The results were pleasing in the sense that the inclusions caused textural variations, some colours burnt out, like the red iron oxide at 1260. The inclusions of granite or already fired porcelain caused shrinkage and cracking. The granite inclusions although cracked held together as a from, I am assuming that this is the feldspars in the granite that have fluxed.
My favourite piece however was the simple porcelain form. It was created by dribbling glaze into the mould and then back filling with porcelain slip. The results were beautiful and the melting of the glaze caused what appears to be a sort of erosion typical of that of fluvial pr.
Im addition to filling moulds I also explored other ideas of placing inclusions into the clay body, as one would situate a fossil in its bedrock of deposition and preservation. I wanted the inclusion to appear like a small object of curiosity embedded in bedrock. I tried two approaches to this
- Creating forms in plaster moulds and then coating them in wax to prevent the wetter clay breaking down the form when inserted into a slurry of wet clay retained by a wall of clay.
- Try a similar approach with a ceramic resist.
The wax on setting broke the forms, I think it is expanding or contracting and therefore straining the forms that were joined together. The resist seemed to work better.
Since my tutorial with Claire I have been thinking about how to compose works or objects that work together in an overall display. I have explored plinths made of plaster coloured with Gouache but also have a small selection of kiln bricks to use as a fireable plinth.
Thinking about the eroded surface from the porcelain form with melted blue glaze I went back to direct CNC on dry clay. I liked this method and wanted to revisit it so CNC'd a large block of earthenware. Using a resist I coated the piece and used vinegar to erode the surface. Result can be seen below and are very pleasing so far, I will have to work on clay body inclusions, glazing, eroding and display over the next few weeks.