Next year, I am taking the AP 3D Studio Art which requires pieces of Concentration (which is done individually and follows a theme) along with pieces of Breadth which the teacher gives a theme such as repetition and must create a piece that represents that.
I recently finished sculpting my first piece for my concentration and although nothing is fired yet, I have finally finished adding things on to it. I think the best thing about this concentration portfolio is that I get to move away from creating work that must be usable and focusing more on a sculptural side. It has really been a while since I got to sit down and really get creative.
My theme is duality, which is the balance of everything. Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing or you can always see goodness even in the depths of evil and other things like that has been my main focus.
My first piece is Contrasting Koi Fish. I have added scales to the fish but this is the basic gist to it.
So the first thing into making this was that I threw the bowl on the wheel using Georgie’s Black Clay from Oregon. I wanted the focus to be on the Koi fish rather than the actual vessel and the black clay gives beautiful results with dark, earth colors. The only thing about the black clay is moderation is key. The black clay has virtually no grit in it so drying slowly over the course of many many days is the way to go.
The two fish were sculpted in BMix which is almost like faux porcelain but since porcelain is a pain to work with and is super expensive right now, I opted for BMix and the Red Stoneware. I was originally was going to do one black and the other white but the vessel was already black.
The flower was added as a final touch sort of thing because without it, the piece seemed a little dull and without a purpose. The flower gives it a more elegant touch and ties the outside of the tray/bowl with the inside. The flower was made from white stoneware and red stoneware.
When working with a piece like this, I usually just judge to see what ties everything together. Balancing symmetry with asymmetry allows the audience to not be bored with the repetition. Since this picture I have added scales on the fish and have left it out to be bone dry. I pray for no cracks and none of the petals to fall off.
Commissions
I didn’t realize how long this post is going but I also worked on commissions. It’s finally summer and I can update a little more about what I have been up to. This nice lady wanted these super tall vases for her mantle and she focused more on color rather than shape. She wanted two of them, one to be tall and thin and the other to be a bit more variety.
The smart thing to do would have been to test shrinkage but I kind of winged it and I might have to redo the first piece. This piece in the picture is the second piece and for sure this is making the final pass. I ran out of red stoneware so by the time I started this the first piece was already finished. The lady wanted both the pieces to be 16 inches tall and with the first piece i got it to be about 17 inches and then it shrunk to about 14 inches (Leila Fail). This piece two the right is about 20 inches so it will make the cut for 16 inches.
This piece is 2 pieces put together. The first piece is 10 pounds and the second piece is only around 4 or 5 pounds. I threw the first part and immediately threw the second part and added it on top. I then shaped both and hid the seam and set it outside to dry.
The only good thing about Texas summers is that I can finish a whole piece in one day. I made it first thing in the morning and had it sit outside until a tad bit under leatherhard. The only thing about that is the Amaco Plastibats tend to warp in direct sunlight so I got to play the fun game of find the shade. It gave me a heart attack because this thing can lean super easily.
Trimming something like this can be a challenge but since it is sitting tall on a mantle, it doesn’t need to thin, nice, refined bottom. The bottom would be better flat and have a bit of heft in it so that it can stand tall and sturdy. In this picture, this picture is already trimmed. After throwing, leave it on the bad and you can go back and just run a loop tool along the side until it is to your liking. To guarantee that my piece won’t loosen and pop off, I gave it a bit of skirt to suction it to the bat. I trimmed all that off later. After all of that, then I cut it off and put it on a board. Later, when it is bone dry, I can take a shammy, (A shamwow cut to fit a bat) and clean up the rough bottom edge when needed.
Finished results will hopefully be up soon, but it just depends on kiln cycles 🙂
-Leila
Here is a video timelapse of throwing two pieces together.
Leila's Ceramics 