I just returned to work in the last few days. Seem to have shifted to ‘Summer Hours’. Have to stay focussed though for my September show at the Edge.
Going to work out the issues with the furry sculptures. Starting with two of the furry cats on benches. The new bases are thinner. They will be fired on cookies instead of sand. Kept the understructure simple. When they were done they looked like the trays in my tool cabinet. A pretty basic design. Not having the tree. Just the furry, bench and pierced trash can.
Separately fired trees for the other sculptures. They can be put in place after firing. I will enjoy seeing them as free standing objects. Big bottles with stoppers. The bark glaze will be made darker.
The glazes for the bench planks will be the same as the cut off stumps of the tree. Much warmer and stronger coloured than the first. No blue grass. The darks will be put back in the glazes for the furries. The fur effect seems to rely on it.
Had the first sculptures worked out, they would have been enamelled and lustred. The eyes would have been filled in, the trash can made to look like aluminum, the tongue painted and other details. I aim to take them all the way this time.
I will still be wanting to remodel the arms for the bear. Need to fit in a little wax and plaster work.
I inadvertently destroyed the mould for the head of my life sized cat before its series of eleven was finished. If there is time in the coming weeks, I want to make a new and improved head to complete that edition. The new cat would show nicely with the other work if I can squeeze it in.
Want to produce a few more of the wall masks. These too will be fired on cookies instead of sand. The first ones were seriously warped underneath. My fired test of black underglaze with alumina wax on top looks promising for the feet. It came out a stoney blue. Might work with the fur glazes. There’s always the flock as a fall back.
It would be great to try out the glass frits I purchased a year ago. My plan to make Pâte-de-Verre eyes for the masks had to wait for me to get the work fired. Will be making small specialized moulds for the kiln to fire the glass paste in. Completely new for me and a little exciting.
I did make it back to photo the Cre8tery show but have not had time yet to process the images. That will have to wait for another day.
No more holidays for me. Showtime again.
