10/01/2011

Over the New Year I visited London with my family and had a great time. I love London and it really is a fantastic city for skylines, especially the Docklands area, where my father works and where we stayed. The International Date Line at Greenwich is nearby and the observatory attatched to the institute is on the top of a hill in Greenwich Park. I have been there a good few times and adore the view you can get at the top of the hill when the light's right, looking out over the business and financial district of the Isle of Dogs. The winter light makes the shadows of the trees long, and the shadows on the buildings very prominent.

I visited the Tate Modern while in London and was pleasantly surprised to find two pieces by Bernd and Hilla Becher on display, Coal Bunkers and Pitheads, respectively.

By the time we got to the café on the fourth floor of the Tate Modern it was dark, and there was a stunning view across the river from the little balconey there.

I believe that's St Paul's Cathedral in the centre.

10/01/2011

Before the Christmas break, on the very last day of term actually, the vessels I'd been working on for a few weeks came out of the kiln. I linked the concept of the watertower to water, and hence to drinking and vessels, and these are what I produced in response to that. Here are some progress pictures, unfired.

I am very pleased with how the bowl I turned on the potter's wheel came out. I think I managed to capture the colours of my skyline, though I do wish the black underglaze colour I used had turned out a bit darker. When I took the bowl back to the studio from the ceramics department I was alarmed when the glaze started cracking and making small, constant pinging noises. I was informed by Elaine that this was okay, it was just the glaze crazing, my bowl wasn't going to explode in my hands. As the bowl was fired with other pieces being bisked the temperature didn't go up as high as one would usually fire a clear glaze at, and the crazing happened because of this. So, that was a relief. I actually rather like the effect given by the crazing in the glaze, even though it was unintended.

A side effect of the crazing, however, is that I was advised not to fill the bowl with water as I had planned.

The second vessel, a sort of cup that I slab-built, I don't like as much. I had trouble with the glaze and I applied too much, and as a result it didn't fire transparent like the first piece, but rather a cloudy white tint. While I do not like this as much as I would have had it fired clear, it does remind me of those few days we had a while back when mist covered everything and desaturated my skyline. So it's not all bad.

Since the glazing was laid on so thick, as it fused in the kiln it drew away from the corners, creating a strange effect. I can't decide if I like it or not. I certainly can't put water in this one.