Oxides equal Colour
A porcelain Rockpool vessel form, coloured with cobalt oxide - Ann Bruford
My MA began with a search for colour and, three-quarters of the way in, my work has progressed to a riot of textures enhanced by the colours of metallic oxides. The picture shows a white porcelain Rockpool vessel’s surface with a healthy dollop of Copper carbonate greens helping to create a greater complexity of detail.
Oxides need careful application to ensure that they do not swamp the form and a light touch is needed at the painting stage as Copper has a tendency to deepen to a very dark black-green when thickly applied. The Cobalt oxide of my previous Journal entry offers a delicious blue but not as many shades of the colour are provided as with the range of greens offered by Copper.
Firing in an electric kiln and an oxidising atmosphere means that Iron oxides turn out brown to black rather than a rich red. Instead, I use the oxide as it presents in the clay itself as an iron-rich terracotta earthenware clay offers highlights of red where it breaks through the surface of a white glaze at the edges and high points of the surface.
I am trying to create forms that sit comfortably in the hand, which you cannot resist picking up to trace the surface details with your fingers, intrigued by the interplay of texture and colour, much like the pebbles gathered from the seashore that then return home in your pocket, too precious to leave behind.
My artistic practice centres on the emotions that connect us to a landscape by exploring textures created by the passage of time, resulting in sculpted forms, with shapes layered one upon the other. The MA will draw to a close this summer, with a summative presentation and written paper to be submitted for marking. With my work taking in a broad sweep of the glass and ceramics departments, choosing the summative signature pieces will be a difficult call.
And finally, a celebratory exhibition of all the final year MA students’ work will be taking place at Arts University Plymouth, late August/early September. Details are on my Shows & Events page.