Sunday 13 October 2013

playing with ugly teapots ideas!



 
 
Here's a small batch of thrown forms with extruded additions that I've been playing with. They give an interesting reference to functional (or lack off!) teapots as they have no lids of such and they're spouts can not function by having no holes cut allowing liquid to travel from the body through to the spout.

Sunday 29 September 2013


Thoughts and Pictures

An exhibition in association with Arena Studios and Gallery

Featuring: Josie Jenkins, Phil McKay, Susan Stevens, Carol Ramsay, Mike Snowdon, Lucy Wilson, Nathan Pendlebury, Helen Pendlebury, Anthony Pendlebury, Mo Peacock, Claire Weetman, Julie Dodd, Anna Ketskemety, Richard Robinson and Gareth Kemp.

This Autumn, Sir Howard and Lady Newby are delighted to invite you to Thoughts and Pictures, an exhibition which brings together a mixture of selected artists showcasing artistic talent from across Liverpool.   The featured artists are linked through the craftsmanship they use to represent their vision, presenting art, craft and illustration which displays real skill and process in its execution, whether the work is figurative or abstract”.

Thursday 3rd October - Wednesday 4th December 2013      

Friday 9 August 2013

Playing with some teapot ideas!

Hello again ! here's some pics of some teapot ideas I've been thinking about, these were taken at the same time as the last post but have been cleaning and had no time or just been lazy anyway ......................
what you think???


 was playing with the ideas of having a corrugated base on these, so the on the furthest left was thrown normally then when it had firmed up it was dropped on a plaster mold to give the shape but in doing so has distorted the shape but is still interesting.

the middle and right were thrown as a bowl cut with a cheese cutter then separate slabs were press molded and attached which took longer than expected then spouts were thrown for the left one and a pulled handle. middle had an extruded spout and pulled handle. the right one was using an extruded spout and handle

All can be developed further especially.



detail from far left teapot base especially like the movement in the base



. this is the questionable functional teapot which as two spouts and two lids but only one of each actually works. Can you guess which ones?



looking at it I don't really like the base join, as I used the larger corrugated mold to pressmold where as the others I used the smaller one which worked better.
really this is the first playful experiment with this idea so still lots of possibilities

Thursday 25 July 2013

Hmmmmmmmmmm..........yes..............ugly pots/vessels/objects ................

Hey!

so in between cleaning and cleaning and organizing and more cleaning in work I been making some playful experiments/prototypes titled "ugly pots"!

not so ugly but a time ago I was wondering what would happen if you threw an extruded tube as a neck on a vase? with this I wanted to see if using an extrusion would be faster and easier accomplished than throwing a separate neck, but also in some instances  I wanted to create and ugly neck for the vase too and have a contrasting surface between the main form of the piece and it's uneasy sitting neck......... perhaps...............?

so I tried and these are some of the first results ..............




    I like the above vase from base to shoulder although it would work better if the neck was have the size and possibly collared in a bit further.



This does work as an  overall piece but the neck could of been tighter and further collared in the center. Like the contrasting surfaces on this too.

then this one:


   
    Now the above one I'm interested in a couple of ways as once I had attached the extrusion I decided only to lift a very small amount of the wall you can see the line on the image on the right there is a certain characteristic change to the surface of the neck, which I really like. I also like the shape and the foot design.
the next feature is the side edition, perhaps a suggestion of a spout, a very nonfunctional spout and even more evident  with there being no cut hole where the addition joins the form.



And now a vase jug perhaps??????





This has a further level of development as I'm again interested in it's non functional properties but at the same time I would like to question if it could function.
I'm enjoying the different qualities this has to offer especially with the hollow extruded textured handle and it's quirky but undecided presence on the jug vase. The neck spout has a further undisclosed intentions as to what it will be and do. if the who neck as collared in further especially if it had become tied and rippled it would of been a further bonus! that'll be the next one then!
final thought would be if it's shape was the same as the last vase would of been better.



Saturday 6 July 2013

and a little bit more! perhaps!?

been taken pics pics and more pics !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

thought I'd post these as I like 'em but it takes me so long to take decent pics!

I can throw faster!!!!!!!

just updated my site too!

 
 


Some have arrived!!!


It's been ages since I posted but have been busy with things!!!
anyway here are some examples of some of the finished vessels complete with glaze

what you think?

 


Monday 27 May 2013

and some more ideas!!!!

so did it bit of throwing again earlier and got into making vase shapes probably would look good as lidded jars too.




threw a very loose jug with no base and threw a further two bases for the jug creation hopefully will
complete 'em tomorrow night

just some ideas!?

just been playing with some ideas here they are:
these are 3 lb weights of clay without any bases, the bases I threw separate (weighing 1 lb)
and this one of my cat's got to during the night! so decided to cut it then attached to one of the bases this is it now: 

 next one was lower, had a textured slab base and spare clay from the base made the unpractical handle more of an artistic adventure this one! 
close up of the base underside 

next was another attempt with the same kind of slab textured base and artistic handle  

last but one was a bit over worked with all the squeezing and manipulating I did, I'm interested in the base/plinth though 


 close up of the underside of the base was originally made this way up!


the final one from this batch looks like others I made previous but in one go complete with thrown base, I'm still interested in the wiggly lines around the base though!
any thoughts ?


Monday 20 May 2013

these are the complete trimmed pots with different textures applied to them, what do you think?
like this detail by the base

the first one doesn't work 


this could work 

this  works and could be developed further