Bowl Project: The Bowl

Above is my finished bowl ready for display, I am really happy with the way this bowl has come out as I have perfected this new way of mixing and working with plaster as a material.

I have stayed with my original idea of making a short little bowl that is rather deep. I have hand carved everything that I have and i’m really happy with the finished product. On the outside I have applied some of the waste plaster to create a spotty, organic texture, and on the inside of the bowl I have applied a thin layer of pure red pigment.

I think my work is visually appealing, the matt quality coming from the pigment really hides the depth of the bowl, and the texture on the outside gets the viewer starting to question the material that has been used. Throughout the making of the bowl I have had people coming up to me and asking what the material is, how I have made such a bright colour, and how I have carved my piece.  I think the bowl has become a real learning tool not only for myself but for other people in the studio, and beyond.

Moving froward into the next project I want to keep the use of plaster as the main base of my project and look into different ways of creating objects of interest and beauty. I want to keep working on my carving skills as that was a really nice hands on way of making, and as has been the way for the past three years I want to keep working with colour and texture.

Bowl Project: Bowl from a Bowl

After I had carved my bowl I was stuck as to what I should do with the waste plaster so I tried mixing water in. I then squashed the plaster together with my hands to build and form the bowl shape. I really like the abstract form and shape that I created when I was mixing the plaster in my hands, I was able to use my thumb to create the main body of the bowl.

I think what interests me the most about this project object is that I have taken the waste product and turned it into an whole new object. It is fully hand made and has my own hand print in the base, its something interesting and exciting and its a form I would like to work with more. The textural elements I was able to crate on this are really exciting and interesting, there is the smooth inside, the patterned outside, and the flat bottom, all these elements work together to create something unique and playful.

I decided to add the blue colour into the inside of the bowl as I thought this two strong colours would compliment each other and there would be another layer of texture onto an already textured bowl. This whole bowl project has been working with colour and material so this by product really highlights the way my making has been moving forward and how I can start to think into the abstract. And although I do use a lot of colour in my work I think use has worked well and could become my knew way of thinking.

I think as I keep making the bowl I will stick with a more traditional shape but this object has really impacted the way I will think moving forward. I want my bowl to have the same vibrancy either coming from the same pigment or a different one, either way this little piece has started to open up new ideas.

 

Bowl Project: The Bowl

I poured my plaster pigment mix into a cottled piece of plastic to get the initial shape. I want to have quite a deep bowl, so I will be working the insides only, carving out the middle. I want to have quite a rounded shape as well. But as I started to work with the plaster I could already tell it was too wet. I will have to work on my timing better when it comes to the plaster, I think the pigment offsets the drying time. From just working the top of the bowl I can already tell the material will lead itself to a shape and form, and its something that I can’t plan for.

I really like the colour of the bowl so far, but as there is still drying time I think the pigment might get duller and duller, if so I can always look at applying more pigment, or look at using different colours and materials in the plaster, like resin.

 

 

Bowl Project: Bowl

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Sound up! Although this doesn't show much making, the sounds of this process are amazing! #making #artistsoninstagram #sound #soundsofart #soundsofmaking #materialmixing #student #process #cardiffmet

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A part of my project is to make a film documenting the making process. When mixing and working plaster and pigment there is some great sounds that I have been recording, I’m not sure yet what I want to do with these recordings but I love every part of the making process, from the material, to now the sounds of the making.

 

Bowl Project: Colour Test

Now that I have my recipe worked out for mixing plaster with pigment I can start thinking towards my bowl and the colour I want to use. But looking at these colour tests I know they can now themselves become a body of work. As they are interesting objects I can start thinking about arrangement, and size.

 

I can now start thinking about where these objects belong, the home, the gallery, or somewhere else. I think if these pieces were larger they could become a piece of public art, an interesting arrangement of colour and shape. But I also think this could be just as effective as a set to have in the home, a personal artwork. They are small, playful, and tactile so its in the objects nature to be played with, I played around with the grouping for a while before settling on something I was happy with.

The main focus now is the bowl project, the thing about working with plaster is the drying time. Each of these took 2hours to set in the mould and then 3days to set fully, this means that to start making my bowl I will have to think about drying time as well as carving time, and then how long will I have to work on surface pattern?

Bowl Project: Colour

The Designer’s Dictionary of Colour. Sean Adams

Red:

Red is radical. It is extreme, representing passion, energy, fire, violence, and anger. It is vibrant and creates contrast, demanding the viewer’s attention. As the colour of fire and blood, it is connected at a visual level to our ideas of the energy of life. Red is a pure colour; no other colours can be combined to create it. Designers use red as a loud shout. Stop signs, and coca cola cans are red.

The colour can dominate an environment. Many designers shy away from such an extreme colour, but red is one of a designer’s most valuable tools to create dynamic contrast.

Cultural Meanings:

In Asia, red is the colour of good luck. It is the most popular colour in China, but be aware: there is a different between Chinese red and red in other Asian cultures. In India, brides wear red saris. In Western culture, its meaning is connected with its companions, Red, white and blue appear patriotic. Red, yellow and blue, the primary colours, convey a juvenile message. Red and black can communicate fascism.

Successful Applications:

• Coca-Cola red, Coca-Cola company, 1900
• 9 West 57th Street sculpture, Chermayeff and Geismar, 1974
• Virgin Airlines logo, Sir Richard Branson, 1970 

Blue:

If asked, most clients will suggest blue for a logo colour. It communicates honesty and loyalty. Blue is associated with the sky and water, power and authority. For decades, financial institutions and corporations insisted on blue as a corporate colour due to its connection to stability and strength. It is the colour of many flags and it conveys patriotism. Blue is also the colour of the Conservative party in the United Kingdom, representing conservative values.

Blue can feel rich and hypnotic, or it can be banal and invisible, depending on the application. The term ‘type and blue stripe’ is a reference to dull corporate graphics standards that utilised a bar of navy blue on the top or side of a page and white typography set in Helvetica. Alternatively, blue can be surprising when used dramatically and unexpectedly.  

Cultural Meanings:

In Western culture, blue is masculine, whereas pink is feminine. Aristocracy is referred to as blue-blooded. However, manual labourers are called blue-collar workers while professionals are white-collar workers. Blue is the colour of holiness in Judaism. In Hinduism, blue represents the god Krishna.

Successful Applications:

• GE Logo, Wolff Olins, 2014
• IMB Logo, Paul Rand, 1972
• Facebook logo, Cuban Council, 2005

Yellow:

Yellow is a primary colour that cannot be created with other colours It is universally regarded as cheerful, representing happiness, sunlight, optimism and creativity. Yellow can be used to create bold contrasts with other colours. It works well as a replacement for grey when the goal is vibrancy. Many designers fear knocking type out of yellow to white, but this works when enough magenta (at least 20%) is mixed with the yellow.

Yellow and black create avocado green. Therefore, used as a secondary duo-tone colour or overprinted on black and white it will create a sickly greenish tone.

Cultural Meaning:

In Japan, yellow represents courage. In China, only the emperor was permitted to wear yellow. Negative connotations include cowardice, for example, a cowardly person might be described as ‘yellow’.

Successful Applications:

• Eros magazine cover, Herb Lubalin, 1962
• UCLA Extension poster, Sean Adams, 1998
• Smiley face symbol, Harvey Ross Ball, 1963

Bowl Project: Block and Colour Play

Looking at this test pieces I have started thinking about their place, where do they belong? Are these objects something to sell, or to only look at. Although this work is building into the bowl, these test pieces are slowly forming into an artwork themselves. These test pieces are interesting to look at visually and get the mind thinking. And although they are small in size, they could be smaller, taller, wider, fatter ect.

Where does these objects live? In the gallery space, or are they too playful, too tactile? These questions have not been raised in my work before, I have painted, and explored but never questioned. Of course I have thought about the reception of my work, but that hasn’t been the driving force of the making. Am I now making these playful, colourful objects to live in the home, or to be larger. If these objects didn’t fit the hand would they still be so playful?

All this feeds and runs in the background of my bowl making process. Will my final bowl outcome be whimsical, and too abstract to be read as a bowl, and if it is then I have to start thinking about its place. If not in the home as a soup bowl, or a pub as an ashtray would it belong in a gallery. And then if my bowl lives in a gallery is that space too restrictive of the nature of this process.

Bowl Project: Texture Play.

 

 

 

All through my work, in the last few years, I have been interested in colour and texture. From playing with fabric and plastic, to the flat blending and tonal ranges from glass paining, this mode of working has always been my go to process. When I decided to work with plaster and pigment my initial idea was to build up a textured painting with spotting and ridges from painting with drying plaster. But as I began to work with the material I have found pouring plaster and then working back into it can be just as textural.

Above are the photographs from the plaster setting in the mould, and the marks made from smoothing down the surface of a plaster block. With my bowl project I want to hand carve the bowl, this will build up a crisscrossing of marks, but this is only the inside, how will I build up texture on the outside? There are different ways of building texture onto plaster, there is scratching, etching, having details in the mould when pouring, and then carving. But something I have been thinking about is sponging, using just a damp sponge and then applying thin layers of plaster onto a flat surface.

I know that my bowl will not be functional, so I will not have to use a specific design plan. I want to focus on colour, texture, and what this objects means and represents to people. With my early colour tests and simple blocks people are already questing what they are, the material used, so moving forward I want to push this idea. If it is not functional will people still see a bowl? and although not all bowls are functional, will people see something else, an ashtray? a pet bowl? or just a piece of sculpture that just happens to look like a bowl.

Bowl Project: Carving Tests

For this bowl project I have decided to hand carve the form and shape, and although I could turn on the plaster lathe, create a slip casting mould, or create a wooden bowl, I want to see how far I can push this material that is used in the university as a stepping stone for something else. I really want to be hands on with the material, I mix the plaster by hand, so I think it fits to carve the bowl as this project is exploring material process with the hand.

The main issue I am also working with is what to do with the waste product of the carving process. I could look at using the plaster waste as a grog to mix into plaster again to build up the pigment content. But another idea I have been playing with is seeing if I would be able to mix the plaster waste with water to create another bowl. I will have to keep making and experimenting before I decide on my final bowl.

This project is all about developing a colour theory, a material process, and through the use of plaster I think I am starting to build up a new way of thinking and making. The blocks that I have made are interesting as objects themselves, they are like chalk, they look like foam, they look like so many other materials than plaster. There is a playful element within the process, and final outcomes, an element of mystery. I think the use of play will really help boost my work into the interactive, and not just a digital kind but a tactile kind. To feel the weight, and to try and understand the material that has been sued.

To move on further with this I could try to play with scale, form, and if I stick with just blocks I could sharpen the edges making them clean cut pieces of plaster that can be stacked, or arranged. I think working with pigment and plaster is really starting to bring out my playful side and as I carry on moving forward with the bowl project I hope to build up a bold index of colour, as well as modes of playing.

Bowl Project: Colour Test

 

 

For this project my work is relying heavily on the experimentation that I can build and create to form interesting objects for the bowl project. To start this project I have been mixing a small amount of pigment into the plaster. I have three colour tests,  ultramarine blue, synthetic blue, and cadmium yellow.

Early in the mixing process I have noticed that the synthetic blue is made up of small pigment balls, these balls don’t break down in the water as I thought they would, they stay whole, so there is a spotty texture to the plaster when set.