Moscow, Idaho oscillates between ice and slop this time of year, but we had a glorious weekend. Two days of brilliant sun- outstanding opportunity of crawl into my dank shack and get acquainted with the wheel.
Being as it was my first time since... well... November, I cranked out three crock pots, ten bowls, two vases, and three humongoid plates.
The bowls are a commission for a graduate student friend of mine. She's graduating soon, after having chased pygmy rabbits about the Idaho sage country. Pygmy rabbits, incidentally, are certainly the most obscenely cute little bunyips on the face of the planet.
(Unfortunately, 'cute' doesn't equate to robust, in an evolutionary sense- there are fewer than 100 pygmys left, most in captivity).
Being as it was my first time since... well... November, I cranked out three crock pots, ten bowls, two vases, and three humongoid plates.
The bowls are a commission for a graduate student friend of mine. She's graduating soon, after having chased pygmy rabbits about the Idaho sage country. Pygmy rabbits, incidentally, are certainly the most obscenely cute little bunyips on the face of the planet.
(Unfortunately, 'cute' doesn't equate to robust, in an evolutionary sense- there are fewer than 100 pygmys left, most in captivity).
The great Bernard Leach- basically the father of modern studio pottery- was a rabbit fanatic, often slip-trailing the same design onto vessel after vessel until the images had the grace and inevitability of light on water. The design on the plate to the right is a famous example.
I've never delved into slip-trailing, but etching in leather-hard pottery yields a similar effect- or at least I like to kid myself that it does. I sketched a couple rabbit designs and have been translating them to the raw pots. So far, so good.
I've never delved into slip-trailing, but etching in leather-hard pottery yields a similar effect- or at least I like to kid myself that it does. I sketched a couple rabbit designs and have been translating them to the raw pots. So far, so good.
I also have taken a first crack at a Hue Puruhau. This vessel is the first in my 'Last Chance to See' project. To recap- this is a series of indigenous musical instruments realized in clay, representing countries that host endangered species from Douglas Adams' awesome book.
The Hue Puruhau is a gourd-like vessel- and thus fat bellied, with a narrow little neck. As a consequence, the two versions that I crafted today were thrown in two sections and joined on the wheel. The process is quite fun- I love throwing bottles and other narrow-necked objects.
The Hue Puruhau is a gourd-like vessel- and thus fat bellied, with a narrow little neck. As a consequence, the two versions that I crafted today were thrown in two sections and joined on the wheel. The process is quite fun- I love throwing bottles and other narrow-necked objects.
Translating a 2D conceptual design to a 3D surface always offers a challenge or two, and I'm not sure that I really nailed it this time. Still, the raku process has its own whimsy, and I've seen lovely outcomes develop from tentative beginnings.
Anyhow, it's 11:20, and I teach comparative vertebrate anatomy at mid-morning tomorrow. I'd better stop obsessing about earthy things and go wallop my way to my pillow.
Anyhow, it's 11:20, and I teach comparative vertebrate anatomy at mid-morning tomorrow. I'd better stop obsessing about earthy things and go wallop my way to my pillow.
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