Thursday 5 December 2013

Orchid

 
 

Orchid, sitting in a bowl I made during my first year of ceramics. This bowl was my first attempt to work with porcelain.




2 comments:

  1. Such an interesting form. I know nothing about the technicalities of ceramics, so forgive my similes: I love the surface which to me is like scrunched but then flattened out cartridge paper with pen and pencil marks on it. I say cartridge paper because it has a chalk coating which I love - and I do scrunch it and flatten it out again and again to make a kind of fabric. This looks like just one loose scrunching, though.
    I love the depth of the vessel, and that depth is complimented and complemented by the elegant height of the orchid. Lovely. I think it is a delight for a first attempt. But if you are anything like me, I'm sure that you first see the elements that you are not happy with. Luckily for me, I don't know about them! It is so sad that you have had to stop. I do hope that you somehow still can continue.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Olga. Having had to give up ceramics is something that I don't like thinking about as I find it very upsetting, but this bowl and the orchid complement each other so well, so I took a photograph, then I thought I would post it.

      I was very pleased with the form and the textured surface, but there was so much I was not happy with, which mirrored my sessions in the workshop - frustration at not being able to achieve what I had set my mind to, coupled with exhilaration at being there and handling clay. The surface decoration did not come out as I had planned and the bowl is slightly warped. All of my porcelain bowls came out slightly warped and the teacher, who did not work in porcelain (I was the only one in the class using it, as this is what I wanted to do) did not know why. She eventually found an article for me on the web, but that was not much help - it can be one of the problems of working with porcelain, apparently, if one is not experienced. But, overall, I was pleased with it.

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