Design Experimentation

 In this post I will be adding some of the designs I have made after my first artist research posts. I have tried to combine both Fukasawa's simple shapes with the more complicated shapes that Khayat uses in her work to inspire my own designs. I have also tried to use different materials to create textures and colour combinations on paper to see how these would affect the design.

 

 

I used wax crayons for the log design and used watercolour paint on top to create a resist effect. After my first attempt I realised that I needed to press a lot harder with the crayons to get the desired effect, which I am not used to. I have been working quite delicately on my ceramic works, so this experimentation made me wonder how it would affect my 3D outcomes if I used more force while creating the textures. 

I tried different colour combinations, mainly using blues, greens, oranges and browns to create a more natural effect on top of the textures. The ceramics workshop has a small selection of coloured slips available and I have been using only one of them at a time. I want to try to combine some of the available colours to see if I could achieve a similar effect as on my colour experiments on paper. 

This design leans into functionality and focuses on the tree bark textures. It is the first design that I have made into a 3D outcome in the ceramics workshop and as I was making it, I realised that the shelf fungi would take away the comfort of using this particular cup. Since this cup focuses on functionality, I decided not to include the shelf fungi in this design. However, since I have changed my progression route, I can now stray from the functionality and focus on a more creative design. 

This design is inspired by Khayat's vase from the SALT collection, especially the different sizes of the shelf fungi. I tried to come up with a way to include the shelf fungi and this is what I came up with. I am going to create a few more designs including the shelf fungi to see what looks best, but I would like to create a piece that solely focuses on this type of mushroom.

Another design that is inspired by Khayat's work is this one, which I tried to make 'imperfect' as she does. I tried to create a piece that does not follow symmetry and does not stand straight. I assumed that it might need some type of base to keep it from tipping over, so I gave it a simplistic base to not take away from the design itself. 

The next design is inspired by the dryad's saddle, a type of mushroom. I tried to come up with a number of shapes, however, most of them turned out rude. This design would be completely smooth with a focus on colour. This is where the mixing of coloured slip would come in to create a gradient effect on both the inside and the outside. 

 Lastly, I tried to recreate the Bird's Nest mushroom as a cup. The outside focuses on texture, which is a rough furry type of texture. The inside is a bright blue with 'eggs' on the bottom. The colour on the outside would remain natural, whereas the colour on the inside can be brighter. 

I will be experimenting more with designs as I am creating my 3D outcomes to figure out what could look good. The firing and glazing process takes time, so I will be working in the workshop while drawing up more designs in my self study time.