Good Golly! Six weeks later and I am finally seeing results from class! The slow pace has been a bit hard for me to take... and I admit I have lost a bit of motivation for creating when I see the work sitting on shelves for weeks. Anyhow, our very first assignment (6 long weeks ago!) was to hand build functional & non-functional cups & the application of slips. On the one below, my idea was to create a fragile & whimsical cup. The clay body was covered w/ a fine white slip then bisque fired, coated w/ clear glaze & fired again. I thought it turned out pretty cute.
:)
Below is it's non- functional counterpart. I used the same whimsical design, but created a bullet hole through it to suggest the fragility of life. (Just as a cup is a vessel... so is our body... and it only takes one act of violence, or one thing to "go wrong" to render it non-functional.)
I think the concept came across well in the piece. Below is another functional cup. I wasn't so happy w/ the "final product," but it was a good experimentation in the use of colored slips. The clay body is white, a black slip is applied, then either carved into to show the clay body beneath, or further painted w/ a white slip. I did a little of both.
I wanted to put something I love into the cup... so I added mountains, a full moon... and well, let's face it, who would not want to wake up & drink a "cup of joy" every morning?!
But when I took it home, I realized I just can't drink out of a black cup~ can't really see your liquid level & I prefer lighter colors for drinking & eating. I'll use it to put my glaze brushes in.
:)
Below is probably my favorite piece. Inspired by the design of the first functional & non-functional cups, I made this little vase... but added a bit more "movement" to it.
It's about 4 inches tall & would be perfect for some spring wildflowers once they arrive! I've been experimenting w/ different sizes & shapes of the same sort of design and they are quite enjoyable to make. We're also in the process of learning how to mix our own engobes (like an underglaze) so that is pretty exciting. In fact, I'm off to throw some test pieces in the Kiln... hoping to get a rich black like in the mug above to use for my "oil spill" in my Polar bear city piece.
Happy Weekend, Everyone!
:)
