Trip to Birmingham

I went off on a trip to the NEC today for an IHCF event. I’ve been going twice a year for the last 3 years to the Fashion & Embroidery expo and always manage to find something inspiring or useful. They feature selected artists at each event, so its a perfect opportunity to discover something new to influence my own practice, as well as being packed with stalls selling various crafty bits and bobs. This year they happened to be featuring a WI project involving slip dipping! On display were a collection of knitted spoons which had been dipped in porcelain and fired.

http://cornwallwi.org.uk/spoons-a-stirring-tale

Slip Dipping cont.

My slip casts are out of the kiln and they are unbelievably fragile! The firing process burns away any organic material or combustibles ie the string, so that you are left with a hollow slip shell. I am really pleased with a few of these, especially the slashed packaging. I have discussed with my tutor the option of glazing these, either with a clear glaze or trying a copper oxide, which will go a greenish brown, but for now I am going to leave them bisque-fired. I really like the look and feel of them this way as they fit in with my desired aesthetic.

Slip Dipping

Today I did a few quick experiments with slip casting string of varying thicknesses, twine and some interestingly textured packaging. I used the the string to sample a number of distinctive knots. I also created shapes by wrapping and carefully arranging the string/twine, I then dipped these in casting slip, taking care to massage the slip into the fibres before letting the excess drain off and letting them dry.

Frances Wright & Leyla Folwell

Lauren Meyer

Anthony Foo