Last minute pieces of sculpture…

I wanted to include some oval ovoid pieces in my degree show, I had one that I was happy with but would have preferred a couple more options to choose from. With this in mind I constructed two different styles, a stacked piece and a connected sculpture. 

The connected sculpture had some lovely movement to it and I was pleased with how it had developed and all the connections had worked without any cracks or flaws. However I did have some sort of ‘mad’ moment and went completely off track with the glaze. I decided to use a thick oxide paste to try and create a metallic effect (its something that had worked for me before on a different coloured clay body). This work was in red stoneware and the resulting finish just didn’t work at all, I ruined what had the potential to be a very good piece of work, I was so annoyed with myself. I don’t know what made me do it, and I can only think that it was a combination of stress and panic affecting my decision making. Below are images of the piece with the oxide paste. I attempted to sand the oxide with a diamond pad to see if it would reveal a more metallic look but this was ineffective.

The stacked piece was more successful, I had used a new white stoneware clay described by the manufacturer, Valentine Clays as a cheaper alternative to T Material. I was looking for a white clay body that would cope with the stresses I was putting it under and  had bought a bag to test it out. It did not disappoint, it turned out to be a brighter tone than the ES40 and was really nice to work with.

I had deliberately curved one of the supporting posts for my stacked forms and planned to use that one for this piece. The graduating sizes were chosen to be assembled to give the impression of something biomorphic, I thought it looked like it was almost spinal but also plant like. See pictures below. 

I was very reluctant to glaze this piece, I enjoyed the simplicity of the surface as I thought it really highlighted the intricate details in the form. However after some discussion with my tutor Rob, it was agreed that I would use the black crawl glaze on this piece as well. See below.