in the making...
“Have nothing in your
house that you do not
know to be useful or
believe to be beautiful”
the many tools of the trade
mishima on porcelain - very slow work, which was good because at the beginning especially, there was nothing but time. my technique wasn’t great, but it was fun and kept me focused!
new and unfinished work
as you carve, the clay and underglaze are soft enough that they form little curly balls that fall to the bottom of the platter.
process shot
this was actually my first try at carving away an entire block of color to reveal the design. my carving technique was indiscriminate. i learned i had to be thinking about the way the carving looked, not just the design. i ended up sanding the carving away as much as I could.
big learning curve!
i used an old piece of mine that had been formed on a studio form, dusted it with corn starch and suddenly had a new form to play with. here i used underglaze transfers and underglaze for the dots.
lots of handbuilding during covid-19 shutdown
more handbuilding with the use of a form, decorated with transfers and underglaze
not quite finished, still needs some cleaning up. carving technique is getting better, it’s a slow process. this piece is in what I’m calling “the hospital”, because the handles were cracking. I patched it with slip, and it’s slowly drying in a bin with plaster molds lining the bottom -essentially a damp bin aka “the hospital”. i’m really hoping this piece makes it through.
i’m hopeful this works out (true for many things…) stay safe