24.5.21 - More Information on Mandrakes

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Another Batch of Cartons

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  After several of my porcelain cartons came out broken, I decided to try earthenware instead, which should be stronger. Unfortunately it means there is a smaller range of glazes to choose from. The two more damaged looking cartons in this image are porcelain while the other three are earthenware, so you can see the difference it made to switch to the thicker clay as they came out of the mold much cleaner and didn't break from handling. Here are the results of the three earthenware pieces - I think they look really good. I went with turquoise, matt black and antique green. I decided to use these colours after my previous lot where I thought the dove glaze was most effective, the cold tone reminded me of stone and the natural world. The turquoise one (left) has a beautiful gradient that reminds me of a clear shallow sea, an idealistic vision of what the world could look like without pollution and litter. It has a fluidity as the intense blue bleeds into the lighter tones.  The ...
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Drawing Patterns

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Now that I have a large collection of ceramic test pieces I wanted to go back to 2D work for a moment so I drew some patterns inspired by them with Copic markers. I made geometric patterns based on the nerikomi pieces where I stacked layers of clay together and cut through, as well as organic patterns like the spare coloured clay that I rolled out into swirly flat pieces. My favourite is the red lines against the yellow background because it looks fluid and groovy; I've also been wondering about translating these patterns onto ceramics, for instance using transfers on porcelain or using underglazes. I could also scratch patterns into a glaze revealing the colours underneath.  Although the geometric patterns were originally based on natural forms, I think the organic patterns are more successful in terms of alluding to nature and my theme of the ocean.  
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Mike Kelley Style Photoshoot

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  Mike Kelley's 'Ahh... Youth' piece inspired me to make my own version using old teddies from home, including some from my parent's childhood and some from my own - plus a recently acquired 90's troll doll from a car boot sale. I set up the studio lighting in a way that would reduce shadows behind the objects and used a white background like Kelley's image, which gives a professional atmosphere that  elevates them from being worn-out old creatures to something special and celebrity-like. I used a tripod so that they are all to scale with each other, and I like the empty space around them, it's like they have room to breathe and think. I also had to adjust the ISO, white balance and shutter speed on the camera to suit the light and conditions of the space, then I used manual focus to get the sharpness that allows you to see all the details and textures. After uploading the photos to the computer, I cropped them on photoshop and classified them into two separ...
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