Omphalos (Mikki's Navel) - w.i.p. state #12
unglazed stoneware, schlag-metal leafing, verdigris patina - 10½" high (i.e. - life size)
Mikki was tall and thin and she modelled for my clay modelling class several times in the early 2000s. While most of the students attempted to capture her poses with the whole figure, I usually focused on selected details of her body and modelled them in close to life-size scale. We used a gray clay body that fires to a matte white stoneware that allows for a variety of cold finishes. In this case I leafed the smooth-surfaced stoneware with imitation gold (schlag-metal) and I applied four applications of the liquid patina chemical (three sprayed-on and the final one daubed-on). The next day the completely set patina was sealed with a clear satin lacquer. The ceramic is mounted on a smaller rectangle of 1/4" masonite with urethane adhesive. The masonite is fitted with three 6-32 threaded T-nuts. The T-nuts will be used to attach the stoneware in a float-mount manner onto a somewhat larger stone slab backer (specific type & size of stone has yet to be determined). The front of the design will probably be fitted with some sort of inlay — possibly colored stone or glass. I may also re-leaf a portion of the surface and apply a different patina to it for contrast. Design by intuition . . .