Textured Ceramic
Source: vendors
Production time; 4-5 weeks
I believe these ceramics are based upon sea anemones and bacteria; as they express a natural form and imply movement.
I love the way they express motion and have soft edges and almost look like cacti. Each look calm due to the soft edges and I wish to capture a similar look in my own work.
Artist:
Heather Knight
Heathers original pieces range from $35 to $350
Specialises in the natural form and hopes to blend the natural with the modern.
"I am extremely dedicated to all hand built production,
all of my items are made by hand from start to finish, each urchin bowl is pinched from a ball of clay, each vase is thrown on the wheel, each piece of texture is hand built and individually applied to a slab built form, each mark on my functional bowls is made by my hands. Every piece that leaves my studio
is truly a one of a kind work." - Heather Knight
Source: about.html
Artist:
Christine L. Evans
Christine's price range is awating confirmation due to site take down.
Prices as seen on Clay studio Tour indicate price ranges from $50 to $500
I believe these ceramics are based upon the inner most feelings of the artist. The bottom most white face named "Metamorphosa Encircle" appears to show calm and a very clean surface, the flowers possibly indicating that of femininity as coupled with the soft curves often associated with calm.
I love the way each piece includes a face almost like a photo; captured in time and the way texture is produced in the top two designs. The splash of colour compliments the faces well and the faces look soft, whimsical and inviting.
"It is hard to be certain about prices. I have worked with a formula to price my work that goes something like this: calculate the time it takes to make the piece (including all the glazing and kiln loading, etc.), give yourself a studio rate per hour (I used $30 per hour), add that number (the amount you earned per hour working on your piece) to material costs and that is your base price for your piece. That is your wholesale price. If you plan to sell it retail, multiply that by two. Some artists also add additional costs into their final price to cover any contingencies that may arise in selling it (such as money to cover booth fees at art fairs and gas money spent on getting to said fair).
I often would make an original face, mold it in plaster, and then create garden art featuring that face and other molded faces so that each piece looked a little different. I did that years ago when I was just getting started. Molding your art in plaster can really help keep your prices down because you are not spending so much time on each piece." - Christine L. Evans
Tile Texture Studies
The purpose of this tile study was to figure out how I would add texture to my own piece, this would add physical interest and make it a sensory piece. These samples from Element Clay Studio allowed me to see how light would effect my final piece and I got a real sense of how more raised pieces could over overcast and create an air of evil or sinister; but also allows depth. hopefully and sinister lighting will be counteracted by the white colour of the tile; noted signifying purity.
These are my two tile designs, I based these both upon my mood board below. I decided I wanted to create something whimsical, with the texture of Heather's pieces and the face focal point of Christine's. I wanted to add a cross stitched carved texture with a theme of sunflowers.The Meaning of Sunflowers. Sunflowers symbolize adoration, loyalty and longevity. Much of the meaning of sunflowers stems from its namesake, the sun itself.(1)
Thus my choice for the flower design.
These are my two tile designs, I based these both upon my mood board below. I decided I wanted to create something whimsical, with the texture of Heather's pieces and the face focal point of Christine's. I wanted to add a cross stitched carved texture with a theme of sunflowers.The Meaning of Sunflowers. Sunflowers symbolize adoration, loyalty and longevity. Much of the meaning of sunflowers stems from its namesake, the sun itself.(1)
Thus my choice for the flower design.
I wanted to base my face design on the Nordic gnomes and trolls. They have a soft but grizzled look to them but also are reminiscent of the Wombles. I want mine to have a soft relaxed expression and have the sunflowers cradling it to add some supernatural whimsy to the piece.
I began by rolling my tile into a 20cm by 20cm square and began to add the petals around the circumfrence of the square. then added the holes for hanging.
Each piece was attached by scoring the underside and applying slip (a clay water mixture; like glue) to keep the pieces locked together.
the face was sculpted with a half circle as the base and was calved into to create the mouth, eyebrows and nose. The excess clay taken was used to create the eyes and small holes for freckles were added to create a sunkissed look and hark back to the seeds of a sunflower.
My tile included flowers to show an heir of femininity. As well as the crosses from crossstich, a womans task. The male face in the center was a metaphore for birth but also for that a man is the center of a womans world. Ceramic was a good choice for this as its a more rustic material and thus shows that this is an old fashioned idea. The cracks which i accounted for also display this. The white colour is to show purity. This was inspired by joe smiths work as she often put darker meaning into her work but also christines faces that she impliments into hers.
I really liked the way I sculpted the face of the sunflower/troll, I feel as if I captured the subject well. next time I need to ensure the ceramic doesn't dry out so much between sessions and it lead to cracking. also I need to take care to attach the 3D details more carefully and with more slip as upon revieweing the spheres around the face had all come loose and needed further attracting with more slip. I feel as if the cross stitch detail added a handmade touch reminiscent of a mother or grandmothers cross stitch allong with the connotation of x's being used as kisses in modern media.