Three clay studies: texture, nerikomi and a tray in progress

These three clay studies are at different stages. One is a practice bowl, another is an asymmetrical vase, and the third is becoming a large tray. Together, they record how I am working with carved texture, coloured clay and patterns built through layering and cutting.

The photographs and short films show the making stages. The bowl is awaiting its glaze-firing result; the vase and tray are still in progress. These are descriptive labels for the studies, rather than formal artwork titles.

A practice bowl: bringing a carved texture into clay

I made the bowl as a practice piece, separate from my exhibition work. I wanted to try a texture in ceramics that I have sometimes used in wood.

I began with a circular slab and shaped it over a hemispherical plaster mold. I added the foot, then turned the form over after it had dried enough to continue building the wall. On the outside, I carved repeated grooves with a carving tool, working around the curved surface.

Side view of the practice bowl showing rows of carved marks and its raised foot.

The carved exterior and foot, photographed before the glaze stage.

At the time of this studio update, I had applied the glaze and the bowl was due to enter the kiln. I am waiting to see how the surface changes in that firing. The photographs here show the earlier, unglazed state; they do not show the final glaze result.

An asymmetrical nerikomi vase

For the vase, I worked with differently coloured clays using nerikomi. The pattern comes from combining the clays within the slab, rather than adding a painted design afterward.

Flat brown clay slab with pale irregular shapes, before forming the asymmetrical vase.

The patterned slab before it became part of the vase.

Rolling the slab. Silent process excerpt.

I built the form upward with slabs, looking for a vase-like object with an individual, asymmetrical shape. The films show me turning it on the banding wheel, supporting the wall from inside and refining the surface and rim.

Refining the vase wall. Silent process excerpt.

Close view of the asymmetrical unfired nerikomi vase, held by the artist to show its irregular rim and pale clay pattern.

The vase is still unfired in this view.

I have not settled its final surface. After the first firing, I will decide whether to glaze it, apply a clear glaze or leave it without an added glaze. That decision belongs to the next stage.

Layering and rearranging clay for a large tray

The third study is another experiment with nerikomi. I stacked layers of differently coloured clay into a rectangular block, then sliced across it to reveal the stripes.

Slicing the layered block. Silent process excerpt.

The artist holds a thin slice of striped clay above the workbench during construction of the patterned tray.

One slice shows the lines running through the clay.

The slices before they were rearranged. Silent process excerpt.

I cut the striped sections into squares and then triangles, and arranged them beside one another to make a different pattern. Changing their direction brought the lines together into the repeated angular shapes visible in the photographs.

Square arrangement of layered clay sections forming a repeating angular pattern; the tray is still in progress.

The assembled patterned slab, before the tray is finished.

Uncovering the pattern. Silent process excerpt.

I am using this patterned clay to make a large vessel, something like a tray. It is still in process. For now, the photographs and films record the layers, slices and arrangement that will become part of its form.

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