Day Two

Its been a long one but I will make this brief - I have spent the day shaping the shoes which form the base of my figures.  To all of you ceramic novices out there;  these are hollow to allow heat to build up evenly in the clay  - too thick or solid and the heat will be uneven and pieces will crack and blow up - not to mention being heavy as Hull.

I have cut paper templates of all the small bits which make up the forms - I swear there's probably just as much 'bits' that make up an actual shoe pattern.
The pieces only start to come together once I 'paddle' them with a wooden spatula - I can then from and refine the shapes before smoothing with metal scrapers and finally, with a rubber kidney.

I have wrapped each foot individually so they keep nice and moist before I begin to build up legs.  Tomorrow, I will begin to cut and shape the details on each shoe, which should be fun as I have 4 pairs of Ghillie Brogues....

like little soldiers all in a row

offering up the cut-ots before taking them all off and scratching them to join

After paddling and smoothing

A homage to the cartoon shoe that was 'dipped' by Christopher Lloyd in Who Framed Roger Rabbit...

One of the 11 pairs of lady-shoes

Happit-up

Pile of scrap that will be dried and made into paperclay next week

FIN

19 pairs of feet in all

Dont they look preddy?

....And so it begins

For those of you who know me, you will be aware that I have a particularly large amount of work to make for a particularly large show in May.....
I hope to show you my making/ panic process and see if I can begin to evolve my making process and to make it more streamlined.

After a large order from Monsieur Kettles, I have approximately 200kg of clay and this week I have borrowed the facilities at my work to roll out slabs  and make extra plaster slabs to work on.  Couple this with the better weather and a new bottle of Butane in my gas heater - I seem to be getting on fine today.

Task 1:

• Decide on shape profiles of feet and cut out

Sketchy - with G+T in middle

• Decide on depth of shoes and cut strips of rolled clay to start making 3D shapes

And so the production line begins... I have decided on 17 figures; 9 Ceilidh People and 8 Fisher People.  

I am also making 2 figures for the Aberdeen Artists Exhibition (with any luck)

Canvas covered slabs

cutting the pieces for all the feet before scratching and slipping together and reinforcing the joins

ready for fashioning the tops tomorrow

I have a huge task ahead of me but hopefully I will be able to deliver some nice new work to Gallery Heinzel by the end of April.

New Start

A couple of weeks ago I decided to start on my commissions and some new smaller work for Teacosy.  After a few days, we cleaned the garage/ studio and now I have a spanking clean workspace, ripe for Christmas decoration production and figure making!

I have several pieces to make; There is a Gay Gordons with red tartan in progress, a Pinkie Nurse and a top secret commission, only to be revealed after the person has recieved their Christmas Present!

I am also working on a Napoleon Bonaparte, A Tartan Chef and an updated figure from many years ago for a very special birthday present... Phew

Remember, this Friday, if you are in Aberdeen to visit ME-IDEA, an exhibition/ installation by Philip Thomson at Peacock Visual Arts.  Also Teacosy is on at Rosemount Community Centre on 4th December from 12 - 4pm, Come along early for a goodie bag and the usual cakey treats as well as the most original Christmas Shopping around....

My work is still showing at Junction Art and Gifts until January 2011 too, so theres no excuse!

Hese is the progress so far....


Tidy shelves and new storage drawers



Clear surfaces..

Starting by rolling out and drying the clay a little - its very cold so this atkes overnight

Cling filmed beauties

Ready to be worked on...

I like to keep figures around to comare size and shape

Top secret Tackety Boots

I'm quite happy with the creases in the clay.