Thursday, October 28, 2010

Industrial Evolution



I started using metal pins to aid in constructing my work. Working with a very poor clay it helped in keeping joins together while I wait for the pieces to stiffen. This brought me to the idea of using the metal in a decorative way. First screws were cut shorter and thesewere used where pieces of clay were joined together. After firing the metal reacted to the heat enough to give an effect of the piece being excavated after many years, which ties in with the overall look of my current work. Although the metal transformed, it was keeping it's shape and is still strong enough not to disintegrate over time.

The idea led to further exploration, and borrowing from Michael Gravesʼ design for Alessi, the screws were used in a grid on the rim of platters similar to raised studs on the trays. Liking the idea of the metal in combination with clay, I set off to the closest haberdashery shop where I found a whole new world of eyelets, studs and zips that will be incorporated in the work, much to the confusion of shop assistants that could not understand why I am concerned about a specific colour to match my handiwork.

My training many years ago in the Jewellery Industry came to good use, even then I was more interested in the tarnishing of metals rather than a highly polished surface. This idea will take me further to exploit the use of metal with ceramics, picking up all weird and wonderful pieces wherever I go, hopefully to find its way into some masterpiece along the way.