Project Conclusion and Resolution in Relation to Context

I feel I have concluded this project well as I have started to refine my vessels and have made 3 pots with four sides and a base. Towards the end of the project I started to explore how I could continue my mono printed design onto the inside of my vessels, as well as on the outside, as the inside of the first few pots I made looked very stark in comparison to their highly decorated exteriors.

This image shows how bare the inside of the vessel looks without the mono printed design on it's interior.

Here are some images of my final vessel with the mono printed design continued on the inside.

I have also started to test out how I could use glazes to add colour to certain sections of my vessels where the stamps haven’t picked up any of the mono printed colour and were looking a bit bare. I really like the effect I have created by wiping away the glaze off the raised surface of the stamp with a sponge. 

These images show some of my glaze tests so far.

If I had more time I would like to experiment with some more under glazes to stain the glaze, as on the ivory stoneware clay I don't feel the glazes have been as effective as they have turned out too pastely and not the colour I had intended to create. 

In this image below you can see the pastely colours of the glaze I applied.

If I had more time I would like to make more vessels as I have learnt from making these ones so far that I need to let the pots dry out slower as one pot has cracked and the side of another one came off. This is because the top of the pots had dried out quicker than the bases. To stop this from happening in the future I intend to place my vessels in the damp cupboard to enable them to dry out slowly and also to place a plastic bag over the top of the vessel to allow the top of the pot to dry at the same rate as the bottom. I will also try standing my vessel on mesh to let air get under the pot to enable it to dry out more evenly. However I feel I have started to work towards my vessels being of a high standard and am pleased with what I have produced so far.

I feel my choice of context (Flow Gallery) is still appropriate as I am still working towards making high end, contemporary, one off vessels and am also still very interested in exploring surface pattern and decoration techniques. However I have found out during this project that I would have liked to have explored group as a project title as I have started to think about how my vessels interact together and have enjoyed starting to create a surreal city scape with my pieces.

The key motivating factors behind my practice are to carry on creating vessels and to explore surface pattern and texture in ceramics more as I have really enjoyed experimenting with mono printing and using plaster stamps in this project. My long term aspirations are to be able to develop my work to a high enough standard to be able to be exhibited in Flow Gallery or the Contemporary Ceramics Centre one day.

Reflecting on the development process in relation to context

I feel I am working efficiently so far in developing my project as I have been generating a number of lines of enquiry by experimenting with how I can translate my drawings onto ceramics by using two different types of mono printing techniques, sgraffito, inlay, resist and using stamps as a way of relief printing my images onto clay.

In these images below you can see one mono printing technique and also how I've been using stamps in my work.

I have also started experimenting with how I can join my slabs together so therefore I am on track to be able to start constructing some vessels. I have also been developing how I manage my creative process as when I’m in the ceramics workshop I always ensure that I am maximising my time by working on a few pieces at once so when I’m waiting for one thing to dry I can work on something else, therefore not wasting my time.

I have been testing out and practicing my mono printing technique on both ivory stoneware and red earthenware clay to see how the coloured slips I’ve been making differ on different types of clay and which ones I prefer. I have then used these test tiles to experiment with what adding glaze on top of the coloured slip looks like.

Here are some examples of mono printing on ivory stoneware and red earthenware clay.

I’ve also been using lino printing on paper to try and achieve the same kind of surface I get by mono printing onto ceramics in my drawings. I have then been using these lino printed images to construct models of vessels I am planning to make. This is so I can better understand the dimensions of the slabs I need to create to make up these vessels so my slabs will fit together effectively.

Here are some images of the models I've made.

I’ve also been testing out different ways of how I can join my slabs together. When I created some of my test tiles which used plaster stamps to transfer my image onto the ceramic surface the action of pressing the plaster stamps into the clay caused the originally straight edges of the slabs to warp and were raised in places. I really liked these uneven and warped edges of the slabs so I decided I wanted these to be accentuated when I constructed my vessels. Therefore I’ve been experimenting with using two relief printed slabs and two flat slabs to construct my vessels as this means that I can join the flat slabs onto the relief printed slabs, with the raised edges I liked so much, and therefore not having to cut off this edge to join the vessel together. I am going to use this method to make my final vessels. 

This image shows the two relief printed slabs on the left and the two flat slabs, which have a negative mono printed image on their surface, on the right.

These two images show how I've been starting to join my slabs together.

I have been using my drawings and the shapes of my abstracted stamps to inspire the shapes of the slabs that make up my vessels. However so far the experimental forms I’ve made by joining two slabs together have warped slightly once they’ve started to dry out after I stood them up. I’ve learnt from this that I must have joined these slabs together too early when they weren’t leather hard enough so in my next experiments I will ensure that I leave my slabs long enough to dry out so they don’t warp when I join them together.

In this image you can see how the slab on the left has warped slightly.

At my midpoint review Sharon and I talked about how I could improve the way my sketchbook works as before the midpoint review I was working in an A4 sketchbook which limited the size of my drawings. It also limited the amount of images and drawings I could see at one time so I was struggling to develop my designs fully as when I turned over the page in my sketchbook I found it hard to keep developing the drawings that had been on the page before. I am now working on A2 pieces of paper so I can have more drawings on one page and from now on I’m going to work in a much larger sketchbook. Sharon also asked me to start making card models of my vessels in order to help me to start thinking more three dimensionally about how my vessels will be constructed. She also asked me to consider the words dynamic, stability, groupings, top edge, dimensions, scale, detailing, construction and joining. So after my midpoint review I started to develop how I could join my slabs together as I have already previously talked about and also the idea of grouping really excited me. Therefore I am going to start to consider how the vessels I make interact together so maybe I could create a surreal skyline with my vessels. I am also going to consider the scale of my work and making sure I pay enough attention to detail.

Project Starting Points and Contextual and Professional Research Findings So Far

So far in this project I have visited The Bluecoat Display Centre, The Royal Exchange, The Craft and Design Centre, Flow Gallery, Vessel, the Contemporary Ceramics Centre and Contemporary Applied Arts. Out of these galleries the place where I think my work is most suited to be shown at in the future is Flow Gallery or the Contemporary Ceramics Centre. My work is concerned with surface decoration and texture and I feel the target audience for my work would be people who wanted to buy my pieces as decoration for their homes. The ceramicists I saw in Flow Gallery and in the Contemporary Ceramics Centre had work that I feel sits close to my practice.

I have chosen Vessel as my project title as I would like to make vessels with my designs and textures decorating their surface. I have chosen reflect as my research starting point as I am very interested in everyday life and buildings you see on a daily basis. These buildings may not be the most aesthetically pleasing but I want to use them to create images that are beautiful. I have chosen Flow Gallery as the destination for my work as it exhibits high end contemporary ceramics and this what I aspire my work to be in the future.

Here are a few photos I've taken of buildings so far.

Currently my key motivating factors are exploring line quality in my drawings and also experimenting with layering to create new and more interesting images. I’m interested in trying to capture a stillness in my drawings and am really inspired by the work of George Shaw. With these images I create I plan to experiment with how I can disrupt the image only enabling the viewer to see parts of the drawings by using textures and layers. These textures and layers will be inspired by things I’ve noticed when walking around urban environments such as scaffolding, windows, drain covers.

Here are some of George Shaw's paintings I really like.

I am interested in working with ceramics and intend to create slab built vessels which will have lines, layers and textures on their surfaces. In this project I intend to experiment with sgraffito, relief printing, paper resist and mono printing to transfer my images onto the clay’s surface.

I went to the Ceramic Print workshop on Monday and found this very useful as we learnt how to monoprint and use decal transfers. I feel learning how to use monoprinting will come in very useful in this project as I liked the lines created by drawing onto the tissue paper and the varying lines that can be created by using a pen or a blunter pencil. I also feel that learning about decal transfers will come in useful as you can layer these up over already fired images so I can produce more layers to the designs on my vessels.

Here are some images of my experimentations in monoprinting.

Here is an image of one of the decal transfers I made.

I am also planning to go to the ‘Ceramic Surface’ workshop as I feel this will aid me greatly in this project, I am also going to go to the basic photography induction to improve my photography skills and to the kiln firing workshop so I can learn how to pack and fire a kiln for bisuit and glaze ware myself.

For the rest of this week and next week I am going to carry on experimenting with drawing from the pictures I’ve taken and experimenting with line quality in these drawings and how I can use layering to disrupt the images I produce with lines and textures.