Felt health and safety

Health and Safety when using felt.

Be aware of allergies to the fleece fibers or ingredients used in the soap as extended contact with these may cause allergies to affect individuals in the form of rashes, irritation etc.

Do not use acrylic or synthetic fibers as they will not felt together.

When dry felting be aware of the barbed felting needle as it is very sharp and it can be easy to prick yourself.

When dry felting always do so onto a foam block so that the barbed felting needle does not come into contact with felter.

When wet felting be sure to clear up any excess water as it would cause a trip hazard.

Always dry off equipment before putting away as wet materials can soon get damp and grow mould in warm, dark conditions.

When using soap avoid contact with eyes, if contact is made rinse with cold water immediately.

Take caution when using boiling water, if burns occur rinse immediately under cold water.

Always clear up felting needles as they could cause a hazard to other class members if left unattended.

Pamela Sunday and Gabrielle Baecile

Pamela Sunday 
There is not a great deal of information available on this artist or her organic based work however Pamela Sunday is a ceramic artist who specializes in creating unique and abstract forms inspired by nature and science. Her work resembles cells and microbes on a molecular level focusing on the unique patterns, shapes and textures that they appear to produce. her work is reasonably large for a ceramic piece and is highly detailed, the finish of her work is either metallic or neutral colours.  Many of her ceramics look like very similar to coral or sea urchins and if they were placed in an marine environment and coloured accordingly it would be difficult to distinguish them from the real organisms that live there.


Gabrielle Baecile 
Even more marine and coral like is the work of French ceramic artist Gabrielle Baecile who creates brightly coloured organic and realistic sculptures out of clay. Her work is of a medium to large scale and is all hollow as it is composed of pinched forms. Her work is very textured and surface detail plays a key part. She has created a contrast in her work of areas of indentation next to areas that protrude from the surface. It is clearly visible that her work is made up of several different segments, this further links to its organic route as it resembles an insect in some ways as both are segmented.



Although both artists work is organic based they differ a lot. It is clear that the work of Baecile is definitely more marine based than that of Sunday by the way it so closely represents coral and similar organisms. A key difference is the colouration of the finished pieces, there is more variation in that of Baecile and the colours seem more natural.
Sundays work appears to be based around a singular closed form where as Baeciles is made of a number of different size and shaped forms.

This is my pinched form before firing, i tried to combine elements of a tree, rock, skull, tentacles and insect. I found it difficult shaping the clay into what i had pictured, this is a skill that just comes with practice however. Like Sunday and Baecile i used pinched forms to create my piece. If i had chance to redo my piece i think i would have made it more abstract.

moulds

These moulds were made originally from clay, a clay ring was made around the form and old lino flooring was used to make a wall to contain the plaster of Paris that was poured on top of the mould. Once the plaster had dried we could remove the wall and excess clay ring. 
The clay form was removed from the plaster and liquid slip was poured in and left to dry, the plaster absorbed the water leaving a thin clay shell inside the mould.
We left the moulds for about a week and removed the new clay form. When they come out of the mould they are very fragile and whilst trying to decorate my form it broke in a number of places and crumbled in my hands, this is why i chose to work with this and give it a distressed and decaying look.
I liked the colouration given when the form came out of the mold so i painted areas with the red slip before it was fired. After firing the results weren't as i had expected so i painted a layer of copper carbonate over the top to add to the colour and make it look more weathered and distressed.


The following safety rules apply when using clay and plaster of Paris:
Always clear up all spillages of slip and worktops where clay has been used to remove clay dust particles.
Wash hands after work to remove dust.
Always work in a well ventilated room.
Do not get plaster on skin, in eyes or on clothing due to extreme heating when setting.
Do not enclose any part of the body in plaster for above reasons.
Plaster also creates dust which is harmful when breathed in.



 Pablo Picasso:
http://www.pablopicasso.org/
Pablo Picasso was a Spanish painter, ceramicist and sculptor. His ceramic work came in the form of unique vases, pots, bowls and plates. Although more well known for his paintings, ceramics did make up a large part of his career.

artist links

David Hockney:

http://www.hockneypictures.com/home.php

When we were  practicing one of the artists we looked at was David Hockney, a British painter who has chosen to dedicate his art to the movement of pop art.

Fiona Rae:

http://www.fiona-rae.com/

Fiona Rae is the artist we focused on for abstraction, she has developed a unique style where she will drip paint down the canvas at different angles, she also applies different coloured paints onto a paintbrush before making a brush stroke.

Francoise Nielly:

http://www.francoise-nielly.com/

After exploring the use of pallet knives as a painting tool we were introduced to the French artist Francoise Nielly. The subject matter of her work is people and in particular portraits. Using bright and contrasting colours she creates large portraits using only pallet knives.

Lucian Freud:

http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/lucian-freud-1120

Lucian Freud is a British painter who is known for his use of impasto or textured paint in his work. His pieces are created by layering up paint to give the piece almost a 3 dimensional feel. Using the same technique we practiced our own use of impasto.

Decorating and Finishing

There are many ways to decorate a ceramic piece, a few we have explored are glazes such as white glaze which is applied to the ceramic after the bisque firing, different oxides including iron and copper. A recent technique we have explored  is a process of covering a ceramic piece in a thin layer of different coloured slip and once dry etching and engraving into it to reveal the colour beneath.

Joining closed forms

In order to make a solid form from clay it must be composed from 2 separate forms with a hollow center so that the form doesn't explode when heated in the kiln. A ball of clay is needed first and must be rolled between your hands to make it as round as possible. Press your thumb or a similar sized object directly into the middle of the ball so it roughly represents the shape of a vase, do the same with another ball of clay. Across the top or lip of the form score into it and fill the scores with slurry, now join both forms together making sure not to close up the hole that will be left inside. Once joined you can mould the new form into the desired shape, a small hole is needed at the bottom of the form to allow air to escape when firing.

Felt Making

Equipment: 
Wool Fibres
Bar of soap
Warm Water
Bubble Wrap
Sushi Mat
Netting or Mesh Fabric

1. Lay down the sheet of bubble wrap with the bubble side facing up.

2. From the collection of wool fibres pull off small chunks and layer them down on top of the bubble wrap, with the next layer facing the opposite direction. Do not cut the wool as the blunt edge will not felt well.

3. Place the netting over the top of the wool careful not to move it.

4. Sprinkle water over the wool but do not over wet.

5. Press down on the wool to make sure it absorbs all of the water.

6. Gently rub the bar of soap across the netting holding the netting so not to move it.

7. once more gently rub around the wool in a circular motion for a few minutes.

8. Carefully remove the wool from the bubble wrap and place it onto the sushi mat.

9. Roll the sushi mat up tightly to drain off any excess water.

10. Roll the sushi mat backward and forward for a few minutes to bind the felt fibers together.

11. Carefully unroll the mat and rotate the felt before continuing.

12. Once all the fibers are felted together rinse the felt to remove the soap and leave to dry.


Moy Mackay:
http://www.moymackaygallery.com/
Moy Mackay is a Scottish artist who specializes in the use of textiles. The main subject matter of her work is nature, including animals and countryside like scenery.


Mary Clare Buckle:
http://www.maryclarebuckle.com/index.shtml
Mary Clare Buckle is another textile artist who has developed a unique technique where she layers sheets of acrylic between the felt allowing light to be cast through but also allowing the piece to support itself and not have to be confined to a frame.

Pinch Pots

Firstly take a lump of clay and roll it in your hands to make a rough ball shape. Next press your finger or thumb into the middle of the ball in order to make a bowl or vase shape. Smooth the edges so that they are even all the way around and smooth down any cracks that have formed due to drying of the clay. Shape the pot with your hands to create movement and texture within the piece. Add any surface decoration when the clay is at the leather hard stage. Once this is completed the clay is ready for firing.

Examples of pinch pots i have made:

 

 


Health and Safety: 

1. Always wipe down your surfaces at the end of the lesson, to reduce the clay dust.
2. Always pick up pieces of clay that have fallen on the floor and put them in the bag provided.
3. Always wash all your tools after use, to reduce clay dust.
4. Always wash your hands straight after using clay
5. Clay tools are very sharp so always take care when using them.
6. Always keep your food and drink in your bags, away from the clay and clay dust.
7. Always put your coats and bags under the table or at the back of the room.
8. Air expands when heat, so if you trap air bubbles in your clay the air pressure will cause and explosion, destroying yours and all the other work in the Kiln. 

Properties of Clay

There are 7 stages of clay drying and each has different properties

Stage 1) Raw Clay (Earthenware) -This first stage of clay is basically a muddy like powder, it comes in different colours such as black, grey, red and purple. This clay however still contains all the dirt and impurities.

Stage 2) Slip - This is Clay that has enough water in it to make it smooth and runny. Slip is normally used to patch up any holes in ceramic pieces or to join clay together.

Stage 3) Plastic - This is the stage of clay that is the most usable. In this stage it is smooth and soft enough to shape and mold but strong enough not to fall apart.

Stage 4) Leather Hard - This is the stage of clay where ceramics are half way dried, this stage is the best for adding fine detail, holes and handles as the clay will not crumble or split under light pressure.

Stage 5) Bone Dry
This is the stage where all of the water has evaporated out of the clay leaving it very fragile. This is when the clay is most easily damaged because even a slight knock or bump could destroy the whole thing. The clay is then very carefully lifted into the bisque kiln.

Stage 6) Bisque - Bisqued clay is clay that has been fired in a kiln, after this any glaze or decoration can be added to the clay before its final firing.

Stage 7) Fired - After the pottery has been Bisqued, it needs to be fired again. There are lots of different types of final firing, here are 3 of the most common:

• High Fire - This is mainly for functional pottery, like dishes and bowls, and is fired at approximately 2300 degrees to make the glaze harden to a hard glass coating. The entire heating and cooling process of High Fire takes about 3 days. 

• Raku - This process is done in a small outdoor kiln, and the pot is heated until it glows red hot (approximately 1800 degrees) and then immediately taken out of the kiln with tongs and either burning horsehair onto it, or placing it into an enclosed area like a garbage can filled with newspaper, pine needles, sawdust, or any other type of combustible material. This process only takes an hour or so.

• Pit Fire - This process involves digging a hole in the ground, placing your pots in it with wood and sawdust, and lighting it on fire. It takes about 5 or so hours to let the pots get hot enough to turn rock hard.  These pots always come out different, and sometimes need to be fired a couple of times to achieve the type of coloration you desire.

Barbara Rae

Barbara Rae is a Scottish print artist, when we visited the pallant house gallery we saw examples of her collagraph work.

The prints were titled Harbour Night and focused on the sunset in a harbour, she uses a combination of collagraph and etching in her work. The etchings are made on top of the collagraph prints to add an extra sense of character to the work.
The use of colour in her work is very important as it sets the scene and mood and defines the persona of each piece, the colours allow you to see what the artist had in mind when creating the piece.
I am using print techniques in the same way as Barbara Rae by combining techniques to create a better and more advanced image, i am also exploring collagraph, a technique that Barbara Rae has developed.

Collagraph

Equipment and materials:

Card
scissors
textured wallpaper
mesh
string
fabric
craft knife
textured materials
glue 
paper
press
cutting mat



Step by step:

Firstly collect your materials
using glue attach the materials onto your cardboard square
the materials can be cut into desired shapes and sizes
once the glue has set cover the card in a layer of shellac
ink the card plate and place paper on top
run the paper and card through the press and remove paper once finished 


Health and safety:

do not put fingers near press wheel
watch hands when turning press wheel
be cautious when dealing with craft knifes and scissors
do not consume glue


The technique i have explored is collagraph, i have explored collagraph by producing 4 4x4 plates exploring different materials to see what textures and effects they produced.

The qualities and key features of collagraph include relief included in intaglio, abstract and textural print. Its not a good technique however for producing representational work as it is difficult to gain detail. These features are a lot easier to obtain with collagraph than with lino which produces straight and distinctive lines and marks, also easier than mono print which wouldn't pick up as much as the texture but offer a better tonal scale. Painterly and Dry point techniques would differ due to the difference in the types and depth of marks produced as they would be flat or embedded instead of relief. 

With collagraph you are able to produce multiple prints using the same prints however after frequent use the materials will flatten and the plate will not print to the same standard.

The limitations of collagraph are that if too much ink is applied then the print will not come out properly, it is difficult to get different areas of colour, for the plate to work you need an even surface, it is sometimes difficult to stick down certain objects and the print can become faded.

With this workshop the only problem i encountered was sticking down a plastic mesh and it would not stick so i held it on with paperclips.

The strengths of my work were that my colour palette was fairly even and i found it fairly easy attaching most objects, the weakness would be that i did not produce as wide of variety with the plates as i would have liked.

i have used the technique of collagraph in a similar way to Barbara Rae by adding multiple colours to a piece and building up materials onto a single plate.

i will expand on the techniques i have learnt by using new and different materials to further develop my work, i would also combine past and present techniques to make improvements to my style.

Pallant House

On Tuesday the 16th September we visited Pallant House Gallery in Chichester. One of the main artists featured was Barbara Rae with her print works.

The work of Barbara Ray appears to be more abstract than anything else with no clear subject matter present, her work however does feel and look very organic with the way she uses line, shape and the contrast between colours, which in some cases can be very bright yet still give that same effect.

In the gallery I discovered another piece of artwork that interested me. It was titled Regarding Guardian 2 and it was a 3D sculpture by Dhruva Mistry created in 1957. The piece is a rather large statue of a mythical Guardian made from Painted Plaster. i expect a frame of some sort would have been made and then built around.

(picture to follow)