Adventures in Clay
I always knew I would create a sculpture of Pangerbon… the thing is I always thought he would still be alive when I did it. That alas was not meant to be and so my creative project became a cathartic way of processing grief and spending time re-imagining his form in a way that I hope will stay with me for a very long time.
I’m very fortunate to have a friend who lives in my village who is also a talented potter. She has patiently been helping me take my vision of this sculpture from a basic idea into something truly special. The main form was hand-coiled with a sturdy clay with plenty of grog in it (stone particles) which will make it strong and durable as I wish for this to be a garden sculpture - at least in the summer months.
After building it in coil over a few weeks I then began the fun task of carving into it. I didn’t intend to have cutout pieces in it, but in order to refine his chin (and realising there was not enough clay in order to do that) I began to create cut in shapes - all the whilst saying to myself “What am I doing!??” Being no stranger to allowing intuition to guide my creative plan I followed the thread regardless and cut a further heart shape into his chest - a reminder of his wonderful and loving heart.
Over the next few weeks I diligently sprayed the clay on the days I couldn’t work on it to keep it damp and workable and then would carve into it in the evenings when I had time, finally getting it to a point where I was happy with the end result.
It then stood on my table for several more weeks, drying slowly so as not to crack before I began to smooth off rough areas with a suitable smooth-sided stone from the garden. At last he was ready for the kiln!
I added some clay paint to certain areas and then he was bisque fired. Here was when I was going to find out whether my newbie building techniques and ad hoc adjustments were going to hold up in the kiln! To my surprise they did!
Today we tackled the process of making a white glaze for the other areas of the sculpture, and in the coming weeks some more layers of glaze will be added before he is fired once more. A final clear glaze will be added and a final firing and we shall see the end result!
A surprising diversion
What has been surprising to me in this process is that, although at the time, I simply had a vision to sculpt my cat in clay; as I began the carving process I realised I was creating something I had envisioned doing over 15 years ago when I created my very first Totem artwork - Cat Totem. After drawing some 40+ of these totems in pencil crayons I remember now that I had visions of creating clay sculptures of these pieces and had never got around to it!
I do hope to build some more - so watch this space, and if you want to browse the totem project and let me know what you think I should build next - let me know in the comments!
Update - October 3rd:
The sculpture survived its second firing and the blue-white glaze we made went on really nicely, the painted colours darkening and becoming more intense. (see last 3 photos in the above gallery) I will put on one last clear glaze over the entire piece to ensure it’s weather proof as I hope to pop this sculpture outside in the summer months! More soon!
