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01 September 2018

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.

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