My tree trunks are becoming more varied. Since my earlier blog post Ghost Gums, which were thrown on the wheel, I have more recently been using slabs of clay, impressed on trees, as moulds. I explained the process in my post Tree Trunk, black.
I press, and tear, and force the seams together, and they don’t seem to mind. I used quite a variety of underglazes here, adding sand to the mix, aiming to create an unexpected, slightly rough, bark-like effect.
These two seem to belong together, the one nestling in the lee of the other.
Stoneware. Fired in oxidation, to Cone 6. 1. Ht: 13″, dia: 2.5″; 2. Ht: 11″, dia: 2″
Here’s the latest in my series on tree trunks. They’ve been changing, radically, over time. The early ones, based on the Ghost Gums I saw in Sydney, were two thrown cylinders, attached, and made with a very white porcelaneous stoneware. Most of the cylinder remained almost pure white, with only the base dark, coated in a high grit, matte, dark glaze. In Cape Town, the variety of trees in the downtown Company Gardens was so astonishing, so huge, that to reflect their variety, I turned to underglazes, which I saw potters using while I was there.
Then at home during the summer, and with the studio closed due to Covid 19, I worked on my balcony rolling out slabs of clay, which I’d take on my walks, and press them against trees, for texture. I then tried to force the slabs into cylinders. I soon realized that to improve them, I really needed a positive impression of the bark. Therefore, when Gladstone Clayworks re-opened, I began bisquing some of these bark impressions, and continuing from there.
This piece came out of the kiln yesterday. I had dipped the entire piece into a matt black glaze, and then sponged most of the glaze off the raised areas. The result provides two tones, enhancing the rough texture of the vessel.
