Saturday, February 12, 2011

Another Tall Pot

In October 2010 I made a tall pot using phoenix and sliced it into quarters (top to bottom).  I then pieced it back together and put some nickel-chromium sutures in it.  I sprayed it with some oxides and rutile, then sprayed a few light passes with clear glaze.  It came out great with a warm, almost wood-fired look to it.  I really liked it though several friends were not comfortable with it.

I sold it in November at the Concentrix terra4m sale and felt validated:  someone else liked it too.  After selling it I decided I was going to make some similar pieces in the future.

On February 5, 2011 I was working on another one and before I could slice it into quarters, a friend offered to purchase it if I didn't slice it.  I was still determined to make more "broken vessels" so I resigned myself to start another one as soon as I could.

The next day I received an email from the person who purchased the original piece asking if it was one-of-a-kind or if I might have similar pieces.  He wants to buy a piece for a friend.


Apparently this is a popular (and somewhat classic) form.  I see more of these in my future.




Even in the midst of all this commerce there exists a conundrum in my own mind.  The first one I made (on the left) has a nice shape, but doesn't really adhere to the rule of thirds.  The neck is too short to be a third of the overall pot.  On the next one I really paid attention to the height of the neck and even though it is closer to a third of the pot, I like the first one better.  I guess some of the "rules" are more like "guidelines" when the clay hits the bat.

I was also struck by the (accidental) almost identical height of the two pieces.  It's funny how the mind works on a subconscious level when making similar forms.




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4 comments:

Linda Starr said...

I like the one on the left too; did you ever post a photo of your sutured pot? I'd love to see it

jbf said...

I did. It's here.

Pam said...

i prefer the pot on the left, also.

jbf said...

Pam, you have good taste. But we all knew that.