Latest

This piece is the latest following on with my current interests.

Deciding to re-visit my previous work and forms in this case my "Chilli Piece", I wanted to look at ways of refreshing this idea by amalgamating various techniques and materials I have been using to date and a looking at progressing/changing these.

Wanting to have a change from the verdigris/metal effect I decided to look at Chinese lacquer ware with its ornate carvings and deep red colours. While I did not want to take the theme too literal by emulating the carving of a theme, I wanted to embody the feeling of a rich sumptuous piece, while keeping the Japanese theme of wabi-sabi and impermanence.

The insert which is gold leaf on polymer clay needs some progression for the next one. Although I am fairly happy with it, there is always room for improvement. In this case I would rather of used solid gold but the current prices limit this. So will look at some alternatives in both materials and techniques.

Day out

Went to Poole on the coast today, ate some fish and chips and had a walk around the harbour. The local museum has several floors covering the local history and contain many interesting artefacts, pottery and many other items, dating from 2000bc to current day.

Here are some pictures that I took for reference for shapes and textures. Some of the pictures They may be a little shaky in places a the use of a flash was prohibited.

The top picture is of a long boat that was made from a single tree trunk.

The last two pictures are sculptures by Henry Moore and Jacob Epstein

Play Day

Well today was a play day, a time I set aside every now and then just to put the work for galleries and other sources aside in order to try out new ideas without the worry of having to sell them. Although in fairness I never see myself as having to work as such. I believe I am most fortunate to have been given the gift of making money from the craft I love. So I guess every day is a play day although I do have to make numerous items along the same theme, such as bowls and hollow forms etc. But every now and then I just do what ever I want without constraint in the making.

One of my favourite past times is foraging in the woods or combing at the beech. It enables me to walk the dogs and entertain the children and still keep an eye out for anything interesting that could be used in my work.

Numerous containers are filled over the time with bits and pieces , picked for reference of textures, colours and shapes.

Today I decided to make some micro sculptures, well that is what I call them anyhow. ! :-)

My interest in Wabi-Sabi is still at the for front of my work at the moment and as such I wanted to mount some of the pieces I had found on my travels. Nature can produce some wonderful textures, colours and shapes as mentioned, so I wanted to embrace this and use what I had with minimal alteration from myself. Just a wooden base that I scorched until alight which added an interesting organic texture to tie in with the item fix on top.

These three pieces are simply oyster shells found on the beach which had been damaged in and around the rocks, and one stone that I found had an interesting texture. The first piece at the top of the page reminded me of an all hearing ear, so this tied in nicely with the sound of the sea when putting an ear up to a shell.

Anyway I wanted to show what I have been up to.

Oak Sculpture

The idea of this piece was to show that imperfect green oak in this case a fresh cut post can be turn using the minimal amount of tools to produce an item that is more sculptural and interesting than the usual bowls and hollow forms that I normally turn.

Very few tools are used with the sculptures being a simple project to make. The scorching was used to highlight the off the tool/band saw marks which are not overly evident in the picture but add an interesting texture beneath the scorching.

This is the first of many such sculptures that can be designed from sizes of 300mm to 2.5 meters tall. They are made primarily to add sculptural interest to a garden with the oak adding to this with its cracked surface that will age over time.

If any one is interested in having a go at one of these or adapting the project to your own design then the project can be viewed within the latest woodturning magazine out now for purchase.

I enjoy now turning without finishing with abrasive and texturing the surface of the item with a hammer or other equally technical tools as I realised that you do not have to buy expensive texturing tools to produce interesting textures. Added to this stains, scorching or other media can be used to add accents to the piece.

It's a New Year !!

Well the new year is here, although I am some what late posting and have not for some time, I thought I should get back into blogging.

Unfortunately I have not posted for some time due to being busy, the festive season and various other excuses that I feel enables me to quantify my laziness, :-) .

For some time now I have been talking about a change in direction. This is not because I do not enjoy what I do but I have always driven myself in my respective careers to try out new ideas and processes with a view of bettering what I can do.

This involves a new range of work which is modern in both materials and design and some of these are starting to evolve, however while I may post a few tasters on my blog the rest will remain under wraps until they have been launched on a new web site I am currently and very slowly building.

Apart from this I have been revisiting my current work and spending much time in the sketch book developing and extending what I currently make in these designs. New techniques and media are being included.

I do not have much to show at the moment picture wise so have just included a few reference pics that I continually take as reference material for new ideas. You may find these of use for ideas yourself.

Tea caddy

This piece was inspired by the Japanese Tea caddy. Instead of lacquering I have used car sprays to achieve the main colour of the body with the detail being hand painted in acrylic gold paint.

The next one is almost ready the the detail and will be posted in a short while.

Re-Visiting old work with new technology

Lately I have been re-visiting old forms to see where I can develop these further.

This piece is based on my chilli form but has been left natural. The finials I am now producing with the aid of a computer software that enables me to draw the desired finial by hand but to then manipulate this after it has been converted to bezier curves. I can achieve the exact profile I am looking for with manipulation which can be altered many times with ease. The new finial is then added to a picture of a form so that the relationship between the two can be seen without having to make a physical prototype.

This is saving me time in designing/trial and error and has opened up a new avenue. The finials are then created by hand as before but with the knowledge that it is correct. From a commercial point of view this is a big advantage.

Bread and butter

It has been a busy week. Mainly trying to get work made for the outlets I sell in. Most of my bread and butter work is simple bowls, boxes, platters and lidded forms.

Most of the week has been taken up with roughing out boxes and and other bits and pieces so not much to show as these will have to season before being finished.

A few boxes have been finished and are shown above.

Slowly does it

Busy times at the moment with article writing, gallery supplying and bottle washing. However in between this I have managed to get some quiet relaxation by adding to the base/colours of this piece.

Around eight colours have been used together with copper foils, a few processes to get to this next stage. Hopefully you will only see a subtle difference but if you look at the previous picture and the piece as it is now, the colours I hope are more subdued and hold a different feeling of age.

Now I can progress the piece forward by adding an insert and lid together with other natural materials, , more highlights where needed and new natural materials that I have not used before. I am quite excited about trying out as it means a foraging in the local woodland which I always enjoy.

I am very undecided at the moment how I want the lid and insert to look so again it will have to wait until something pops into my mind.

Progressing slowly

This piece previously posted in it's raw form after texturing has now been taken a bit further. I was hoping to work on this much earlier and to have it finished, but I decided to leave it on the shelf for a few months as I find that often I come up with new ideas that are possibly better than my initial intentions.

Various base/colouring techniques have been used together with new materials. as such the piece is already changing beyond what I had initially intended.

IE I had originally wanted to reflect the blue and white ceramics however as you can see blue and white does not feature.

The materials used in this piece have taught me a lot about the way in which they can be used and new ways that it is not intended for. This is an interesting process as I just have to let go and not worry about wrecking the work I have done before.

It is an exciting and honest process as the piece becomes less contrived and alters without my full control.

This natural process is what I have been working towards for a long time as before I found that I would stay well within my comfort zone so the end result could be sent to a gallery to be sold.

Working in this way is much more fun than the normal restrictive process that I normally have to work in.

The colours here are the base onto which I am going to apply various other colours/tones and materials to achieve the effect I am looking for. Again I am intending to include natural materials that I have not used before so it will be interesting to see how it turns out.

The benefit in this is that I get to spend a few hours relaxing a foraging in the local woods for materials and do not know what I am looking for until I see it.

The next update will be a while as it is half term and I am doing my child care routine for the week. But this gives me time to spend with my children and think about other things. In turn I hope that some new ideas for the piece will come to the fore.

I will update after the next stage.