Ceramic house number

This week was rather packed with people at the open access, so I just worked on the new house number for my parents-in-law's new porch. Last week saw the starting point of creating the dish by using a plaster former and laying over a slab of buff clay. This week saw the next part of slightly flattening out the shape. This proved a little tricky and created a slight crack in the rim, which hopefully I've managed to mend.

Then I laid a print-out of the numbers onto the surface and cut through using a scalpel....not an easy task!

I then rolled out a thin rectangle of clay and attached it to the back of the dish and attached the insides of the number 8.

The idea is to after bisque firing, I will flood the inside of the letters with a white glaze after dipping then outside dish area in a deep green glaze. I also need to attache some screw brackets to the reverse of the dish to enable fixing to the wall which will happen next week.

The left overs.

Ceramics

Another night of practicing throwing, something that I'm slowly getting the hang of! I recently bought a sample pack of black clay, which is strangely deep red in colour before firing, and threw a larger version of a little porcelain bottle I made a few weeks back. It's got a tonne of grog in it and so became somewhat painful to work with. Here's the result.

I'm keeping the lip ragged as the original one followed along the same lines. I am thinking however, of taking away some of the clay around the opening as it's looking a little top heavy.

The same night I turned an urn thrown the previous week. You can also see my new initials stamped into the side at the bottom. This was done by using letterpress type from an old Adana press. I'm thinking of using the same method to sign my prints.

And finally, the starting point for a new house number plate for my parents-in-law to adorn their new porch. It's way too dished at the moment so I'll flatten it slightly and then cut the numbers out of the clay. More photos to come.

Vase

This is version 1 of the secret 'Project Vase'! The photo shows it prior to bisque firing, looking a little squatter than I'd hoped. It was constructed in two parts; the base, thrown as a lump and then carved down to the shape you see here and the top which was thrown up-side-down and a conical form, then closed and finally turned to create the opening at the top. The two were then joined with slip and some final smoothing to give the impression of a one-piece vase.

Et violas!

The finished, glazed vase photo will follow shortly.

PRINT & DESIGN NOW! private view

My first private view!!
I have to say the SW1 gallery looked amazing with some superb work. My two prints sat neatly in one corner, nicely visible as you enter the gallery. I was introduced to the lovely Julia Alvarez, the brains behind the show who had some encouraging words to say about my work.

Most importantly, it had the parents seal of approval! All I need now is to sell some work. There is an online gallery here.

4 Colour process screenprint

Tuesday afternoon in the studio saw a bit of an experiment with 4 colour process printing. This is something I've tried before while on a course at the beginning of the year, with little success. The image was way too small (It was a Polaroid photo that my great Uncle took on a trip to the US in probably the 1960's) and the 120 dot screen was way too fine and kept clogging. So this time around I used a larger photo and a 90 dot screen. The results are interesting to say the least, but were hard work to get. The registration is the biggest nightmare, with the slightest movement creating offset, which at times gives a rather pleasing result.

This first image is with three colours; Yellow first, then Magenta, then Cyan.

It's missing some depth which only kicks in when you add the Black.

As you can see, it's quite dark in certain areas and very contrasty, but I'm rather intrigued by the effect. Some of this may be the inks being too thick and opaque and a over-absorbent paper giving a bit of bleed to the dots. More experimenting to follow. I'm also thinking of overlaying a clear, gloss varnish which might just richen everything. I've only ever seen 4 colour process done successfully on a litho press where the registration is easier to setup. On the screen bed there's so much room for movement, especially when the press's suction is pretty poor and me leaning on the frame to hold it down probably doesn't help. So I think a bit of Heath Robinson inventiveness may be the answer with a Geff Newland patented registration system being employed!

Today, sees my prints going in the post to Bearspace for the PRINT & DESIGN NOW! 2011 show. Fingers crossed they get there ok. I then just need to work out pricing. Gulp.

Tonight is the last night of the 10 week pottery course at South Hill Park. I've signed up for another 10 weeker in September where I have plans on some slip casting.

PRINT & DESIGN NOW!

Had some news over the weekend, in that I have had two pieces selected for the Bearspace PRINT & DESIGN NOW! travelling show. This is my first proper show that I've submitted work for and as I'm a seriously 'unknown', the result of an email saying I had been chosen was a huge surprise. They've chosen two....

...which I have to admit surprised me too! Out of the three submitted I felt sure that (had they been chosen) they would go for this one...

...which seems to be everyone's favourite so far. I shall not not be arguing though! So the dates for the first show at the SW1 Gallery are 28th July to 23rd August with the private on the 28th July from 6 to 8:30pm. I'm slightly gutted as I won't be able to make the private view as I have to shoot up to Bath for the day. Typical!

Ceramics

Bit late on the blog for this, but Tuesday was my first open access at South Hill Park, on top of the course I'm doing on Thursdays. I couldn't wait seven days to get my hands on some clay! The photos below are of the pieces I'm currently working on that were thrown last week.

My first foray into terracotta, which is lovely to work with, but not as stable as Stoneware as there's no grog in it....and the red stuff gets everywhere as I'm a messy beginner. Two pots, turned and ready for biscuit firing.

The following pics show four items thrown on Tuesday evening. I have had a request for a pot from my mum, so this chap should do the trick.

And this one will probably end up in the house somewhere. Fruit bowl anyone?

I've been putting it off, but Tuesday night saw my first attempt at throwing porcelain. It's a bit like working with wet plasticine and gives a beautifully smooth finish. Another pot. I seem to being doing nothing but pots!

So I tried something a little different, a bottle. It started off as a large mug, but it collapsed as I went too high and too thin. So with what was left, this little chap appeared out of the clay. Think I might keep the wobbly top as it offsets the hard lines of the body.

Tonight is the course again and I will attempt to turn the vase I'm making for my wife. A surprise, so it will only appear on here when it's finished and in her hands. Besides, plenty could go wrong tonight!

Finished Screen Prints

All three prints are now done and dusted and are in an edition of 5. I struggled a bit with the screen clogging as the studio is getting unbelievably hot at the moment (for some reason the central heating is still on!). Using a 90 dot screen has helped not only with the clogging, but also with dot definition once the image has been printed. I originally used a 120 which was just insane to work with on such fine details in this heat. You live and learn.

They are taken from photographs I shot around the Meatpacking district in lower west side Manhattan, New York. The Highline (a disused elevated railway) has recently been turned into a park and the area surrounding has be rejuvenated into art galleries, boutique shops and condos. An excerpt from my artist statement:

'My intention is to draw the viewer away from the immediately obvious and hone in on the detail, be that a insignificant battered roller shutter, a faded wooden water butt or just an intriguing opening in a wall. These are all objects that are more often than not, completely dismissed due to the immersive and overwhelming nature of the environment in which we live and work. With this in mind, I took these unusual and striking viewpoints and highlighted the often-bypassed objects within the landscape, through the use of vibrant, block colours under a halftone screen. The viewer is now drawn away from the main subject matter and forced to focus upon the less prominent detail within.'

 

410 W 13th (above) is definitely my favourite and seems to be the one most people prefer too. This has turned out to be a bit of history captured as the graffiti no longer exists, painted out for ever.

161 10th Avenue. The back of a giant billboard with a water butt sat on the roof of the building opposite.

843 Washington Street. A condo that straddles the Highline. Very impressive building with this strange hole in the wall that just seemed to lead to nowhere.

I have entered all three pieces into the Bearspace travelling show; Print & Design Now 2011, my first serious show. I'm slightly worried and more than a little bit nervous! I'll keep you posted on whether or not my work is selected.

Saatchi and Saatchi have created this surreal advert for Walls sausages. I laughed my pants off when I first saw it. Genius.

Mumbai taxi artists

If only London cabbies were so loving of their taxis. Nice article about the collaboration between Grandmother India and Mumbai taxi artists on the Creative Review site.

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/back-issues/creative-review/2009/april-2009/typo-taxi

Screen print 2

Spent a few hours in the studio yesterday and produced this image (somewhat fuzzy from the trusty old iPhone). It was a bit of a headache as the print room was very hot and the ink was clogging the screen faster than I could print. Just about managed to get 3 decent images out of 6 which is better than nothing. Now to frame it up as the hand-in for the Ochre Annual Show is this Saturday. Yoiks!

Love this too! Just a few years worth of acrylic build up.

Ceramics course @ South Hill Park

A request from my brother-in-law for a toothbrush holder for his new flat. It's waiting for lush, black glaze to be applied before final firing.

A pot. Not sure for what.

...and another pot. I think everyone should be aware they may be getting pots for birthdays and Christmas this year.

One day ceramics results

Ok, so they're nothing particularly earth shattering when it comes to styling, but they are my first attempt on the potters wheel and slab forming. Somewhat bullet proof in thickness, but I've since thrown a few more and learned about turning which has reduced the weight quite considerably.

Work in progress

My first blog entry brings you my first half decent screen print. I'd finally managed to get back into the studio and get my hands (and everything else) dirty. With a gentle reminder on a few things from my wife Melanie, I slapped together 6 prints (named 140 W 13th) as part of a set of two. The original photo was taken last year in New York, of a building just off the Highline which has unfortunately been recently repainted obliterating the said graffiti.

With any luck, the set will be going into the Ochre Print Studio Annual Show from the 18th to 26th June.