My Little Movies

'Freedom'- My first attempt!

I did the filming for this very simply, keeping the camera in the same position and simply moving the figures.

My next attempt was longer and more successful but I haven't managed to upload it yet.

Moving on

My horse did survive the holidays without cracking but in order to give it the best chance possible to dry out, we're going to give it right to the end before we fire it. I was really keen to see how the surface treatment would turn out after firing and also to in some way advance with this project so I decided to make miniatures. I love the way the little rider with the short legs holds on so tightly to the horse's neck. It's as if it has been so much effort to climb up, he's determined not to fall off. I made a series of 5 miniatures showing the little man's attempts to get up on the horse. These I painted with the same mixture of black ball clay and rutile. Being smaller, it would be possible to get those fired before assessments too.

My original aim was to simply highlight the piece from the Hunt Museum. To do this I increased it in size and took it out of the cabinet shelf setting. With these miniatures, in order to progress with that idea, I took them into the outside world where they can be interacted with and noticed. In order to bring them to life, I made 2 very short and simple stop-motion videos.

The drying process

Over the two weeks of the Easter holidays my horse and rider have been left with two sheets of plastic laid loosely over them in order for them to dry out. Such a big piece needs at least the two weeks in order to be dry enough to fire. I really just hope it will be ok left like this unattended for the two weeks and there won't be any horrible cracks when I return...

Mathematical Construction

For each individual part, I measured each dimension on a small photo of the original piece and proportionally enlarged the measurements to the maximum size that would fit in the kiln. Unfortunately though, even though I had worked very accurately in the beginning, when I began to put the pieces together, some stretching occurred with the legs which made them slightly out of proportion. I later rectified this though with balancing out other parts. Hence, unfortunately I cannot say that I have created an exactly proportionate enlarged reproduction of the original but it is as close a representation as I could manage for my first attempt!

 The legs, body, tail and the body of the figure were all made using coiled and so are hollow.

 The head of the horse and rider, I modelled solid and later hollowed them out.

 Following further examination of the original piece, I realised that in fact the horse only had one bump where his legs and tail met instead of three so I had to remodel this part.

This is the piece finished before any surface treatment was added. I made a block of plaster and with modelling tools, dented the surface to make a rough, stone-like texture. This I pressed into the finished piece to create a textured stone-like surface. I experimented with various oxides on green damp clay in order to try to reproduce a colour that would echo the sandy tones of the original.

A Hunt Museum Souvenir

Our current project is inspired by aspects of The Hunt Museum. Our brief is to state our standing on the meaning of the term 'souvenier' and inspired by an object or gropup of objects from The Hunt, create our own souvenir in the form of a contemporary piece.
For this project I am defining a souvenir as: a reproduction of another object, to take away to remind you of the original.
Having viewed the various varied collections of objects and artefacts in The Hunt, I chose a very small ceramic statuette of a horse and rider dating from possibly 1800 B.C. and of Hittite origin. I love the simplicity of the piece and how the horse and rider have been stylised. I think this piece has real character the way the horse stands still and straight as the little figure wraps his arms around the his neck, holding on so tightly.

I decided to create a reproduction of this piece but much larger. I wanted to highlight this little figurine and create a piece that people would notice and be able to touch and interact with, in contrast to the original which sits on a shelf in a glass cabinet and often goes unnoticed to viewers.

The fired pieces

Identical in pattern to the first plate which collapsed in the kiln, this attempt survived so much better.Placing it within the setter meant it had the support it needed. unfortunately, some of the weaker areas close to the centre of the plate did crack though. In my next attempt I will change the pattern slightly to give these areas more strength and also balance out the cut out parts a little more. I need to work on a more fitting design for the feet also. Hopefully I'll manage to produce at least one completely intact plate!

The cup was able to support itself and so came out of the kiln perfectly in shape.

The clay translation

I decided to work with porcelain as my clay body to help achieve the girly, lacy, delicate quality within the pieces. This was my first experience of porcelain and due to this I encountered many problems and issues over the past few days.
 Beginning with the plate, I worked with thinly rolled out sheets of porcelain onto which I rolled my lace pattern and then carved into. My first attempt was carved on the flat plaster slab on which I had rolled the clay, however when I lifted the carved and thus weakened sheet in order to place it over a hump mould to shape it, it fell apart due to the change in shape. Due to the thinness of the clay, it also dried much quicker than I was able to work, causing cracks. In my next attempt, rolling the clay a little thicker, I first laid it over the hump and then carved it. This was much more successful and I managed to attach feet and take it off the mould the next day with only minor cracks. The feet were too big though and not in keeping with the design. Also they needed to be placed further out, closer to the edges.

My first attempt.

The next plate unfortunately cracked and fell apart while I was cleaning up its edges but I was able to salvage sections which make quite cute little plates in themselves. Plate number three was happily the most successful.

Not being experienced with the potential softness of porcelain during firing, I didn't use any support for my first plate in the kiln and consequently the edges flopped miserably and so my shape was completely lost. The third plate I coated with a dusting of talc and is in the kiln now in a bed of malachite so I'm hoping for a slightly more shiny finish and that its shape has been preserved!

These are some early cup designs made using a slab around a plaster mould for the first one, slip trailed porcelain slip inside a mould for the second one. The bottom two are slip cast over slip trailed designs inside the mould in pink and white.

I liked the first design best so attempted another one with a much more fitting handle which all fell apart as it was drying. A third successful attempt is pictured below in its green state. This is to be fired to 1220 today so I'm hoping with a support as with the plate, it will survive the heat intact.

My implement is a very simple suggestion of a spoon. Two designs are photographed below. These were in their very early stage, previous to their edges being tidied up.