Monday, July 9, 2012

Sometimes You Just Have To Give Up Control


I know for a fact that as an artist I like to control every aspect of my art production from initial design and concept to the fabrication process and all the way to the end product.  I think this is only natural as we all have an idea of what we want our piece to look like. Sometimes my finished piece comes close to my original concept, sometimes it far exceeds my expectations and at other times, it comes up short. That is just part of the creation process.
        
In this project, I dipped some coffee filters in my paper clay slip and let them dry.  I had no control how they would come out so I just went with the flow of things.

I joined 3 of them to make a subunit and from there, joined more to build up the assemblage. When joining them, I have no idea what the final shape will be like so I just have to trust in the esthetics of the project.  If I don't like the way it is progressing I can always split them apart and start over. That's the wonderful thing about using paper clay.

Right now, it is bone dry and ready for bisque fire. I think I will leave this in the natural color of the Gault 10 paper clay and take it to Cone 10 reduction and see what happens.

I like the texture of the piece and it looks different from every angle. This reminds me of some coral formation that you see in the barrier reef.


I'll post again when I have this piece fired. Stay tuned ...

6 comments:

Unknown said...

You are definitely working on the coral matrix idea, I like it!

Mica Vogiatzi said...

I've just found your blog.it's my lucky day!
Thank you

Anthony Foo said...

Hello Mica,
Welcome! Hope you find the information and articles here useful.

Anonymous said...

Do the coffee filters burn away in the firing, leaving the clay form of the material behind?

Anthony Foo said...

Yes, the coffee filters burn away at the bisque temperature.

Unknown said...

Definitely looks like coral. Love this technique! Thank you for sharing!

Shawna
jsbarts.blogspot.com