Week 7 - New Projects

I feel I’ve done a lot of thinking and talking about my work this week, but don’t have a ton to show. I had an in-progress critique on Monday, which gave me some new insight and motivation as I continue onto the second part of my big project. And I applied to some open show calls.

At last, I started making the slump mold that I will build the middle part of my big sculpture on top of. I layered newspaper/slip/wet clay over the top of the base (forgot to get a photo of this), let it harden, and took it off and filled the shell with clay. I let it sit over the weekend, so I’ll flip it (onto a shrink slab, likely) and smooth it out soon, and then finally get started on building the middle part.

In addition to chipping away at my big project, I carved three plate/tray forms from solid rectangular chunks. They are still in progress and need a little more refining. I haven’t explored flat forms much at all, so these are merely prototypes that don’t serve a specific function. I could see them working as cup stands, hot plates, ash trays, jewelry catches, or trinket dishes…or paper weights (lol). I think I’ll try firing some found rocks in some of the divots, too. I see them as rock slabs weathered by ocean currents, the skeletons of tidal pool systems.

In making these, I had some cool ideas of intricate cup/goblet stands that extend upward and both elevate and cradle the vessel. I’m looking forward to trying to bring those visions to fruition when I make my next batch of these forms.

I also got on the wheel for an hour (me on the wheel, crazy, I know) and threw some mug/stein bases that I’ll alter and carve in the future. I wanted some more ready options for small side projects to work on alongside my slow-process big sculptures.

I’m still continuing to make little macquettes when that’s all my energy and time allows for. Building a collective. Thinking about how they might fit in the crevasses of my larger forms or exist in stacks/rock piles.