Studio Saturday

Part of my ceramics studio, or rather my ceramics practice, is the textile part, carried out in the comfort of home, usually accompanied by podcasts or radio -

 I decided to clear off the table, which took moments (and three baskets to receive the "bits" -

Of course within a day the pots and threads had started creeping back. But it's so much more pleasant with less clutter - so much easier to follow one set of ... hmm, shall we call them tubes at this stage ... through to the end, to a point of "enough of this for now". The realisation that doing more of the same isn't necessary, or even satisfying.

Having a clear table is also good for thinking about what you really want to do next, or need to do.

In the actual studio, Jackie decided to make a little video of Kate, Lindy and me talking about what we're doing -

 I'm explaining how the textile tubes become porcelain pots -

This set is organza with different types of stitching to identify them. Each pot will get a different treatment (notes are kept) and I'll know whether to continue with this sort of making and/or what to do to improve it technically -

The white threads top and bottom help the pot keep its shape

Six "tubes" got dipped in thick slip that had approximately 1/6th the volume of water added - it looked very thin, but we'll see how that performs. I'm trying to be a bit scientific about the consistency of the slip - a standard weight for a certain volume?? - this will require some experimentation, hence the need for a small kiln so that firings can be more frequent.

before

after dipping

 The pots in the boxes under the plastic have been there for so long that I forget what they might be - the others are at various stages of preparation -

 Drying slowly -

 This lot needs sorting -

 Finishing touches for these -

Waiting for further experimentation -

 Waiting, waiting, waiting -

There will be a firing next week and hopefully the results will help me figure out what to do next. It's fun to "be creative" when it comes to stitching etc, but I need more experience of what to expect from the clay and the kiln.

All in good time.