beautiful ugly.

i love the term "beautiful ugly." this is when something is SO ugly that it is actually beautiful. i've been experimenting with new glazes, underglazes, slips, and clays. when these bowls came out of my test kiln, i was HUGELY DISAPPOINTED, as they were nothing of what i expected. i slammed the kiln shut and stormed out of the room. but the next day when i looked at them again, i found them to be quite beautiful . . . exquisite, even.

one of clay's biggest life lesson for me is to not have your heart set on something. when you think you want something a certain way, it could turn out in a completely different way and you just might love it even more. i love when the clay speaks to me like this. it opens up my mind to even more possibilities than i ever imagined were out there.

what you think you might want, might not be what you want at all.

(click on the image for a closer look at the beautiful ugliness)

try-colour.

these are the THREE different clay bodies i used here in france . . .

1. limoges porcelain = super creamy, lovely and wonderful to work with. beautiful + very white when fired. though i didn't throw with it, my fellow residents RAVED about how easy was to throw. but it shrinks and warps like MAD.

2. spanish white clay = super groggy and easy to hand build with. has a very durable feel when fired. but didn't care that much for the colour of the clay after firing . . . sort of a yellow/oatmeal colour (especially since i like the natural clay to show through in my work).

3. spanish black clay = super groggy and forgiving when coil building. loved the wetness of the clay that dried pretty quickly (great for coil building something tall). fires to a beautiful black/brown. but doesn't take colour very well (i.e. . . underglazes or slip) and messy, but not as messy as some dark clays i've worked with. LOVED the look of white words on this clay.

black is beautiful.

this spanish black clay is such a treat to work with and to look at. to me, it resembles a chocolate candy bar . . . and if you know me at all, you know how i feel about chocolate.