So these represent the best tiles I have fired in the last year, and include tests for brushwork and the saggar firing, there is so much variation and I have started to mount them in some new ways as I think these go beyond throw away objects.
For a while I have been thinking about tiles as an act of experimentation, they are something that can be created in the fraction of time for throwing, there is a lot less focus that goes into creating them, no hunching over the wheel. In some ways they are quite disposable.
I don’t generally use tile for glaze tests as they don’t have gravity and thickness’s similar to pots but I do use them to test ideas, patterns, new and more recently my saggars to see what effects are possible. In these sorts of ways the tiles are part of the experimentation and systematic testing that I was used to when I was a chemistry student many moons ago.
So this was my first test tile in a saggar, this actually gave me more confidence about saggar firing than any other piece in that kiln. it is mounted on a scrap piece of plywood that whitewashed and waxed. A lot of the wood I use for mounting and framing would otherwise just end up in landfill.I just love the marks shells leave on the honey glaze, and the horses tail leaves an amazing texture too. The round osb was cut because I wanted some more throwing batts but after I these ones I wasn’t sure they would last as batts so I decided to try this one for a mount and I quite like it due to it being so different.The marks just left by the shells and the reduction in my little kiln are amazing, I can’t help but stare at them. These were placed on top of each other so have the same shells but they appear reflected. The tile on the left has a porcelain slip which affects the colour too.These don’t fit this shadow box and I will make them a new frame in September. The frame was orriginally intended for the large tile above but was based on it shrinking from bisque to vitrified, but it was a few millimetres off so it doesn’t fit but it looks better with the two reflections. Moral of the story wait until you have finished work before building it a frame.I started working on my brush work last year but haven’t had much chance to get back to it in recent months, but cobaly markings and sgraffito are the only ways I can find that get around that feeling of my work not being reduction fired.I do like graduations in colour going from light to dark. The tile on the left is unglazed with porcelain slip and some flashing. The other two tiles have my honey glaze and varying amounts of local reduction.These are some older tests in a shadow frame that I made. The tiles are a homemade porcelain my standard clay with iron added and some commercial black clay. It is made from cutting down some pine that was in the bin pile, the problem is it was quite ugly. I was wrapping blue painters masking tape around it and I really liked the blue it seemed to tie everything together.A tile I made in 2012 to test sgraffito, high fired terracotta and a commercial white slip, with lustre for windows. In a shadow box frame.
These are my first attempts at framing and I want to do more, and I want to work a lot more in tiles. I also want to work more at creating my own clays. These so far really have my creative juices flowing.
In case you didn’t see it my new youtube mini-series started woodworking for potters
So what do you the reader like and have you ever framed your ceramic work?
So last night I recorded the final episode for Season 1 of the Nurph Chat. As always I had an amazing time talking to the guests and learning so much, which makes connections with other things I have thought about and even written here on the blog. Things to consider for the second season: How are we going to advertise it better How are we going to grow our audience Is there a better time of the day to do this at How often am I going to do this Should the title come before or after the episode is…
So it’s that time of the year I trek across the Country from Coastal Lancashire to Nottinghamshire to go to Earth and Fire. This year it was at a new venue it had moved from Rufford Abbey to the Harley Gallery at the Welbeck Estate. It was a really different venue from before.
Watching Alex Shimwell throw on YouTube always reminds me of watching Kevin Millward. Kevin Millward was a visiting tutor during my final year of my Undergraduate degree, he only taught at the university one day a week for four weeks. By this point I had been watching YouTube videos for a year to help with my throwing and I was truly awful. Not only did I not know what I was doing, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I had drawings of what I wanted to make which were far beyond my making abilities, so I just…
After doing the second week of the Nurph Chat I have even more questions I think I will have to start asking people. I think there is so much more we need to discuss about how we can improve our social media presence and really analyse how we are going about that. I need to put together a plan to really fins out a bit more about how everyone is using Instagram, and then work out if there are any trends across the board. As my research is on these technologies I really want to understand it all better and…
So this isn’t going to be an in-depth blog entry, as I spent the time I should have been doing that on sitting down and planning. You see things might be changing at the pottery soon and there will be a proper announcement when it happens. But cutting the story to a non existent tale I need to start taking the pottery seriously and actually try to build an audience. My priorities are taking some better photographs and need a better setup than I currently use. Actually trying to actively share my posts/YouTube videos further than my own social media.I…
I was recently commissioned to make pottery for the Harris Museum in Preston, the pottery will be available for sale through the Harris Museum. There are six pots each has a section of the views of Preston, so each covers about 60 degrees of the view, which is carved through white slip on terracotta. The windows also have white gold lustre to make them stand out further. It was an amazing job to work on, it unfortunately came up in the middle of my youngest being diagnosed as a Type 1 diabetic, but that’s a completely different story.
2 Comments
tiles are useful as glaze tests etc,but as you’ve found can be framed and sold (Hannah and Doug do this too) or even used at home…as tiles!
I made a concious decision to make bigger tiles the older tiles are 6cm square and aren’t much use as they are thin and very wonky. I made a mould like Doug and Hannah but the test one I made I just don’t like it bounces every which way when I try and use it.
I have thought about using them as tiles but can’t produce the quantity and the quality isn’t where I want it yet.
tiles are useful as glaze tests etc,but as you’ve found can be framed and sold (Hannah and Doug do this too) or even used at home…as tiles!
I made a concious decision to make bigger tiles the older tiles are 6cm square and aren’t much use as they are thin and very wonky. I made a mould like Doug and Hannah but the test one I made I just don’t like it bounces every which way when I try and use it.
I have thought about using them as tiles but can’t produce the quantity and the quality isn’t where I want it yet.