Invaluable Paper Clay Technique

This Is one of the major advantages of paper clay over a traditional clay, being able to continuously work on a piece even though the base piece is bone dry, in this case, adding wet paper clay onto a bone dry paper clay base. I use this technique often in my sculptures.

In this current project, I decided to add some texture to the pyramid base of my new succulent planter. I find the smooth sides too blah and in need of some interesting texture for the glaze to grab onto. The base was recycled from another project so I was happy to be able to use it with a bit of modification.

I knew I wanted some thick heavy texutre so I lathered on a thick layer of paper clay slip the consistency of heavy oatmeal on each side, and then proceeded to gouge deep furrows in the still wet paper clay slip to get my design. This process was repeated for each of the four sides of the base. The piece was then set out to dry. Then it will be ready for bisque fire.

It’s a Gut Thing

No, I’m not talking about the Thanksgiving feast most of us have partaken in this year, nor am I talking about the extra pounds most of us will put on between now and the new year that will make many of us flock to a gym to make good on our New Year’s resolution to be in better physical shape for the new year.

I’m refering to something we feel and use all the time as artists creating our works. It is a very experiential and personal feeling and may even defy explanation, but we all feel it, either consciously or subconsciously.

They are words I say to myself, “I like it” or “It feels right.” At times, it’s the other way around when I look at my piece in progress and, “Hmmm, that’s not working out. I don’t like the feel of it.”

I think as artists we rely on this internal feedback a lot more than we ever imagine. It is done continuously and intuitively as we create a piece of work and all the way through till the end of the project. We rely on our gut feelings and our individual esthetics to place the next  blob of clay on our sculpture, to reposition or remove the clay until it looks and feels right to us.

We do not go by text books or set formulae to direct our hands and eyes which work so naturallly and efficiently that to others it may look like magic what an accomplished aritist or scluptor can do.

Sure, you learn the fundamentals and basics from your teacher, mentor, or from a course. That will only take you so far. After that, you are on your own. It’s you, your preferred medium, in my case, paper clay, your esthetics and your gut.

So, take pride in that feeling that makes each of us unique, creating our own works of art to share with the world.

Trust in your gut.

Mystery Mushroom Solved!

Well, I finally found out how my mystery mushroom came to be.

I hosted a private studio tour for the students of the McGroarty Arts Center about 2 months ago and the organizer of the tour, Michelle, left her gift for me as a token of appreciation when she came to the house.  She actually made the mushroom during the paper clay workshop I conducted over there, and I recalled seeing her working on it.

So, now, I can sleep at night knowing the souce of this adorable mushroom. It certainly was well hidden in my garden or  I have to be more observant of things popping up. Maybe, I just have to do more yard work !!

Thanks, Michelle.

Mystery Mushroom

This week I found a ceramic mushroom underneath the Japanese Black Pine in my front garden.

I have no idea who left it there or how long it has been there. What's more interesting was that it was made by some one, glazed and high fired. Did that someone knew I do ceramics? Was it one of my neighbors' kids?

It was actually quite well made and rather large for a mushroom.  On the bottom, it had some glazing notation. Iron Oxide was used for the gill area of the cap and for the spots on top of the cap. The "CuR", I believe stands for Copper Red.

I thought I'd post it here since it is ceramic related. To whoever gave his/her mushroom a new home in my garden, a very big and happy "Thank You" to you!

Maybe I'll make some more mushrooms to keep this one company!

Steel, steel and more steel

My latest piece, "You Never Forget Your First Love."

Completed just a few days ago. The original concept, design sketches, and idea are several years old. I started work on the pod this year and was finally able to put everything together.

The pod is Gault 10 paper clay. This is my standard paper clay for my sculpture pieces. Fired to Cone 10 reduction with Van Gilders flashing slip and black iron oxide stain. I enhanced the surface with an acrylic pearlescent wash. The studio lights really bring out the shine in this treatment. The heart inside the box is finished with a hand rubbed copper leaf paint.

When you have a piece like this, the question is how to mount and display the work.

The support rod is 3/8" dia. stainless steel and the base is a really heavy, high carbon steel plate. The base has to be heavy enough to support this pod which about 32 inches high. My friend, James, who's a machinist, supplied me with these scrap steel pieces.

The barbed wire is from my family's house in Penang. It was put up by my dad way back in the 70's in our garden as fencing. It has weathered into a texture and color I really like and I used up all the barbed wire I brought back. I think it was almost 40 feet of it, if not more.

To me, ceramics blends itself very nicely with other materials and I use them to make the piece and tell the story.

41"H x 11" W  x 11"D

Back To The Drawing Board

In this case, it's back to the slab roller, so to speak.

This was the result of my planter after Cone 10 reduction fire. It collapsed and "ate" two other pieces in the kiln. Sorry!

I wrote an earlier post about needing a new planter for my succulents which are overgrowing the current planter they are in. I decided to use some left over paper clay mixed with coffee grinds. The concept was good but the kiln gods and Cone 10 temperatures taught me a thing or two.

When everything turns out well after a firing, we seldom give it much thought. More often than not, it's a sigh of relief that the piece turned out well and came close to expectations.

I learn a lot when a piece does not survive a high fire. I begin to ask why it did not work and sometimes the answers stare back at me like, "Yea, you should have known about this all along." I learn more from my mistakes than my successes.

So, why did it fail?

Not a person to waste my coffee grinds, I used too much and the strength of the form where it contacted the base was compromised. At Cone 10 temperatures, it did not have enough vitrified clay left to hold its shape and hence, the slump. Moreover, the edges of the planter were rather thick so there is the weight factor.

When I redo this piece (because my succulents really need a new home), these lessons will come in handy for a successful second attempt.

Finished

Fired to Cone 10 reduction with no glazes. The buff color is the natural color of the Gault 10 paper clay. The twinges of oranges are from the reduction environment in the kiln.

I wanted to see how this experimental piece comes out in its natural state.

See my earlier blog entry on the start of this piece.