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Posts tagged as:
firing
What makes ceramics unique as an art form is the transformative process of firing. You make the work and then give it to the fire and hope that during its metamorphosis something beyond your expectation emerges. It is a natural process. No two trees grow the same and no two pots emerge the same. I take clay from the earth, process it, humanise it and form it. I then give it back to the elements, to fire. This naturalises it again giving it its own individual character, something uncontrolled by me.
Placing your work in a kiln, relinquishing control of its final aesthetic takes a certain mind set, patience and a certain amount of faith. Placing a jar on a hill to weather away is a similar process. I am still committing the jar to the elements, air and water instead of fire and there is still a transformation. 
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Over the past six weeks I have been making a set of new work primarily for the the summer exhibition at The Garden Gallery in Broughton, Hampshire. Run by Rachel Bebb it is a beautiful English garden filled with sculpture from about sixty artists, both well-established and embarking on their careers. She is also curating an exhibition at The Discovery Center, Winchester in November entitled Figure in the Landscape. A mixed exhibition that explores artist that are inspired by landscape. The exhibition will feature works by Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Chris Drury among others including myself which I am very excited about.
Firing the kiln is a right of passage, weeks of making culminating in a metamorphic process. Once all the work has been finished you are left with blanks onto which I have to choose which glazes to apply. Powdered rocks and minerals; Quartz, Dolomite, Copper, Iron and Feldspars all mixed in exact quantities. Ten hours of fire and heat turning powder into glass. A dull matt gray surface into a singing, shining blue. It is also a time to reflect on the what I have made and what will come next. I stoke the kiln hoping that every little process involved comes together to create something magical within the chamber. Tomorrow I will find out…
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