Preliminary Sketches/Primary Ideas

The drawings above are all observational studies from the Frances Richards pots in the Aberystwyth ceramic archives collection. As a starting point I made photocopies of these sketches and played around with creating collage compositions of them, without a huge amount of success. For my existing method of making I start with symmetrical thrown forms and alter them into abstract shapes, something which might be challenging when trying to keep an essence of these pots since they’re all very symmetrical.

I decided instead to get stuck in, trying to replicate some of these forms on the throwing wheel. Having rendered the 3D pots into two dimension through drawing I began to contemplate what would happen if I did the opposite. Could an impression of the 2D majolica patterns on the surfaces somehow be created in 3D? I played with this idea using extruded sections of clay and scratching into the surface with a sharp tool. I wasn’t sure how much the pattern should be referenced in the form and how much in the glazing afterwards but hopefully what works will become clear as I go along.

Potclays Ltd have kindly agreed to sponsor our project and I have decided to work with their Original Red body (maturing temperature 1050-1170C). I’ve used earthenware to create my thrown sculptures before but always high-fired them afterwards. I’m unsure whether the interplay of complex abstract form is going to work with a complicated pattern on top, I’m worried it may be too much. But then I’ve never really adhered to philosophy or minimalism when it comes to my making.

Below are some of the first objects I put together. Thinking back to my previous post and Frances Richards’s love of lids, I began throwing lids and using them in the same way as extrusions, sticking some on at angles so that their familiarity feels alien. Rather than serving a function they appear to reference back more to the abstract majolica decoration, blurring the boundaries between form and surface decoration. Using thrown sections in this way reminded me of the sculptural work of Bryan Newman, one of the artists who sparked my interest in throwing in the first place.

I’m going to keep experimenting…