Testing Times

This week I have been experimenting with a new clay.  I love the feel of working with porcelain but I would really like to reduce the amount of warp which I get in large pieces so I thought I would have a go with some molochite grogged porcelain.  I confess that the jury is well and truly out over this one.  It came out of the bag wet and floppy but when I left it to dry for a bit it became rather fractious and crumbly.  It was a beast to build with – it felt horrible to the touch and did not really want to join to the found materials at all.  I have gone large because that is, after all, the point and I am going to fire to at least 1230 to see how it behaves but I will certainly need a lot of convincing!

grogged porcelain
Give me Audrey Blackman every time!

yesterday, at a get together of the Diploma students we were talking about clay as you do at 10:30 on a Friday evening, and a number of my contemporaries have also been having a go with a few new clays.  There were some very favourable reports of a white stoneware/porcelain blend from some and so that might be the next one to try but in the meantime, I am open to suggestions – how do you get a lovely smooth, workable clay with the qualities of porcelain but without the warping?

My Favourite Things, Chapter 4.

Finally, I want to share with you my love of the work of Jennifer Lee.  I encountered her work first of all at an exhibition in 2013 at Erskine Hall and Co.  I was mesmerised by the simplicity of her burnished forms.  I love the way that her vessels seem to hardly touch the surface on which they sit.  They almost float and yet the colours and the treatment of the clay implies a kind of fragile solidity which I love.  She features in a book which I reach for frequently when I am looking for inspiration: Modern British Potters and Their Studios by David Whiting and whenever I turn to her page the first thing that springs to mind – a bit like a head rush – is ‘That’s what I am aiming for!

Enjoy her work and look her up!