Out of the Blue……..

As you may have noticed these past few posts on the Blog I have been playing catch up.

Two reasons for this, the first is my very poor time management skills. I have to get a grip……. And secondly that I am currently sitting in a Hotel lobby in Delft, Holland. I have had to suspend my MA studies for a couple of months allowing me the time to sign a contract for the IKEA Delft Store.

It is a little bitter sweet. I am missing the Clay and MA- ness but at the same time I have to find a way that allows me to carry on funding my studies. It’s a balancing act that’s for sure. Its this or the lottery, which hasn’t been so lucky so far. At the same time it is great to be back in Delft, we used to plan projects from here until the office moved to Helsinborg, Sweden.

Suspending my studies has also had a knock on effect with regards my Health and Wellbeing Option. I have had to step out of the Option, as I will miss the deadline. I am very sad to leave the group I think that good things were beginning to happen and I am sure that they will have great success with the Option.

So over these next weeks as well as plan a store I will also be using the time to regroup my ideas for my Option. I am now researching for the Negotiated Study Option. I want to extend the thoughts for the Health and Wellbeing Option expanding on the idea of connection and engagement by investigating and researching my own Clay Experience.

I have only bought a small collection with me…..23kg will not stretch so far.
I hope that Santa was good to everyone and wishing yous lots of good things for 2015!

Porcelain Master class……….

This week we had a Porcelain Master Class run by my tutor Helen Felcey. I have been throwing with some Parian Porcelain which is a complete joy, though I have to say my throwing skills have not quiet tamed it just yet……..practice, practice, practice!!! Helen had bought along some examples including some of her own work, which was great to see. It is always very inspirational to see a tutor’s work, for me it always gives the learning experience more depth.

We started by Slip Casting with some plaster moulds. It has been a long time since I have been casting, I think my next induction will have to be mould making. I am not being distracted by shiny things honest, but instead adding another tool to my toolbox.

We then spent some time simply exploring and manipulating the material. Rolling, stretching, impressing, cutting and tearing. Taking time to handle and test and try.

I had a mixture of results, though at the moment they are in a bisque firing so things may change. Some of the forms I rolled small slabs and then draped them over a rolling pin. These felt a little forced not making the most of the porcelain.

However some pieces I rolled into slabs but creased the fabric underneath so that the porcelain would take on the impressions of the fabric, mixing the delicate porcelain and fabric texture. I then tore some strips and also cut some shapes, rolling some of the porcelain to a thinner edge. Some of these I impressed using my small Glaze test pieces. These results I could see some possibilities. The forms reminded me of blades, knives or possibly some kind of tool. The impressed pieces I can imagine as stands or bases for some of my thrown forms, which would make a really strong contrast between the strength in the thrown with the fragility in the base.

 

To My Suprise…….

On my way home from a morning romp up Helsby Hill I notice that the house with the beautiful Strata still has no garage built. So I return with larger containers and my spade…….

This time I decide to excavate a larger quantity of material from the Strata surface as that garage will be built at some point and all this beautiful surface will be hidden. I decide to take some more close up piccys of the surface, every time you look at it you see something different.

      
I also decide to concentrate on the three main colours a deep red, lighter beige and rich yellow, managing to get some larger pieces.

Looking at different methods of recording I have bought some test tubes and different sized chemical containers so that I can keep a visual record.

My plan is to combine these materials with some of the clays that I use and experiment with some glazes. The idea being that I introduce elements and traces of my own history into my work. The Quarry being my Present. I have returned to the Art School since the  tutorial discussions and though I will not take materials from here fundamentally this is where my creative journey started. The Art School is a major chapter in my history. I am unsure about the buildings future but it would be a great location to use as a photographic backdrop for the work, if it remains standing? I do have a thought to perhaps use some transfer images on some of my forms and incorporate these with the material from the Quarry, Past and Present.Though initially my focus will be using the materials from the Quarry.

 

 

 

 

 

Life after Group 3……

After the crazy busyness of the last weeks & preparing for the final presentation, I am now turning my attentions to Whats Next….???????

As the Collaborative project came to an end the group felt that we wanted to continue to meet. Maybe visit exhibitions, galleries together, discuss our work & practices, develop some ideas. I think it will be very interesting to discover where this initial research takes people, there interpretations of it & how this is reflected in their work.

So where to now? How to put together & analyse the research so far? What to take from it? Lots to think about. I am also cutely aware that it is now week 5 & I still have not been in a workshop, made anything, had a tutorial or had my hands in clay……… so with organising head on emails have been sent. I have arranged a tutorial with Helen Felcey (Programme Leader MA Design) & Sharon Blakey (Senior Lecturer – Three Dimensional Design ) on Tuesday.

In preparing for the tutorial I have been filling in the ‘Initial Design Research and Practice’ form. Not as straight forward as first thought. You have to give a brief outline of your proposed MA study, this is not set in stone & can change & develop as you progress through the course, 150 words. Well what can I say 150 have turned into 1180 so some serious editing to do.

As you can see & read I have also been working on my reflective Blog. It has been a very long time since I have used WordPress but fortunately I have the best Technical support in a Bear shape, ‘Most patient husband in the world’ award will be going to Mr Sommerville this year.

The bear, designed by Kay Bojesen.

The Blog is a great way to put together all the different elements of the course & begin to see where they overlap, respond & connect to each other. It also helps to analyse & put together all the notes & comments made through the week, as I begin to take steps into the public domain…….be gentle folks.

I understand that for my practice to develop I need to research, to understand on an intellectual level what , why and how. As I begin this journey I am beginning to feel the tingle of enjoyment and a need to research, but I also strangely feel distracted by it. Is that right? Perhaps it is the lack of making?

Surely the research & making should go hand in hand ? Perhaps I am now at the stage where these initial ideas, thoughts & discoveries need to be translated into ceramic form. Next step design & make………getting my hands dirty.

I am also aware that I need to spend time on the Health & Wellbeing report Clive gave us last week. I have begun to read it & Clive is right it is challenging, but picking through it there are some very interesting ideas. ( Sorry cannot talk about them as the Report has not yet been made public)