Ceramics: Textures and Slab Building

 I tore bits of clay, and folded and crumpled them to try to create a texture. I wanted there to be an element of chance in the making, to give it that imperfect feel, the idea that nature always has very slight difference and imperfections.

 I then used a small pine cone to make a texture in slabs of clay. I like the repeated pattern that this creates and the small repeating shapes.

For a 3D piece, I used slabs of clay and built them up in layers to create a form with leaves in a regular pattern. I think this works well to create larger pieces, and I could maybe put textures onto the slabs before building the form.

Glasswork: cold processing

we learnt cold processing, as an introduction to some of the machines that could be used to finish off our pieces. The first machine I tried was the sand blaster, which fires grit at the glass, to create a texture on the surface, and can create depth if used with a resist.

I then tried the engraver, which can be used to engrave patterns or writing in to the surface of the glass. I wrote my initials, and it was a lot harder to control than i thought it would be. The glass has to be kept wet at all times because the engraver creates dust, and needs to be kept cool to stop the friction heating up the glass too much.

I then had a go on the grinding wheel. I started off on the wheel which uses larger grit, and used this to flatten the base of my animal, and take off the sharp bit, then i used a finer grit to make the surface more smooth. this also has to have water on it at all times, to move the grit between the glass piece and the wheel.

Ceramics: Using coloured slip

I wanted to make a bangle, inspired by Erin lightfoot's ceramic bangles, but I wanted my pattern to be on the inside, Like the copper rings I made. I did this by painting patterns onto white clay using coloured slip, before making it into a bangle.

For my first bangle, I decided to use the diamond shape I have been looking at, and use these as a base pattern, and put other more intricate patterns onto these. I used different types of pattern I have been looking at, animal pattern, pattern from process and patterns which have another purpose.

I then used the same method of painting with slip, but onto smaller pieces, which I then made into beads with pattern on the inside. I tried to keep the outside as plain as possible to contrast with the patterned interior.

 I then wanted to experiment with putting texture on, so I decided to make a scaly, snake skin texture, because this used the same shape repeated so would make a regular pattern. Once I had put the texture on, I joined the ends and carefully cut so the outside was completely flat

 This gave the inside edge a wobbly effect, which I quite like against the very clean line of the outside.

 My last bangle just had pattern painted on all around the inside, with the hope that when it is being worn, it will look completely plain and simple, and only the person wearing it will know what is on the inside.

Glasswork: After Firing

I think each of my glass pieces have qualities that I like, In this one, the confetti glass has melted on the top to give a slightly textured surface, and has created a fairly random pattern because of the way it melts. The two pieces with copper encased in them have also changed quite a lot, in that the copper has oxidised and has changed colour in the kiln, because of the heat. I quite like these colours, and also there are some tiny bubbles trapped with the metal which I think is quite an interesting feature.

In the one with pieces of black glass, the glass shards, which were squares and triangles to begin with, have melted and spread out to make quite interesting smooth, round shapes, but still have an obvious texture and stand out from the flat background. Also they are very shiny in comparison to the base piece.

Glasswork: pattern and texture

 I wanted to experiment with pattern and texture in glass, so I first laid small pieces of black glass onto a small sheet of clear glass, so there would be a texture when it came out of the kiln.

I also did the same thing but using confetti glass in different colours, inspired by snake skin. I used a very small amount of vaseline to make sure the pieces wouldn't move when it is being put into the kiln.

 I then started looking at encasing things between two pieces of glass. I did this with copper, because the glass gets very hot in the kiln, so things with a low melting point like plastics would not keep the pattern as I wanted. I cut copper into the shapes I wanted, to make zebra pattern and a repeating pattern of diamonds. I also used copper wire to make a handle so the pieces could be hung, or possibly be made into jewellery, although they would be very heavy to wear.

 I drew the pieces as they look before going in the kiln, so I can compare these pictures to how the glass pieces look after firing.

Ceramics: Glazing the patterned pieces

 This is the cabbage textured piece, with stripes of lilac under glaze with transparent glaze on top. Because the piece is so small, I was worried I had put the transparent shiny glaze on too thick, and if it is too thick, it can come out cloudy or opaque, which would obscure the stripes, and possibly the texture of the clay piece.

 For my bigger woven piece, I used ceramic pencil crayons to draw a pattern on some of the clay strips, the pattern taken from knitted stocking stitch. I then used royal blue under glaze and transparent glaze on top for the other strips, so it will hopefully look like shiny threads and knitted threads have been woven together

 For these very small ones, I didn't want to colour them particularly, but I wanted to use something to bring out the texture, so I used black copper oxide, then used a sponge to wipe the surface so the black was only in the indented parts.

 I did the same with this one, using a brown stain, wiped off the surface, to highlight the gaps between the mosaic tiles.

 This was my smaller woven piece, I have used royal blue under glaze and green stain for the different threads, then transparent glaze on top.

 I wanted to highlight the textile pattern on this piece, and I thought the detail could have been too easily obscured if I put a transparent glaze on it so I left it as a stain, wiped off the surface to create a contrast between the colours and the white clay.

 This was more compicated to glaze, and I had to buy a very small paintbrush to create the detail. I started with a white tin glaze, then painted on the green stain pieces. I couldn't find a glaze which was the right kind of orange, so decided to use a darker one, which will come out a darker colour than it is now.

I used the same colour for the middle of this piece, and painted the edges with the royal blue under glaze. I wanted these pieces to be quite vibrant, to possibly use these (or pieces made by a similar method) in jewellery.

more close-up photography

Cabbage, coins and fabric decoration.

Close up photography.

A selection of photos taken with the macro function on my new camera, a Canon Powershot SX220. Some of these are fairly abstract because of the extreme close-ups, as they show details that you wouldn't normally notice.

 I like the texture on the fake greenery, and the slightly different shades of green on each strand.

 I really like the delicate little curly pieces in this Christmas decoration.
 This photo shows a lot of detail, the grain of the wood, the line on the side of the knife where it has been cast, the loose thread on the place mat and the weave of the fabric. I really like the lines going downwards and sideways.

 This picture has picked up the direction of the fur on Dexter's nose, as well as the pattern on the cushion.

 These two photos are of the net curtain, which has been ripped by Dexter. The rips are very small and hardly noticeable but because these photos are so close up, it seems to look organic, something you might see under a microscope.

 This is a part of a bracelet I got for Christmas, made of semi-precious stones. I think the beads look like the night sky.