How has your year been? I hope that you have been trying out a hobby just to relax yourself. Hobbies help us on so many levels; hand-eye coordination, brain developments and so many other emotional benefits!
And just like that, the year is going to be over! I hope that the year was good for you! I had fun taking classes!
The Still Life workshop helped people to handle clay and realize how it can be different to making hand built forms! Many thought that the capsicum would be too simple a form! However, they found it to be a considerable challenge to replicate in clay! Some of the students eventually got their pieces glazed!
I had the privilege to teach a few people how to make human busts in clay! They learnt not only about human anatomy, but also how to think in terms of forms, art viewing, etc. Here are some pictures of classes in progress!
Sculpture Tip:
Many people follow some online sculpture making video and try to fire their sculptures. Many end in disappointments! Most know that their natural clay sculptures need to be hollowed out before firing. But they don’t realize that they are looking at the work of experts! Most beginners end up with parts of the sculpture popping off or developing cracks after firing. This is mostly because the clay wasn’t able to stick well as it was being built.
I suggest this to all of my students and this could help you too:
1. Scour the surface of the clay; cross hatch them if you’d like to.
2. Make sure you apply thick slip to those areas.
Do this for every bit of clay that you add to your sculpture! This reduces the chance of clay developing cracks during firing.
Most of us are used to handbuilding or pottery. Some of us might use water to join pieces together. Others use clay slip. The slip that we make might be runny or be more like a liquid. I understand that it serves its purpose in those methods of building with clay.
However, most sculptures are built VERTICALLY! Liquid slip will flow down. Adding all that liquid slip will make the clay very heavy and soft. This will lead to collapsing or slumping in some way or the other! This can be heartbreaking! No one wants to see the armature pushing it’s way out of the head of their sculpture! Make the slip thick! That’s the tip.
Most people, who make sculptures without adding slip, work very quickly! Check out the speed at which Martin Lagares sculpts! Some sculptors take extra care that the wetness of the sculpture and the clay in the bag are the same. The others will make molds and cast them into bronze or other materials! That’s what you don’t realize from the videos! When you become an expert then you may give up applying slip.
I, however, take my time to sculpt. I change my mind frequently! I have doubts about the look or pose or the anatomy! I have worked on a sculpture for a whole year! All of this thinking time lets the clay dry! I have been sculpting for 14 years. I still prefer to scour and slip while adding clay, rather than to kneel down and pray to the kiln gods (which I don’t believe in) while firing! Making a clay sculpture is slower than pottery!
Sculpture made like this will last for a long time. Did you know that fired ceramic sculptures, i.e., sculptures made from natural earth clay and fully fired, can last for 5,000 years? This is what we find in archeological digs! If we follow the simple method of scouring and adding slip, our sculptures too can last beyond out lifetimes!
Let’s think:
1. If you could make something that could last for 5,000 years, what would you choose to make?
2. Would it be just an abstract piece that people could interpret as they feel?
3. Would it be like many pop pieces? Like a banana taped to a wall?
4. Would you sculpt the poop emoji? In 14 years of sculpting, I have had 3 people ask me to make that!!!
5. Would you make something that communicates a philosophy/story/concept that you believe in?
I have made 2 wall-hanging sculptures based on what I believe in. The Khata series has a Lion & a Lioness symbolizing concepts that I believe in and I believe will inspire memorable conversations in your place. These are available for sale! Click the links to see more pictures and read about the inspiration behind them.
Do reach out to me if you are interested in learning sculpture from me. I teach online too!
Well, this has been a looong newsletter! I hope this gives you inspiration to make art in 2025! See you next year! May God bless you!
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