Monday 13 October 2008

Ceramics - Class Three, and Heartbreaking Discovery

This was the sight that greeted me as I arrived for my ceramics class this evening:


My worst nightmare had come true. I dreamt that I took this piece out of the kiln and it crumbled away in my hands. I wouldn't be so disappointed if it wasn't for the fact that this was meant to be a gift. Apparently it was due to the way I had constructed it, building up the face in layers. I had made a face in relief form previously and it had survived the kiln, but that was over 20 years ago and for the life of me I can't remember how I made it. I know it wasn't by using a mould though, which is what the tutor suggested I should have done.

All is not lost though. Hopefully this piece can be rescued. I asked whether the top part can be "glued" on with glaze, and the tutor thought that might be a possibility. If the loose piece can be stuck on I personally think that any remaining visible crack will only enhance the meaning of the piece, which is personal to the person it is intended for. On another positive note, I love the colour that it has come out as.

Going back to my coil pot from last week, this evening I painted it with brown slip and tried sgraffito for the first time!


And after spending so long last week trying to smooth out the inside, I thought it would be a shame not to decorate the inside too!



I was surprised at the demonstration that the tutor did for the slab built pot - I thought we would be making square pots in the same way that Cynthia has shown in the past, but we were sticking to round pots. We made these by wrapping the rolled out clay around a paper covered tube. I decided to make mine into a crumbling old castle.


I thought maybe making something that is supposed to be old and falling apart would help me to steer away from trying to make everything perfect. There's not much to see yet, but hopefully if I get to class early next week I will have time to finish it off before we start...

...throwing!! I can't wait 'til next week!

In the drawing and painting class tomorrow we start drawing in colour!

4 comments:

Kari Gibson said...

Shame about your cracked face, but I agree, the crack showing in a repair would be very symbolic.

I also love the new work on your coiled pot - just perfect!

And I am in total love of your gorgeous castle slab pot!

Undaunted said...

Thank you so much Kari!

I've been thinking about that castle today and I think I might start it again - I only had half an hour of class left to put it together and without thinking it through I think I took the tube out too soon. It was impossible to decorate the outside because the wall kept threatening to cave in with nothing there to support it! Not to worry, it wasn't a whole evening's work and I have learnt from the experience.

I'm glad you like the pot! I can't wait to see what the colours are like when it's fired!

Kathy L said...

I really love the mask. TO be honest with you, I thouht that the crack was supposed to be there :) I think it is a very cool piece...Your post it lovely and the new one is awesome. I could see it holding beautiful fall leaves and grasses. And thank U for the comment on my latest mixed media piece. Your kind words keep me going...

Undaunted said...

Thank you so much Kathy! I'm really pleased you like the face! I agree with you, the crack doesn't look out of place does it? One lady in the class said she thought it looked like a tiara! I think it would look beautiful if I added a sort of tiara with leaves and flowers, but not sure if it would fit in so well with the meaning of the piece. It's something to keep in mind for another piece though!