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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

Autumn term 2009 - silver items

Below we have sterling silver strips by Alan Reynolds, all roller-textured, together with a PMC (fine silver) leaf with an added CZ. Then there is a sterling bracelet, roller-textured by rolling through the mill whilst bound with brass wire by Joanna Harris.

The bracelet in fact suffered damage subsequently on being worn; it snagged on clothing and split along one of the rolled indentations furthest from the open ends. This would probably be because most stress would be concentrated at this point, and because this particular indentation was very deep. Fortunately, it soldered extremely well to make an invisible and perfect repair, although only time will tell whether it will still be liable to damage.

Autumn term 2009 - bright ceramics

The late autumn and winter season brought out some very colourful ceramics, some of which are shown below. The beads are by Cathy Mallay, and consist of glass glaze on top of ceramic-glazed hollow terracotta. Then follows a rather wonderful sampler of textures on a glazed tile, followed by two examples of work by Julia Didenko. The open-work bowl has delicate patterns etched into the glaze before firing, and the detail of the following plate shows an evocation of forest fruits.

Abstract flora and a polar bear

The three pictures below are floral-themed ceramics by Chris Coggins from the Summer 2009 ceramics class.

Then below there is a very dynamic crimson glaze on a hemispherical bowl with free-form edges by Harriet Bartlett, and a polar bear and coil pot by Anusha Luchmun-Roy.

Mercat, silver droplets, and creative bending

The Spring 2009 jewellery class most-interesting efforts were perhaps the 'silver droplet' rings by Joanna Harris, the folded sterling silver ring by Alan Reynolds, and the roller-printed copper bangle by Delores Clarke.

This folded ring was a considerable challenge to get a single tapered band of silver to bend until the smaller end could neatly fit into a pierced slot at the larger end, whilst simultaneously ending up with the correct size ring! It's a little unprofessional of me, showing the rings before they have been properly sanded and polished, but I thought I had better grab images while camera and ring were to hand.

The "mercat" above, by Segal Patel, was actually designed as a clock face (hence the visible spindle hole). Next follows two picture frames (one atop the other), also by Segal, and two views of a dynamic flower-form pot with a striking glaze by Samantha Board.

Finally, above are two plates and one small crackle-interior bowl by Tammie Quai.

PSAD revisited

Another (5-week this time) stint at Putney School of Art, now in temporary premises at The Old Library, on Wandsworth West Hill while the home premises are refurbished. The room doing duty for sculpture from life is now smaller and with different light, but quite satisfactory. The pieces illustrated below are (unfired) interpretations of Matthew Oghene. The one on the left is by Reiko, made in terracotta-rich mixed body. The purplish colour is the unfortunate effect of posing it against a yellow background and letting the camera's 'auto' setting work out a rendition (i.e. I should have taken more care).

After wiring the sculpture in half down the middle then hollowing, Reiko and myself felt it was interesting in two halves as displayed and didn't need welding together again. The piece in the centre is by Sally Shillito, in this case the colour balance properly shows the terracotta of the source clay. The third picture, shot against the light in moody monochrome, is an early stage in sculpting Matthew by Amanda Marsh, and the last picture is Matthew in unfired terracotta by Renata Ward.
Meanwhile, the Winter 2009 Jewellery course had interesting pieces including the pewter mythological creature & skull by Michael Knight.