a cupful of clay

bronwyn may rickard. I'm a 3rd year Visual Art student, in Bendigo, Victoria. This blog is a way to document my journey through 3rd year, majoring in Ceramics. My work is an exploration of tactility/materials, colour, and feeling - emotionally and physically. contact me for enquiries: [email protected]

[bronwynmayrickard]

Had to make this guy little like his buds, as I cracked the tall one fiddling with it. :(

[bronwynmayrickard]

WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? The semester is drawing dangerously close to its end, and I have to work out what I'm on about. There's something interesting about bodies - several items that look like they belong together - or maybe the confusion of there being an odd one out, or a collection that do not seem to fit yet they are placed within close proximity. My aim this semester manifested into a want to explore the material of clay, see what it could do, and how it or the objects are interpreted depending on surface and shapes. I chose to make cups ebcause they are something you very much wish to put in your hands and press to your lip. Extending this to vessels in general seems like a natural progression. I am seeking direct responses to looking at or feeling these vessels, no metaphors or storytelling.

[bronwynmayrickard]

Whipped these babies up this morning using toilet roll cardboard. vases?

[bronwynmayrickard]

trying to carve by hand some interesting textures into some cups. my faceted bowl mould is a good test for glaze on slip cast pieces. here's some bisqued test pieces ready to be glazed.

[bronwynmayrickard]

Not sure about this glaze.. too transparent and runny..

[bronwynmayrickard]

this faceted little guy came out pretty nicely.

[bronwynmayrickard]

stacked-up bowl shapes.. remind me of some kind of growth or something? I wanted to try to leave my touch quite heavily on something hand-made.

[bronwynmayrickard]

Great quote from Grayson Perry.

[bronwynmayrickard]

Some tea bowls that I tested white and green glazes on. This green came out beautifully, matte and a bit speckled. The white is beautifully milky with some little discoloured specks throughout. Happy with these tests!

[bronwynmayrickard]

Making a simple mould for a faceted bowl to experiment with.

[bronwynmayrickard]

Some rocky iron, celadon and a purple haze reduction glazes .. Some didn't quite work out, but it's all just exploration.

[bronwynmayrickard]

making gazes for my ceramics is like sorcery! 

[bronwynmayrickard]

woo hoo! nothing exploded! 

[auntmagda-blog]

[bronwynmayrickard]

Tea Bowl and Saucer, by auntmagda: Love the texture of the saucer.

[besidebloomingirises]

Korean tea bowl

17th century

[minor-arcana]

Ewen Henderson

Tea Bowls, circa 1990, mixed laminated clay

[kusa0093]

Tea Bowl by binrock.mike on Flickr.