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.