Coming back to regular work at the studio after a few months break is great but can also be a little frustrating. At first, it feels as if ideas are just not coming and that I'm basically recycling shapes and images I have done before. I make a few mugs, a couple of covered jars, some boxes (always pleasing and relaxing)....finally after a couple of weeks, I feel that my hands and mind are getting into sync again. I challenge myself to throw a little higher; straight but not too narrow, and gravitate toward elongated figures. Not the dynamic, sometimes even contorted figures I've done in the past, but rather still, long and stable.
I was pretty happy with the work in progress. The white jar (porcelain) is shown here in a very early stage of development, just the initial rough sketch. When the clay is dry enough not to collapse from touch but not so dry that it is impossible to carve into it (it is called the "leather hard" stage), I use a wooden tool that looks like a pencil and make lightly rough sketches. Once I'm more or less happy with the ideas and composition, I use various tools to create the full carving. This is what you can see on the darker jar (grey stoneware).
These carved jars went through the initial bisque firing, and then it was time for glazing. With carved decorations like these, I like using glazes whose colors vary based on thickness. So where the glaze is thick because it is filling a carved space, it might come out much darker or significantly lighter than where it is covering the surface in a thin layer.
The results did not come out as I expected.
The green glaze on the white porcelain came out a little too intense and dark. The figures are clearly outlined, but I imagined a softer, dreamier look. What happened? Who knows--the glaze may have been a little too thick or maybe I applied too much of it. Possibly it has to do with the atmosphere in the kiln, or the location of the jar in it....as I said, who knows. There are never guaranteed results in ceramics. The other jar--I hoped for a deeper blue and sharper contrasts over the carved surface. This one came out very quiet, melancholy...it is true that I made it during a particularly rainy week.
The point is that every piece is ultimately a surprise. Many factors influence the final result. I have learned not to be too attached to any piece and certainly not to the image of it I have in my head during the various stages of its development. When I see the finished piece coming out of the kiln, I try to suspend judgement. Now that it is done, the work is its own and it will show me and anyone else looking what it has to offer.
So here is the next one in the making. Here I painted the jar blue, carved into it (so you see the white clay under), and added some black and blue highlights. Now it is time to wait and see what comes out of the kiln.....
