Another to work with

This wide rim bowl as with the previous two pieces has been sitting around for some time while I work out how to proceed.

There is a strong Philip Streeting influence in this piece and I became aware of this as I worked on the piece. It was not intentional at all but after some time I realised the more I worked how his textured coloured wide rim bowls have been ingrained in my psyche. So I have put it on the shelf where it has sat now for about two months while I try to decide how to add my own slant.

Still thinking about it :-), it will come to me one day. !

The inside has just been coloured in a singular colour at this stage. But the rest is on hold until I can add my own identity to the piece.

Not sure what the colour for the texture as yet, may be in line for some lichen or other similar material, but will have to see.

Next Piece

Well the last piece received a mixed interest with some liking and some not. This is a good reaction as any response means that people are having to think about what they are viewing.

Each will have a different view of a piece and it is important for me to listen to all and to fold this back into the process.

It is important for me to push my boundaries in both techniques and ideas, philosophies, to explore processes that I have never undertaken or had contact with before. This I see as the only way to progress in my knowledge of techniques and methods. This is guess is the unobtainable "pursuit for perfection" which I know will never be achieved but for me to strive for anything else is a waste of mental and physical energy.

Making what I know is fun if I want to relax or not have to think about too much, thus is a great way for me to clear my mind. But it holds little challenge, this possibly being why I am going off into different variants of work.

Many may not achieve or have the impact that I intend, but for me being too concerned about this can be a destructive process, it gets in the way of how I view my work work. Instead of looking at new ideas with a "beginners mind", it is all too easy for me to allow previous influences to obscure what I may be trying to achieve in a new idea.

The next piece I am working on is pictured above ( is not a new idea but a re-visit). The texture and base colour have been applied but at this stage have mixed ideas about where to take it. The addition of a simple lid, finial and bead may be all that is needed and I may keep it close to a previous format to satisfy my more commercial needs. But time will tell.

Close up below showing the texture and colours.

Taking Time

It has been a week now since my return from holiday. Taken this time to catch up with the emails and enquiries etc for work.

The piece above has I think come to an end.

The idea of this piece was to explore my deep interest in Wabi-Sabi. To embody this as much as possible with this being the reason the piece has taken so long to finish.

It is well worth researching for anyone interested in seeing and thinking from a different angle.

I spend a huge amount of time contemplating over this and other philosophies and have finally yielded that this is the path my work will develop in, perhaps not say solely, as I have a very eclectic mind and tend to work on different projects from contemporary to pure on a daily basis.

This for me though is part of the working in the "here and now" and not forcing what I do just so that I can make money.

Of course I have to answer the phone and fulfil orders but other than this I make what I feel I want to make at the time. However by taking time an initial idea can develop at its own pace and often the piece will change from my initial idea for the better.

The lessons learned from making such a piece and the processes involved often teach me more techniques than I had initially envisaged in making of the piece.

Again I have explore impermanence, and the idea that perfection is held within imperfection. The natural order of things are just so for a reason so who am I to work against this.

On looking for a base texture the initial idea came from my pet dogs nose, as in the picture I took below while in the back garden having a cup of tea. On top of this was placed a second texture found while out walking in my local woodland. Dead branches covered in lichen seemed a natural process/ material to use for the top/final texture to impart a foundation of impermanence, the natural colours also being far to involved to emulate through painting techniques.

After all why bother when nature does it far better than I ever could.

The algae being a natural process of decaying materials and the absorption of structures both natural and man made back into nature/nothingness. However while we may perceived once the item has decayed it appears to absorb into "nothingness" in reality its form has merely changed and is recycled back into another entity, never being destroyed, just continually changing.

I have included below the development of the piece through its various processes.

I am not sure it is finished. Time will tell. It will be left on a shelf for me to observe and over time any more work required will become evident.