before/after glaze fires because the detail is soo hard to capture on camera with all the shine..
bonuses & rambles under cut !!
the wing plate was marbled clay & terracotta, and the underside REALLY shows it
bonus bisqueware snake to match the rest of the bisqueware pics. i am disappointed that the green underglaze was lighter than i remembered and muddied all the foliage :( wanted to make it clear in the main post so i chose a photo i took when i had just finished carving.
and the kinda wonky concept design that kicked off all 3! i didnt originally plan to carve each individual scale and leaf .....
process ramble time !!! my studio doesnt have the right type of wheels to use a bat on so i couldnt throw these. which disappointed me at first because handbuilt plates usually look reallyyy wacky and i get quite self concious over imperfections in my clay forms. i developed a really good process to get these as pretty as possible though! I used a convex slump mold to get the shape- convex molds are the best fo get a consistant & uniform face on each plate. usually i do this before the weekend, so when i come back i can carve away all the imperfections on a footing wheel without deforming the plate.
i usually keep it on a mold throughout the entire process- once ive carved the bottom i flip it over and set it in a concave mold to support the rim. this also helps with carving, so the wheels little hands can grab onto the mold and dont interfere with my work. when the plate looks all smooth and nice, i spend the rest of the day underglazing, then i can move on to carving it all away! it took only about 3-4 days of studio time to carve each plates design after it was footed, leaving me the last two days of the week to prep my clay for the next one!
im really happy with how these turned out, they taught me a lot about making mistakes with ceramics and really helped me get confident with my process. honestly it was way easier than my typical sculpture work, cause i already have a ton of experience with the 2D aspects of these designs, while i still have a lot to learn about sculpting even after almost three years of working with clay :3 the loss of detail in the snake's foliage is still disheartening but hell! every piece ive ever made has disappointed me and it only keeps me creating. someday i WILL make something perfect with my own two hands. and no amount of bad glaze choices along the way can fucking stop me.
oh also- the fish & snake plates both have meaning and feature specific species (i just wanted to carve wings into the other plate lol, not too much symbolism there) so take a crack at analyzing them and guessing the species if u wanna!
Oh hey, the rest of the snats/slats (snailcats/slugcats)! These guys are sgraffito'd with some celadon glazes slapped on top for a jewel-like & slightly slimy effect!
Also, I've started to upload previews to my shop (heywitch dot bigcartel dot com) & am going to be opening it up next week...I'll decide on a date/time tomorrow & announce it as soon as I've made up my dang mind!
Skyphos number two! Inspired by the very talented @hellenhighwater ‘s Minotaur sculpture, a painting by Flandrin, a sculpture by Paul Cabet, and a very handsome charolais bull from Google images.
A friend of mine has a little ceramics studio in her basement. When I was visiting she let me decorate a couple pots she’d already thrown. I did some sgraffito representations of azicrow! I’m excited to see them fired!
I'm one step closer to a shop update! I took all the photos today & just need to spiff 'em up a bit (aka photo edit) before I start uploading listings to the shop. Here are some shots of the big Bird Ladies while I work on that fiddly bit.
Hi hello! Look, it's a new little process video!
You'll find the looong version at the tube (search for Nymla). 🌞
The design of the moose and suncross are inspired by stoneage petroglyphs found at Nämforsen Sweden.
And by watching all the moose migrate in spring in that same area - through the Great Moose Migration livestream - where the moose every year, guided by the warming spring sun, search for new pastures in the north. 🌞
One moose mug currently available in my shop (nymla.se)
I hope you enjoy the video!