Well, perhaps not gems but it’s nice alliteration! Certainly the contents of the top shelf of my recently opened glaze firing are jolly. I have already posted pics of all the Raiders’ plates that were on shelves below so now I’ll show some of my work.
I have neglected the jugbirds lately, probably because of the excitement of ‘The Raiders’ show on Bowen Island and the subsequent birthday Raid here, but I have also been thinking about plate painting myself. It is a great opportunity to experiment with colour combinations and the shapes that can appear when different techniques are used. But instead of having a white canvas of earthenware as my guests do I really prefer to base my artwork on my familiar, dependable and pleasing D’arcy redart earthenware. And my palette of brightly stained slips suits me better than underglazes. Pierre certainly enjoyed his day of working on a leather-hard plate and luscious slips.
Influenced by Philippe’s use of wax resist and also watching Pierre apply damp paper resist I needed to do some more resisting. When I taught tile-painting workshops I would show students about paper resist and now I know I shall do some more of that – but with a deliberate plan to keep my images abstract. I experimented with latex resist over sponged colours but the image I chose to paint with the latex is silly and the subsequent layer of dark green slip is too dark and opaque. I might use the spongeing again though.
But a plate that I painted with bold brush strokes of ochre and green, layered with random sharp-edged paper shapes and then coated with a somewhat transparent coat of white (porcelain) slip and some black slip lines, has turned out well. I painted one of my yunomis to match it. I coated the back of the plate and the base of the cup with terra sigillata – I always like to do that for the smooth feeling and rich colour.
While those were firing I used a small dish made with white clay (with the help of grandson Caleb) and applied similar colours, using paper resist again, but this time with a more transparent slip last. I AM looking forward to seeing how that looks, and today I’ve made some more oval plates for further efforts.
Labour Day also saw me completing another Ram Rhyton for Eric. He drew one with a horn-like handle and has been hoping I’d recreate it for him. I shall coat the whole silly thing with yellow slip and bisque fire it. Then I believe he will coat the creature with leopard spots. Oh my!
Also on that top shelf were half a dozen cereal-size bowls. After donating some to Burnaby Gogos for their fundraiser earlier this year I made some more and ‘Shuffle’ visitors and then Eclectic Gallery in Victoria scooped them up. I like throwing and trimming bowls and have decided that I shall use whatever coloured slips I fancy for their surfaces, and apply Folk Art-type decoration.
The Red Cardinal is one of several jugbirds I must now spend early Fall producing for Primavera Gallery in Cambridge. I have a planned trip to England in late October for my siblings’ significant birthdays and a resulting family gathering so I shall take a day in Cambridge and one or two in London before going to Salisbury. Happy me!
Just to complete this look at what I have been doing with my pots lately there’s my trip in to Circle Craft on Granville Island last week. I left a selection of salty pots from the Lund adventure in July (with the most special pieces reserved for me, upcoming shows etc.) and some earlier soda-fired pieces from the Spring. My shelf of pots in the gallery was rather depleted. I should have gone in sooner! The Island was hopping with visitors. I was pleased to pop in to Kingsmill pottery studio and catch up with Carole and Vin.
