Having spent quite some time looking at the hidden life of trees with Peter Wholleben, climbing trees with Jack Cooke and immersing myself in the living forest with Joan Maloof it’s time to get back to the work in hand – I am presently pursuing two strands of exploration, Form and Texture.
Form. Coiling tree forms. Coiling is a form of hand-building which I have never willingly embraced. Since my attempts at altering and joining thrown forms has proved unsatisfactory and disheartening, Micaela has taken me in hand and encouraged me to use coiling as a way of building trunk – like forms. Despite my initial misgivings I have become cautiously optimistic.
Texture I have been making testing pieces, experimenting with pressing texture into flat slab pieces and adding/ layering texture onto cylindrical forms using grogged stoneware clay, reflecting the surfaces of bark with a variety of textures, mindful of the sectional nature of the birch bark. It is not, however, my intention to recreate the textures but to be open-ended and exploratory when it comes to applying texture to the bark-like forms.
Discovering ES40. Micaela recommended this clay as an ideal medium for hand building, and she was right! Using this clay, I have begun to make a series of trunk-like forms with an eye to the asymmetrical and organic nature of the trees. I added and pressed organic material (dried leaves, small twigs, bark and such like) into and onto the clay then folded the slabs around different sized cylinders then joined and altered the shapes.
Thoughts on Colour. How to use colour to highlight/complement the textured surfaces?
Using slips – earth tones - browns, beiges, black, white and greys. (perhaps later to introduce some dark blue and orange) Layering slips, what sequence. What on top of what? How to apply the slips? What about the edges, curves and undersides? Use of oxide washes – copper, iron?
I have struggled this last while to find the form which reflects the organic nature, the essence of the birches. Now I feel as if I’m really starting to get to grips with this project.
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