Tag Archives: ceramic art

I Went to a Marvellous Party . . .

Amazing work by Jong Jin Park
Kyra Cane’s work has a beautiful subtlety to colour and tone.

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Drift Net, Annie Turner: A wonderful example of a unique style in ceramics.
Well, it was actually an exhibition: Ceramic Art London at the Royal College of Arts in Kensington.  It is one of the great annual showcases of ceramic art in London every year with eighty makers selected from across the world and it is always a fantastic place to see what is new and listen to some useful hints and tips in the various lectures taking place.  So, what is new?  I was particularly intrigued by the work of Jong Jin Park who is a relative newcomer on the scene.  He makes use of paper and clay slips, just as I do, but he works in a very different way and his work is certainly different.  I was amazed to hear that he does not create the final shapes until he cuts into the piece after having fired it to 1300C.  I cannot wait to try that! In fact, seeing Jong Jin’s work and then spending quite a while chatting to Robert Cooper about his work, other peoples work and then, rather less significantly as far as the exhibition goes, my own work might well have set me on the course for my final semester.  Thank Heavens I hear you cry, no more heart searching then!  Robert was selling well at the exhibition, which was great to see – I certainly think he deserves to!  It was also wonderful to see that another of my tutors, Annie Turner, had been presented with the Emanuel Cooper Prize.  That was a fantastic choice.  Annie’s work is certainly different; fragile, coiled pieces which are about being rooted.  It resonates with me on so many levels and it is great to see her skill being given recognition. I was also drawn to Kyra Canes wonderfully evocative work.  Once again I was touched by the generosity of the artists who I talked to.  I do not know of any other world in which the experts would be so willing to share their own special tips with a newcomer.  It never ceases to amaze me and to fill me with joy that my chosen medium is peopled with such kind and open people.  The discovery program lectures which I attended were a fine example of this with Derek Wilson telling us all kinds of experiences and pitfalls which, for a mere beginner, seemed invaluable.

All in all this was a great day and if I came away with one important message it was the need for a group of pieces to work together.  All those exhibiting had taken a considerable amount of care to present a coherent exhibition which worked in terms of colour, groupings and the level of variety.  So now I need to take that on board, throw away the rubbish and start making an exhibition rather than a bunch of experiments.  No more excuses, Macklin!

Three Dimensional Doodling

At last there has been a bit of time to breathe!  Yesterday I found time to just sit in my studio.  The kiln was on its way down and I was keen to get the next load in but in an uncommon fit of patience I decided to just let the kiln do its thing.  So there I  sat, cup of tea in hand, mind in neutral.  Then I reached for a bag of bits and began to play.  I have so many treasured finds from my mud-larking and I am almost scared to use them in my ceramics in case I don’t make something good with them so I got a large sheet of white paper to cover up the table and tipped a couple of bags of treasures onto it and then I just let myself play.  It is a while since I have done that – so long in fact that I could hardly remember how to.  I have been putting such pressure on myself to get the greatest pieces ever made for the final push of the diploma -well that was bound to fail, DUH!

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A wonderful hoard of treasure!
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Is it a candle stick?

So here I sat, fiddling with bits of rusty metal and chipped ceramics.  Not everyone’s idea of treasure but then, I am not everyone!  I began sorting them out and then I started to position some of them more thoughtfully, wondering what they might become if I altered my understanding of them.  Was this metal loop for tying a boat up?  Was it an ancient Viking bracelet?  Was it a handle for something?  I reached up for one of my boxes.  The poor old things have been a bit redundant for a while.  I think I felt that they had had their day.  I have been ignoring comments about them being what I do; my signature piece; some of my most successful work because I could not think where to go with them.   In fact there was an element of panic when I though about them – Had I done my best work in the first semester of the course?  Was I never going to achieve anything better?  But here I had given myself permission to mess about and see what happened.

There is a really important message, well several actually, here.  Firstly, Kate Wickam is right, we do have to go through the same old agonies over every new project.  Sorry Kate, but there it is!  Secondly, I should NOT give up on my boxes, they have massive potential so I just need to get on with it and stop fussing.  Thirdly, creative people need TIME!  Bucket loads of the stuff, with nothing to do but play.  No schedule, no deadline, no ‘what are we having for tea’ type TIME.  And finally, perhaps I should spend more sleepless nights browsing through books about people like Gillian Lowndes.  maybe something will stick.  What ever happens next, I feel another box coming!

And suddenly there it was - tea anyone?
And suddenly there it was – tea anyone?