Cave Art Bottles & Plaques

At 4PM today -- FINALLY -- I was able to run by Clayworks to see how 5 cave art pieces had fared in the latest gas kiln firing. There were 2 plaques and 3 bottles in this bunch. The plaques were, well, okay, though "Bison" wasn't at all what I thought he would be. And he's cracked to boot. Cracks aren't necessarily a bad thing when it comes to pieces parietal. But this crack didn't look natural and DID look like a maker's flaw, which is what it was. So "Bison" will live out the rest of his days at Storybrook.

"Tortoise" (which was an accident initially) pleased me more. A friend of ours, who just had surgery on her collar bone, believes the tortoise is her spirit animal. So "Tortoise" will be a get well present for her.

I was much happier with the bottles. "Herd" and "Fossil Fish" are pictured here. "Herd" is based on a cave painting found in the End Chamber of Chauvet Cave, Valion-Pont-d'Arc, Ardeche, France. While "Fossil Fish" is based on paintings from the Nerja Cave in Spain. The original creatures might have been fish or, perhaps, seals.

"Herd" had some interesting things going on with the glazes. A side view ---

---and the back of the bottle.

This bottle - "Communication" - turned out to be my favourite from this firing.

The bar & dot designs are part of the main panel in the Lionin Cave in Asturias, Spain. That cave was used as a cheese cellar until the discovery of its paintings in 1971. The bison at the bottom right was my own addition. A close-up---

Once again, the glaze action on the back of the bottle intrigued me.

Keeping the images "raw" while glazing the rest of the form appeals to me. And I like the the "topper" ? His horns pick up the horns of the bison. Just wish I'd made them a bit more curved like the painting. All in all I was happy with the results from this firing. I'm looking forward to further experiments with the mason stained pieces.

Hope you have a grand weekend!!!!

Back to the Drawing Board

I'm experimenting again. Not only with barrel firing but with the parietal pieces that I love so well. At Clayworks, the gas kiln is cooling even as I type. There are 5 cave art pieces in the kiln and I'm anxious to see how they will turn out.

But whatever the result, I've reached a point where I want to learn more, push the envelope a bit, try something new with these images that are so magical for me. There are many paths I could take. But for now, my focus is on the "canvas" that is home to the pictures.
Previously, I've used slips and oxides to "paint" the clay, striving to create a rock-like surface. But painting the surface isn't satisfying me. I want the clay, itself, to look like rock. So tonight I wedged mason stains into balls of Loafers Glory (my preferred clay body for cave art) and layered the colored clays with the original. The stains I used were a walnut and a coral red. ( The only addition was some porcelain slip.) I made 3 pendants and a small test slab.

Though its too early to tell what will happen after the images are added and the test pieces are bisqued, my initial favourite is the pendant top center. I also wedged some clay with Sorrel and Cedar stains which I'll play around with tomorrow after work.
I'm not sure if any of this will work or not. But that's not what's important for me right now. I'm simply enjoying the process of experimenting...seeking...and being back at the drawing board.

Saggars Revealed

This morning, Kim, Adrienne & I met Jim Whalen at Clayworks. The gas kiln was still at 638 degrees so we had to wait awhile before we could unload the saggars we fired yesterday in Jim's workshop. It was worth the wait.

We unloaded & unpacked twelve saggars.

Most of the plates created to hold the saggars cracked during the firing. But there is a silver lining to that - lots of shards to use in our next firing. The pots were set on tables & carts for workshop attendees to claim.

I wish I could see all of these pots, once they've been cleaned and polished.

Clayworks artists had some nice results. Here are some of Cindy's cats....

...and just a few of Kim's pieces.

My flock has yet to be cleaned but offers a nice number of promising birds. Some will find their way into upcoming sales. A couple I'll hold on to as mementos of Jim Whalen's wonderful workshop.

Thank you Jim for everything you shared with us! I learned a lot & am looking forward to putting those lessons to work in a future barrel firing.

Jim Whalen Workshop Part 2

Today at Clayworks, we gathered for the second half of Jim Whalen's workshop. The students came prepared with hard burnished pieces and pots sporting the various terra sigilattas we'd made in the first workshop. It took two tables to hold them all.

Jim provided bag upon bag of various sawdusts and chemicals like copper sulfate and cobalt carbonate. He also brought a special slip for resist raku. Attendees brought various combustibles.

Sweet gum "gumballs" were a favourite for the saggars...

As was spanish moss (thanks Cinder) ....

And there were grasses and flowers of all descriptions.

I was so busy layering my own saggar I forgot to take pix of the process, but there were some real beauties prepared for the Clayworks gas kiln.

Once the saggars were loaded, we moved on to the barrel-firing portion of the workshop. Jim brought his own 55-gallon drum and we also used our very own, beloved Model T.

Here, Kim & Jim look on as the barrels burn. Someone began singing "Ring of Fire."

As if on cue, and not missing a beat, Elaine "flashed" the crowd.

A sawdust-only barrel firing doesn't take too long to reveal the wonders within.

While the barrels were firing, Jim showed us how he creates his resist raku pieces. That's what I loved MOST about this workshop --- experimenting with 3 different forms of firing --- all in one day!

It's always exciting when the raku kiln is opened. (And sometimes amateur photographers get caught in the act).

Once again, sawdust plays its part in the firing process. Jim's pot (covered in dried slip) went straight from the kiln into an already smoldering container of sawdust. From there it would go into a closed container for reduction.

Then, it was back to the barrels to see what treasures the ashes would reveal.

Here, a sampling of the barrels' bounty. Some lovely pieces!

I'm sorry I didn't get any photos of the raku resist pieces. Many were taken home for cleaning and I hope that we'll get a chance to see the finished pieces once the resist is removed and the pieces are waxed/finished. Tomorrow we unload the 12 saggars from the gas kiln and I can't wait to see how all those pieces turn out. Likely, they'll be the most colorful of the firings as we added lots and lots of botanicals and fuming agents to the saggar mix.

Look for pix from the saggars sometime tomorrow!

Bella Villa

Just a few kilometers from the town of Piazza Armerina, visitors to Sicily find the Villa Romana del Casale. Dating back to the late third century/early fourth, this lavish Roman villa boasts the richest, largest and most complex collection of mosaics in the world.



Buried beneath a landslide, the villa remained a secret until the 1900s. It was discovered, according to our tour guide, when a farmer found bits of mosaic beneath the straw in his donkey's stable. Suspecting he'd stumbled upon something important, he called the authorities and excavations were begun.

So far, fifty rooms have been unearthed, most of them protected from the elements by large plastic coverings. In the summertime, the heat inside the villa can exceed 115 degrees. We were told that tourists suffering heatstroke is not uncommon. Good thing that ours was a late winter visit.

Mosaics adorn the villa, inside and out. Mythological subjects and depictions of daily life were a common motif. Much to my delight, so were birds.

These decorated some type of water receptacle near the main entrance. We were on our own in the villa, without benefit of guides, so it was often difficult to determine the purpose of what we were seeing. But hey? It was a bird. So I had to have a picture.

This is The Corridor of the Great Hunt. Each mosaic features a head of the many different wild animals hunted in the most distant parts of the empire.

Here is a close up of one of the many cats the Romans hunted. The colour of the corridor mosaics are muted by an accumulation of dust. I confess I enhanced a picture or two (just a little) in order to get an idea of their original beauty.

The corridor leads to larger, more complex scenes throughout the villa, each continuing the story of the hunt. There are mosaics to illustrate the capture of the beasts...

...and mosaics illustrating the transport of the animals, by ship, back to Rome.

Some of the captives wound up at the Colosseum, pitted one against another (or against humans) for the enjoyment of the Roman spectators.

Others lived out the rest of their days performing in the Circus Maximus.

In the Room of the Fishing Cupids, several different fishing techniques are depicted in mosaic. This was a dining room for guests. Because we were on a ramp (and because sunlight cast shadows from all the scaffolding on to the floor below) it was impossible to get a good shot of this amazing mosaic. It covered the entire floor.

However, I did manage to get a close up of the prey.

One of the most popular mosaics in the villa is the "Room of the Ten Girls In Bikinis." Which begs the question -- who really did invent the two piece sensation? The floor is a two-piecer too. The Villa Romana del Casale was built over an older villa. I'm not sure if the floor in the corner is part of the first villa or simply a change of heart on the designer/owner's part. Certainly the girls do more to catch the eye.

Throughout the villa, we saw what little remains of the wall frescoes. Unlike the mosaics, the frescoes have suffered more at the hands of time. Given the beauty of the mosaics, one has to believe that the frescoes were equally as grand. We may never know.

But who can tell? Only 1/3 of the villa has been excavated; so much more is waiting below the Sicilian soil. How many secrets have yet to be revealed? How many more treasures will again see the light of day?

No doubt the archaeologists at the Villa Romana del Casale wonder too.

"Bella Isola"

Sicily is, indeed, a beautiful island. Flying over the Alps on our way to Rome - before flying from Rome to Palermo - Sis and I hadn't the vaguest idea of the adventures that awaited us.

"Picturesque" can't begin to describe the views we enjoyed. From boats in one of Palermo's many coves...

...to the breath-stealing vista of azure waters at the base of Mount Pellegrino.

Everywhere, majestic cathedrals reached to the heavens...

...while on the streets below the more mundane routine of daily life,

was ever present.

Mosaics adorned doorways, stairways, walkways...in every way imaginable. This one is relatively modern. But there are far, far older mosaics to be seen in Sicily (which I'll share in a future post).

And then...there's the food. Not all meals are squisito (it's true, you get what you pay for). But if you're willing to part with a few extra euro, you can easily enjoy a spectacular meal for less than you might in America.

For dessert, there's gelato of course, and canoli. But if you're a fan of marzipan, you won't find any prettier than the almondy sweets offered in Sicily.

My favourite thing to do on the island was to explore the Greek and Roman ruins. They are, literally, everywhere. Here, hundreds of years BC, ancient Greeks watched tragedies performed in the shadow of Mount Etna. Who needs a set designer when you have a natural backdrop like that?

There are more pictures to come. We took over 1200 (I won't subject you to them all, I promise!) But it's been too long since I posted and I wanted to give you at least a glimpse of the wonders Sicily has to offer. Bella isola! Such a magical place!