As you might have gathered from how I ended last week’s post, I finished up the larger under plate mould and that was it. There really is no room left in the studio for any more moulds until this group is done.
I spent the week cleaning greenware, slip casting and bisque firing. No profound revelations. No new discoveries.
Almost out of casting slip. Not enough left to cast the larger planter set. Time for a new batch.
I didn’t document my studio work this week. I did document some cups that were just recently fired.
These cups have been sitting in the studio as bisque since 2015. The spirit moved me to glaze and lustre them over the holidays. I am still undecided on some if they are truly finished. I may yet add more lustre.
I intended these to be ‘Alternative’ or ‘Alt Mugs/Cups’. You grip them by the tips of the nubs to hold a hot drink. Practical? No. It just seemed funny. Truthfully, they may work better as flower vases. Regardless of how they are used, they have to be hand washed. The lustred surfaces would never survive the dishwasher.
Some might think I am referencing the work of others in this series. That was not my intention. I see these as referencing my own work from 1984 to 1986. I made a lot of black spiky things at that time that expressed the angst of my youth. Cylinder vases, cut edge bowls, coffee mugs and little prickly pots. The teeth were as sharp as I could make them. I know I have a box with four of the cylinders somewhere. Not sure what else remains. Very few examples or images are left in my archives.
These 2015 versions were cast and assembled from found object moulds. The model for the main form was a stack of cat food cans. The nubs came from a silicone waffle pan I found at the thrift store.
The Alt Mugs are like my earlier work but they have been toned down with the sharp edges taken off. You might say the same about me.
