Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Wall Sculptures


Here's the second kiln load of once fires. I've added gold leaf to the leaves on the bricks. I like the brick colors, energetic but not too bold. I'm going to look closely at more building surfaces; shingles, stucco, wood, even metal come to mind. I'll do a separate post about the warped pieces since this post is full of photos. I'd rather concentrate on good instead of disappointments today.


I thought I made the tropical man the same size as the woman but he is about half an inch smaller in size? He was on the bottom shelf and she was on the middle shelf, can that make that big a difference in shrinkage rates? No I didn't have cones on that shelf, shame on me. Anyway he has wonderful violet eyes.


Do you recall the vibrant magenta on this piece? It's burned out to almost no color at all; I'm really disappointed with that. Not sure I can produce that color in paint and get the same effect. Still thinking about that.


A small piece of the blue wrap broke on the right hand side as I was loading this wall sculpture into the kiln so I fired that piece separately and will try to glue it on. I am really liking how the slip colors look on this red clay. I envision the sides being hidden when they are hung on the wall hence the curve there. I'm still working on how to keep that part of the wall sculpture design intact without warping. I'd like to do a group of wrapped packages with bows, in different colors. Maybe with removable tops.


This one needs a little something; I'll see what I can do about that. Oh I know I like the sprigs or the dimension to the others. I may get bolder with some attachments next time. I'm moving that way.


Calm and easy sailing on this one. The boat bottom needs some color.


I think this is the one Tracey liked. When it was in it's greenware state I couldn't see it, but I like it very much now. Tracey has a really good eye. There is something visceral about the earthiness in this piece. When I was carving the sky and the water I did so quickly without thinking and that shows in the movement. I plan on leaving the exposed red clay natural since I like that effect.


I enhanced the grouper fish with more color, much burned out during firing. Since I've taken photos of the pieces before firing, I can compare to see which colors fade and make corrections for future work.


Here's another one with the magenta faded out, still thinking about this one. This would be fun as a ceramic puzzle to put together. While I was burnishing the wood for the wood hangers on the backs of the wall sculptures the hand held propane torch caught on fire at the nozzle connection. Gary was there and said to throw it down if that happens. I'm still thinking the small tank could have exploded. What in the heck am I doing? Cutting the wood with the chop saw and predrilling the holes is one thing, but exploding propane tanks, Yikes! Maybe there's another type of torch I can use that's got a smaller flame for wood burnishing (burning).


This was a piece from months ago made with speckled clay of the trees and sand dunes at St. George Island. I've tested four coats of sealer on it. I also added green to the trees and some shimmery copper highlights. Stay tuned for details about the warped pieces and strange swirl marks in the clay. Thanks for your encouragement and comments.

This post is part of Artists in Blogland submission for what I'm working on.

18 comments:

  1. Linda, we have a friend that dropped his oxygen tank (scuba diver) and it exploded, he lost his arm and their house burnt down! BE CARFEFUL!!!!
    I love those faces, you are SO influenced by your surroundings these days, aren't you :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Tracey, thanks, yesterday on the news a guy's oxygen tank exploded (scuba diver in St. Pete) and it blew him out his front door and killed him and it blew his back door off too. I was scared. Gary checked the tank and the nozzle connection was loose so the propane was escaping from there and the torch end. I won't use that one any more. He has another one that isn't an automatically lit one which I'll "try" today.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the tropical faces, I think they work well together. Have you tried painting on these pieces with pastels? You can shave a pastel crayon then dry brush onto your work, it gives a nice effect.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love the brick wall with vine. These are all interesting and each one so different. What fun, but do be careful.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Lori, thanks, no I don't have any pastels and have never tried them, those might be better than the acrylics I am using (which I happened to have), would be more like glaze than the thicker acrylics. I think Judy Shreve has been using them on her paintings. Thanks so much I will try them. I may do more faces. I was just thinking of doing one of Gary and then me to see how they come out.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Teresa, thanks, I like that brick wall too. I can envision it hanging in a very modern kitchen all black and tan or white and it beng a bright spot on the wall. I need to implement a safety plan check system which first and foremost should be - Check all equipment before use.

    ReplyDelete
  7. the tropical faces are cool! i also like the subtle, earthy quality of the St. George Island tile.
    my parents sold their home in NH this spring and when we were there at Christmas my dad was starting to get rid of things. he gave jeff a propane torch. it had a different nozzle than the ones we have and jeff thought it would be handy... it was until it caught on fire! i can't remember how he put it out, but it was scary! who knows how old it was, my dad probably bought it more than 20 years ago.
    glad you didn't get hurt!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Michele, thanks, you know you bring up a good point. Gary's propane torch was probably old too and maybe they only last so long before the connection fails and should be discarded and a new one purchased. Gary grabbed the torch and turned the nozzle off, but that really wasn't safe. I think a new one is $54 which we didn't want to spend, but isn't a life or injury worth more than that, I don't want to be penny wise and pound foolish.

    ReplyDelete
  9. The last one caught my attention, I just put St. George on my must visit list.this is the 2nd time someone has mentioned it on a blog.I would like to see the Monarchs go through.

    I have a lot of experience around playing in clay. I used to pour slip at a shop when in college and threw a little also.I helped build a wood fired kiln at a living history farm.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Steve, thanks, the town near St. George Island is a real treat too, great architecture and shops and such, Appalachicola. Oh how I would love to have a wood fired or gas kiln, one of these days.

    ReplyDelete
  11. The 4th one really speaks to me, lovely.~Mary

    ReplyDelete
  12. Linda ~ I love all of them ~ Making pottery is no easy thing ~ tried it and well ~ it was not a medium for me ~ You do wonderfully! namaste, Carol (A Creative Harbor) visiting and following from Artists in Blogland ~ ^_^

    ReplyDelete
  13. WOW! You're work is very beautiful and love the details that you add to each piece! Awesome show and tell! ALPHABET ART, APPLE ALLIGATOR, LETTER A IS FOR AIRPLANE, LETTER ART, ONLINE ART FOR SALE, POP ART, POP ART MINIS ILLUSTRATIONS, SHOW AND TELL SATURDAY

    ReplyDelete
  14. What fabulous pottery pieces. They are so different.

    ReplyDelete
  15. All lovely and wonderful! you're very busy it seems!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wow!! These are sooo original!!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hi Mary, thanks so much. Good to know you like that one for future making plans.

    Hi Carol, thanks for stopping by, pottery isn't easy at all that's for sure.

    Hi Joni, thanks so much, I hope other pottery people can learn as I have learned so much via blogs.

    Hi Linda, thanks so much, a little outside the box for sure.

    Hi Fallingladies, thanks so much, lately I have been really busy.

    Hi Blackpumpkin, thanks so much, my mind is a whirlwind of ideas. Ha.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Update on the propane tank - the threads were rusty so we need to dispose of the tank - that's what made it unsafe, so if you use propane tanks, check the threads to be sure they do not have rust on them - I'll be checking our BBQ today too.

    ReplyDelete

I love suggestions, questions, critiques, thanks for your comment