Sunday, July 29, 2012

No Right Or Wrong Way, 2012


Hand built and dipped paper clay. The honey comb structure was from paper packaging and dipped in Gault 10 paper clay slip until the desired thickness was achieved. The final few coats were dipped in Southern Ice Porcelain paper clay because I wanted a whiter look. The same thing was done with the pods. In addition, I dipped the pods in a beaded white glaze while the paper clay was still bone dry. The pods were then assembled onto the honey comb base.

Close up of pods and the beaded white glaze
In placing the pods, the title of the piece came to me. There is really no right or wrong way for the pods to "grow" out of the base, hence the title.

The entire assembled piece then went through the bisque fire and to Cone 10 reduction. There was some movement of the pods during the final fire but that was OK. The beaded white glaze turned out really nice. I got small beaded crackles on the pods.

This piece is essentially a white on white piece except for the pops of red from the natural seeds in the cup of the pods.

This piece started out as an experiment to see what would happen if I used different materials coated with paper clay. I liked the direction of the piece and continued with it. It survived the firings with no problems and no cracking.

Approx. 12"W x 8"D x 5"H



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