're all interesting, but I especially like the shape and texture of the last one.

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    1. Thank you, Keith, that was the last one I completed this afternoon. I'm very happy with it, and it's given me some ideas for larger sculptural pieces.

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  2. I like the fourth to the last one, great shapes and textures.

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  3. Bravo Mark--they are all excellent! They have new qualities (the roughness, the texture, the shapes) as well as the previous sculptural ones. I love the last two.

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  4. Thank you both for the kind comments, it's good to hear positive reactions to my work.

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  5. Like the saki cup process -- what if you wrap the form with some stiff paper before applying the clay. Then could you use the paper to slide it off and avoid touching/deforming the shape? Lots of possibilities to mine there.

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    1. Yes indeed, that could make it easier to remove without pressure on the surface. One of the problems with this kind of technique is consistency..the results often emerge from serendipity, and it's not always easy to remember how you got there in the heat of the moment..

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  6. glad i found your blog today. saw one of your pots on pinterest so googled you. love the contrast of chiseled and broken surface.

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  7. Thanks for your interest in my work, Patricia, and for the kind words.

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