Monday 22 March 2010

Winter term 2010 - metal work

The current high price of sterling silver grain meant that only PMC (fine silver) items were made this term, along with quite a lot of pewter. Below we have a series of words (and a couple of charms), made by Eleanor Rogers in soft wax, moulded in silicone rubber, cast in PMC then fired and polished. Next to it is a picture of an earlier stage, where the words were cast in coloured epoxy resin together with a PMC charm, and a stamped trinket. Then there is a picture of a very heavy-gauge copper bracelet, by Michelle Chan.
PMC words PMC words bracelet by Michelle Chan

Thursday 18 March 2010

Winter term 2010 - ceramics

I took nearly 50 photos of ceramic and metalwork made this term, so will have to severely edit them down for the purpose of this post. First there are two small unfired clay sculptures; one of Susanne Esperey-Clarke made by Emily Fussell, then the mean but none-too-lean ram by Mary Winchester (see more of her work and website details below). The third item is a bowl by Mathieu Doublet, with a handsome wax-resist design.

sculpture head Ram sculpture resist decorated pot

It was somewhat surprising that so many ceramic items were made this term, since the unusually long, damp, and cold winter meant that they took much longer to dry than usual. Below are three examples of the work of Marco Toro, an established artist and teacher.

ceramic by Marco Toro ceramic by Marco Toro ceramic by Marco Toro
Next we have three pots by Massimo Saltini; first a terracotta bowl covered with blue slip, scratched through in places to give a fluid diagonal design; another larger such bowl, with red slip, also scratched away in places; and finally the first bowl with blue glaze fired onto it (apparently applied on the green clay).
ceramic by Massimo Saltini ceramic by Massimo Saltini ceramic by Massimo Saltini
Uta Saatz made the next three items; a hexagonal bowl with a variety of textures and colours, two 'shell faces', and finally a small glazed animal form.
pot by Uta Saatz pot by Uta Saatz pot by Uta Saatz
Next we have two bowls (the first is a square pot on spherical feet, and is a lot nicer than the photo suggests; the second has a blue-stained crackle in a yellow glaze) by Melodie Wong, and a ceramic plaque by Rochelle Scrivner.
pot by Melodie Wong bowl by Melodie Wong plaque by Rochelle Scrivner
Below we have a picture of the art room, with Elena Nemtseva finishing off a clay version of a Tetrapak carton before drying and firing.
tetrapak by Elena Nemtseva