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This is what I want to find in my stocking on Christmas morning: raku pottery garden markers from Sweet Paisley. Choose from a selection of herb names or request your own, all for $4.
I grow basil, mint, chives and oregano. (Hint, hint. )
Hooray! All the tiles survived the rigors of raku firing and now the panel is ready to be permanently affixed to its backing.
My favorite part of this project: carving the wing feathers.
I love the way botanical subjects look in raku. It’s such a great technique for subjects drawn from nature — and sometimes you get a nice little gift from the fire: an unexpected flash of pure copper, pulled from the glaze during the oxygen-starved reduction stage. I bury the hot tiles under mounds of fresh wood shavings, where they smolder for a minute or two before being quenched in a cool water bath. I think the copper that appeared in the background sets off the canna leaf quite nicely!
This 44×22 panel will be auctioned off tomorrow night at Phantasy for the Arts, a fundraising event for the Fairhope Educational Enrichment Foundation.
…and now begins 5 or 6 days of slow, careful drying. After the moisture has evaporated from the clay, the panel will be an inch shorter and the tiles will be ready for their first firing to 1825 degrees.
Now the lower half of the raku tile panel has been carved. These are orange canna lilies, sketched right outside the studio window. (I love those big, curving leaves.) The snowy egret appears in the top half of the design… you’ll have to come back tomorrow to see him. The entire panel will be carved and ready to begin a slow drying process tomorrow evening.
This 44-inch panel, glazed and raku fired, will be auctioned Oct. 26 at Phantasy of the Arts, an annual fundraiser for the wonderful Fairhope Educational Enrichment Foundation. The foundation has awarded more than $247,000 in classroom grants so far. Need more information about this event? Click HERE.
I’m in the preliminary stages of a large (44 inch tall) carved raku tile panel, an image of an egret, canna lilies and palmetto. The design is a combination of botanical and bird studies from my nature sketchbook — I like to draw my subjects first, to get to know their angles and curves better before carving them into clay.
The raku tiles are individually rolled out on a slab roller, compressed energetically with a wooden rib, then trimmed to size with a needle tool. I work slowly and carefully, with the goal of having all the edges match up as nearly perfectly as I can make them. Then I’m ready to draw the basic design in the tile surfaces, which I do freehand with my needle tool. Here’s a section of a canna lily:
Finally, when the whole design has been drawn, I will cover the panel lightly and let it rest overnight. By tomorrow afternoon, when the tiles have lost their stickiness, they’ll be just right for carving the relief into the clay surface. See you tomorrow!
…is that my tiles dry out very quickly. Even though the autumn equinox is less than two weeks away, the thermometer still hovers around 90 degrees each afternoon. I can open the studio windows a little and let the warm breeze play across the surface of freshly-made raku tiles, knowing that in just a few days they’ll all be ready for the bisque kiln.
My studio assistant, Atticus, supervises the tile-drying process in between his frequent naps:
Tropical Storm Claudette is just offshore — not necessarily a bad thing, considering that parts of our state are in need of rain — but the clouds stayed away long enough to allow me to fire the raku kiln this evening. These ivory Asiatic lilies were in the Perfect Man’s cut-flower garden in April. I sketched them in my notebook then, and later carved them on the surface of this handbuilt pottery box.
Folklore says that if you dream of lilies during the summer months, you will be prosperous and fertile. Dreaming about lilies in the winter, on the other hand, is a serious premonitory no-no.
Personally, my favorite lily is this one: my granddaughter, Lily Milne, 2.
image (c)2009 val webb
I love to draw (and carve) my favorite plant, purple coneflower. It grows easily from seed when the soil temperature is above 70 degrees — which is most of the year, where I garden. This whimsical medicinal loves compost, moderately moist soil and lots of sunshine. The native people of the prairie states used it more than any other healing plant, using mainly the root to treat a litany of ills from snakebite to venereal disease. I’m sure it was a primary ingredient in my Tennessee great-granny’s annual “tonic” — the springtime infusion she used every year to purify her blood. She learned to cultivate, harvest and compound medicinal plants early in the last century, when summer was dreaded as a season of increase in disease — and deaths — among infants and young children. Families fled the cities during those months, and country people like my Granny Griff fortified themselves with a concoction of botanicals valued for its immune-boosting effect.
So where’s the hedgehog in all this? Well…
Here are the fall classes and workshops I will be offering in my own studio. All levels of art experience are welcome here – every class is taught in an atmosphere of relaxation, encouragement and discovery. To reserve a place or ask a question, you may call me anytime at 251-510-9615 or email studio@valwebb.com.
MONDAY NIGHT RAKU CLASS
Mondays 6:30-8:30pm, 8 weeks, starts 8/24/09
Learn to create handmade relief (carved) tile in the traditions of the Art Nouveau masters. Use slab construction to make raku cylinders and boxes. Fall in love with the magical firing process that combines earth, air, fire and water to dramatically transform your artwork. All tools, clay, glazes and firing included. $120
DRAWING THE NATURAL WORLD
Thursdays 6:30-8:30pm, 8 weeks, starts 8/27/09
Sharpen your powers of observation and see plants and animals in a whole new way. Learn to use pencil, ink and watercolor to bring your nature drawings vividly to life. Explore scientific illustration techniques – absolutely no previous drawing experience necessary. We will have at least one field drawing day at a location to be decided by the class. Bring a sketchbook – everything else is provided. $120
WORKSHOP: CHILDREN’S BOOK ILLUSTRATION
Saturday, Sept. 19 from 1:30-5:30pm
This afternoon workshop covers page layout and book design, how to write query letters and put together a submission package, current publishing trends, copyright, how to use images to move a story forward, build an
illustration portfolio, negotiate an illustration contract and more. Includes refreshments and a folder full of take-home resource material. $45
FALL RAKU RETREAT
Two Saturdays: Oct. 3 and Oct. 10, 10am-5pm both days
Handbuild, carve, glaze and fire… two full days of slab-built raku pottery and handmade tile, from inspiration to completion. While you work, a gourmet meal will be professionally prepared for you using fresh ingredients from our organic garden. Indulge your creative spirit (and your appetite)! Couples, friends or family who register together will receive a reduced rate. $120
This week, Asiatic lilies sketched in April found their way onto a slab-built raku clay box. It will be fun to see how these big, bold blooms translate into raku pottery. Here’s the sketchbook page, drawn while sitting in the Perfect Man’s lovely cut-flower patch:
