On return to college in mid - April I set up a weekly countdown timer on my phone, so every Tuesday I get a notification of how many weeks to go. I am in week 7 now, and my weekly 'to do' lists are now all about pulling everything together in terms of ideas, thinking, making, and decorating. I am going to keep a note of any new areas of interest so as not to be distracted, and I am now focused on making final pieces for the August deadline
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Ideas and Thinking
In terms of ideas and concepts, my urban architectural theme is unchanged. I like the idea that the built environment becomes part of our personal and collective experience, and that buildings show traces of the past. From my research I can understand how my chosen urban area looked at different points in time, what has changed, and what remains. My research has identified the names and professions of some of the people who lived and worked in this area, and would have followed the same path as me at different points in time. I have found a particular article by prominent architect David Leatherbarrow (2018), he reflects on how over time buildings come to reflect the culture, memory and history of an area, and how this can be seen in the way buildings change and are changed by the environment and usage. This article has identified an area of architectural theory that I can now pursue further. I have contacted one of the lecturers in the Architecture Department, with similar research interests, to ask whether he could spare a little time to point me in the right direction with recommendations for future reading.
Designing and Making
Designing I have used cardboard maquettes to help me envisage what the final pot might look like. This has been helpful. The first pot was difficult as I wanted to make changes after the cardboard version was complete, but made these to the clay not the cardboard. Since then I have remade the maquette to incorporate the changes before trying to make anything in clay. This helped a lot, but it was still difficult to measure the 3D carboard maquette, even though I have tried to be more accurate at measuring and cutting facets. My latest challenge is a much larger pot. I am using a plastic tube that Rob has cut for me to make the curved slabs.I have created the base footprint in cardboard, and used this to calculate the width of each piece, I have then made a card template of each side side, which is at least 27cm. I have not permanently attached them to the base, and am going to use these to cut the clay slabs.
Clay body. I have now made three slab pots, and with each attempt am getting to grips with using thinner slabs, trying to make better joins and achieving a more professional finish. I tested the clay bodies for colour and texture for my final pieces, by using slips and water etching and have concluded that the best materials I have for the large pot are grogged B17C and Valentines Crank. (The Valentines earthenware has a beautiful white colour, enhances the slips, and looks great when etched, but sadly is not ideal for a large pot).
Extruder I have tried to extrude some of the smaller triangular and square elements of my pots, to add strength, and because making the joins on these elements has been fiddly due to the tight angles. I have added the finer perpendicular section, as I think it will be less variable using the extruder. I designed the elements on paper and passed them to the technicians. The first dies were made of 5mm perspex and broke in the extruder. The second set were 10mm, essentially two dies bonded together. The larger perpendicular one survived the extruder, but the others broke. It seems that the dies may have to be made by the engineering department in metal. I have changed my plans on the assumption that these will not be ready before I make my next pot, and will make all these elements from slabs.
Texture The pot I used to test for texture worked well, even though it was a crank clay, so I plan to use both plaster and impressed texture. I have since cast a second piece of plaster and started to carve more surface textures, I have added a new texture to be used on the big pot and will add two more carved panels for next week. I have also tested water etching on the clay bodies with good effect, and will use this to soften the texture to convey the idea of time passing and wear and tear on the architecture. I am not satisfied with the texture yet, it is too simple and I am still relying on the original test carvings. The new texture relies on patterns in my sketchbook and I like it a lot more. I need to carve the other two panels now. I know where I am going with texture, but am running out of time for this assessment.
Decorating
Colour I have tested slips on each clay body, and selected my final clay(s) bearing in mind how these colours contrast with the clay. Unfortunately the pot that I was using as a test for slips was fired at stoneware rather than earthenware due to a misunderstanding, and the colour of the slip is not fully replicated on the final pot. I still have the test tiles though, and will try them with earthenware and other glazes.
The Iron Sulphite I tested to provide a sepia/rust colour worked initially, but when applied to a whole piece went badly wrong. I am not sure whether this was because the first piece was fired immediately whilst the colour on the second piece intensified whilst waiting for firing. I like the idea of this colour, due to the 'ageing' and urban look that it provides, it is also matt, and provides a contrast to the satin and shiny glazes. However, I am reluctant to risk this surface treatment at the moment due to the limited time I have remaining. In the meantime I will test a glaze in a similar colour and hope for a more reliable result. I can try the iron sulphite again later in the year.
I have a number of black and white glaze tests that have worked on small tiles, but were not successful when trying to replicate them on final pots. These were originally underfired, and returning some of them to the kiln, did not remedy the situation. I am currently testing the glazes again, on the larger clay body test pieces, and some layered pots and other bisque pieces that I have available. I will wait to see whether these come out successfully, but at the moment I am just ruining things by adding glazes. Glazing is the most worrying area for me at present.
Hopefully I can consolidate the work I have undertaken in these three areas to produce something that I am proud to present at the next assessment.
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