I have been looking again at carved pieces, placed one on top of each other as they will be as totems or a water feature and was unhappy about the appearance where they abut; in particular the carved areas where they meet and leave visual gaps. Should I insert ceramic ( or even rubber ) washers between the pieces? If so should these be of a standard size when the main components are not, and can be placed in any order? Should the carved pieces alternate with plain spheres, introducing a design constraint? In addition these irregular ridges are unstable especially during firing when they are free standing in the kiln, without the stabilising central post that will be present when assembled. Further more they worsen the glazing challenge. A few weeks ago, Annie Peaker also made some helpful observations about globes and pointed out that true spheres resting on a surface look wrong; they look better slightly flattened at the base -and are more stable too. Light bulb moment ...... I am making each of these carved altered spheres with a standard sized hole through which a pole will go. I am using a plastic sellotape roll innard and the see through top of a pressurised can to impress onto the clay to give me the limits of this standard hole. The revised plan is to make each with a standard diameter flat area top and bottom. This area will be unglazed, reducing the firing and propping problems and will be hidden by the next piece with its standard size flat ring going on top. You will notice that the top one of this stack is flat - but not level. I have found it really challenging to get the two holes lined up exactly opposite, even when I measure from the join line. I will need to get a spirit level. I no longer use a damp sponge to smooth off and even out the surface and have abandoned steel wool. I now use those green scrubbing /scouring pads on the dry clay (whist wearing a mask and under the extractor fans). They leave a scoured rather than the gritty surface left by the sponge and the residue is easier to remove.. I am still concerned about stability. though the new 'flat ended ' design is an improvement. At Postfest in the Park Wendy Lawrence's totem had a significant lean. I plan to stick the central pole of mine well into the ground, but I can't use this method for a water feature as there would be problems of leakage if the central pole went through the bottom of the reservoir.
The other concern relates to weight. If a totem or water feature reaches six foot in height there will be a considerable force on the lowest piece. Again not a major problem for a totem, but a water feature will have the water reservoir and pump below a supported canopy. More thinking.
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I have been concerned about finding a glaze that will be semi translucent, a strong bright colour, and wont drip off the piece sticking it to the kiln shelf. Metal stilts and ceramic triangles keep the pot off the shelf but are designed for earthenware, not high temperature stoneware firings. Props can only go so far -and sometimes no further as previously demonstrated by this piece:- Part of the problem is that I put the glaze on too thickly and part that it runs too much, so although I did not damage the kiln shelf there is no realistic chance of removing these props. Should the base be completely unglazed? I want to avoid that. Whilst at the Park and Pens Postfests I discussed this problem with a number of people and also thought further about the design. I was advised to try ceramic wadding - not something I had come across. Dave later showed me how to make and use it. You need equal quantities of alumina, china clay and flour, made up into a fairly stiff, almost dry dough like paste. This is formed into little balls on which to rest the piece during firing . These little balls become friable and (fairly easily) chipped or ground off. The next problems are design, getting the right glazes and glaze application. This one was spray glazed and fired with wadding. There are no 'potters tears' on this piece. Although the colour is similar the glaze recipe is different and the glaze is applied in a thinner layer - both may be a factor. It did however prove difficult to spray the glaze into the carved grooves. Even with directional spraying the glaze in some is really thin. I have not solved the glaze recipe problem. Although this one has not run, and is a nice colour others in the range were not. It was a joy to meet Halima Cassell in person when she came and gave a take to the design MA students early this year. I had read articles about her in Ceramic Review and had been to see her show in Kirkby some years ago. She showed images during her talk, some dating back to her BA and MA courses at UCLAN, so when I went to her show in Manchester Art Gallery I was comfortable that there would be big differences between her work and what I am aiming to do. Of course there is - she started with clay but now works with multiple materials : clay, wood, glass, (as I had seen in Kirkby) marble and Jesmonite. Her ceramics are unglazed, though many are for display outside and of course hers are stunningly precise. I had expected to see sharp edges and rounded deep hollows on her deeply carved forms; perfect symmetry and predominantly geometric shapes. She has now developed rounded crests and some movement away from symetry. Her 'virtues of unity' series started some time ago utilises the same basic dish form for each, using clays from, and trying to express the characteristics of, different countries. She demonstrates the almost endless variety that can be achieved with a similar basic shape and style. Her newer work goes beyond those boundaries. In her own words she has 'loosened up' with flowing lines, rounded external shapes and ridges but with symmetry never far away. I have chosen a few images to demonstrate the variety of form and materials she has used and that now characterize her work Even Halima Cassell has had her disasters, as when her 'Torso' piece blew up in the kiln .....but she turned it into a success and exhibited anyway. I came away from this exhibition in Manchester realising I had been influenced more by Halima Cassell than I had previously acknowledged. I was reassured that although her work is now freer in style there are still very significant differences between her sculptures and the garden forms I aim to produce. it was also reassuring, looking at her Japanese thrown and carved pots, that she too had areas of weakness and had had to move on from them. Also her carving technique is flawless and I need to improve mine! No, this Synagogue is not in the Middle East but on Jerusalem Street in Prague. It is the most recently built, about a hundred years old and outside the old Jewish quarter. It seems to reflect the optimism of a new state, released from the Austro-Hungarian Empire to create its own path. The interior is covered in a riot of pattern in slightly competing styles. The decorators had fun. When I visited in June, the synagogue was hosting a photographic exhibition by Marek Bouda, entitled 'Event Horizon' - he described the horizon as a
'a border line beyond which we do not see and do not know what will happen.' The images were dominated by contrast , light and shade. This is a theme that I have also been thinking about as it is the shadows that define my carved decoration and create the interest on individual pieces. I had been given advice to change my test tiles to ones which would better resemble my final pieces. I have now moved on to tombstones: they are more carefully measured(10x5cm); much thicker in order to reflect my final pieces and carved out rather than slashed. Initially I did these test tiles 'wet roughened' as this was the treatment I had given to the forms. Micaela's comment in the semester one assessment, questioning whether this was necessary or desirable started a process of reflection about the surface of the clay. By carving with wooden tools on softer clay I had found that the protruding areas were vulnerable to damage. When the clay was firmer the shape was more secure but the process hurt my joints. Moving to metal turning tools there was a contrast in texture between the original surface and the carved walls, and it was difficult to achieve the flowing rounded edges I was aiming for. The action of wiping down with a damp sponge evened out the texture over the form, took off remaining 'burrs' and smoothed the curves. The downside was that I had to dry the piece even more slowly and I was uncertain the the very grogged texture would be an advantage in holding the glaze, and how attractive it would be. I did test tiles to match. Dave then suggested that instead of a damp sponge, I use fine grade steel wool on a very dry form (under extraction of course). I tried this and found it worked on the shape though not as well as the damp sponge, but did leave a smoother surface. I used a lot of steel wool for the two pieces I tried it on, and also found that the steel wool was too heavy to be easily sucked up even when using a brush to loosen the detritus. I dont know how any remaining bits of steel wool will affect glaze. My sponged test tiles were dried, fired and glazed, but meanwhile I have been working on progressively firmer clay (when I can control the impatience) and on developing my technique so that I am required to do less smoothing off. A new surface needs new test tiles! When Halima Cassell came to give her excellent talk to the MA design students in the spring, she answered further questions when she came back to the Ceramics department. Not only had she recommended that we "use just one tool and learn to use it well" but also said that she carved "tiny bits at a time" off clay that had dried "beyond leather hard". Sometimes we have to learn the hard way.
On holiday with the family in June i was surrounded by potato fields. The plants were at the stage of being big enough to merge along the (roughly parallel) rows but not between. The rows curved and danced over the contours so that as you passed there was a continuously changing perspective. The hills themselves formed folds and shadows, and there was magical light through the trees.....
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AuthorI am indulging my passion for ceramics by undertaking studies for an MA at UCLAN Archives
August 2021
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