Making a bust for the first time

As several of you reading my blog know that my work is very influenced by fabrics. I do tend to make something functional and have done my sculptural dancing divas too. Also did some shoes last year. This time I thought why not make a torso or bust featuring some beautiful indian prints just as they are meant to be on fabric. This is a larger scale of sculpture that I am used to but thoroughly enjoyed the process.

Here it is handbuilt and slip decorated with buttons. Had to dry it really slowly and went a little crazy supporting the insides and keeping the form.

And here it is all decorated with layers of underglazes which really enhance the texture and pattern. It is approximately 18"x 18" and goes up on the wall. I will be taking it to the summer shows and hope to make more pieces in this series.

It was a great experience to get out of my comfort zone and try something new. What have you wanted to create pushing your limits? Do share.

     

Decorative Butter Dishes

I have been making decorative butter dishes for a few years now and I am always thrilled to decorate them with unique patterns. Because of their time consuming nature, I usually made 12 at a time. This time I decided to challenge myself and make 30 of them. Most of these are for wholesale orders, so I have been a busy bee.

I made all different patterns and had to really scratch my head on these.

Few things I realized from making larger quantities at one time...

• You increase your efficiency. For example, you pick up one tool and do the same step on all the butter dishes. Rather than picking up and putting down 10 tools for each piece. This saves a lot of time.
• Develope quicker ways to do the same thing. I made a new tool which helps me score and slip. More on that in another post.
• And because I wanted different designs on all butter dishes, I came up with some really cool new patterns.
• And most of all your hand developes a memory, just like playing the piano which makes things go a lot faster and your work will continue to improve.

Do share your insights on what you have learnt working in your studio.
 

Happy New Year!

A very happy, properous and healthy New Year to all my blog readers!! Thanks for reading simce I haven't been writing many blog posts. I will try to keep up this year. Not a resolution, but will try to do it. :)
Got some great news yesterday, that my ceramic shoes and clutch bag were selected for Nordstrom's exhibition in Seattle downtown March 1st-31st 2012. So if you are at NCECA in Seattle, make sure to drop by the Nordstrom's display window. These are inspired by Indian footwear called "Mojari" or "Jutti". And I just had to make a clutch bag to match the pair. 

A BIG THANKS to my wife for letting me rip off her wedding shoes to figure out how to make these in clay.





The shoes were built from slabs and decorated with colored slips and underglazes. Check out the details below.