Experiments over Christmas and musings...

Over the Christmas break, I tried to make use of the grid-board and supporting rods to experiment with possible components for a ceramic wall or 'curtain'. As advised by the course tutors, I attempted some things out that were not based on my lattice or pierced components and aimed to 'play' a bit more with the clay. So I tried to make fairly spontaneous and quick 3D sketches. I suspect my mindset is still in 'lattice' mode though because everything I made seemed to follow a certain pattern. The results are below. 

I've saved these bits and will fire and string together but they remind me a bit of
Kate's scribble clay cone! (Not intended!!)

I have to admit I found these 'experimenting' ('playing') sessions hard. Creative inspiration was thin on the ground and it all seemed a little pointless and lacking in direction.  Not just that: all of the time whilst my hands were working with the clay, my mind was elsewhere. I was thinking about how I might develop the lattice-work pieces that I'd discovered after making the corrugated plastic mould, only a few weeks ago before Christmas! After a while, I got cross with the playing and decided, "stuff it, I'm going to go with my instincts" and returned to a more precise way of working. I decided to look at putting some edging on the lattices and cutting them into different shapes, etc. It was liberating and I immediately became re-engaged with the process and the material...

I really like these even jagged edges...

Adding the edges makes these lattice tiles very strong

So these in themselves in raw clay aren't so exciting but with surface decoration they will be.  Each took about 5 minutes to make - they are fairly rough, made with crank. They are not necessarily going to be used in my final work but are part of a period of ongoing development using this lattice form.

I have been thinking for a while about making a harmonised tapestry of sorts using the various different elements of hand-built work that I've experimented with this year. This would still need to meet my wishes to create work that responds well to changes in light too, of course....