Every One is Different

Warm Chocolate

I’ve been working on some new clay and glaze combinations lately, inspired by woodland walks (my previous post has more on this). My latest firing included pieces using these tones, one of which is a rather chocolatey colour clay combined with a milky speckled glaze. This combination seems to work particularly well. I took a quick photo of some of the pieces, using my phone on the top of my kiln, still warm from the firing. I had lots of positive reactions on twitter and instagram, which was lovely and really encouraging.

Elaine_Bolt_Chocolate_Clay_group_1

Sadly the firing wasn’t all good news, lots of porcelain pieces in my green glaze came out looking muddy and the glaze had crawled in places. Something had gone rather wrong and I’ll have to find out what, though I probably won’t get to the bottom of it in time for my Autumn shows. So the work on my stand might look a little different from previous shows, but it seems that’s quite me.

Variations on a Theme

One of the things I often worry about when I’m making work is that I tend to make lots of different things. I make spoons, teabowls, vases, jugs, bottles, brushes, mixed media compositions and even plates now. I don’t tend to stick to a particular range and make lots of them; it’s just not me. I find I can’t, and don’t want to, produce multiples of cups and rows of jugs all looking the same. I can happily produce small families of items in the same clay and glaze combo, or make similar shapes in different clay and glaze finishes. But I often find myself moving on from these to try other variations and new ideas.

Elaine_Bolt_Teabowls

So every piece I make is unique. When I sell work, I can’t say I have 10 of these or 15 of those. Occasionally I might have three or four that are similar. But no two are the same. It’s more work for me, but I like it that way.

I worry that this looks inconsistent, or that it doesn’t give me a recognisable style. I’ve worried about this a lot. It’s pretty much my MO. But I’ve decided to try to stop worrying about it and celebrate the different things. I find something pleasing about grouping different but complementary objects together, so I’m going to carry on doing that. I hope that by using a varied but harmonious colour palette, the work I produce will still be coherent and still be recognisably mine.

Elaine_Bolt_Curious_Vessels_2

The pieces above are some more ideas I’m playing with, using the clay mixes I’ve developed. The forms were intended to reflect the aesthetic I try to have for my ‘curious utensils’ – a bit quirky, a bit wavy edged. I don’t think I’ve entirely done that, but they’re a start, and I’m enjoying working on the idea. Perhaps more on this next time…

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