Box of Secrets
17 January 2025
Came into uni for a couple of days before the official start of term, to try out some ideas on test tiles using Valentines Clay PF700, a porcelain stoneware clay. So glad I did, my thoughts at this stage are:
Box of Secrets - both the spikes and the barbed wire work really well, being strong 3D graphic images - perhaps that’s why they appeal to me.
Box of Wishes - not sure if I would proceed with this textured finished for this project or try the glaze route. I would like to pursue this idea in the future perhaps using coloured clays to interpret wishing stone sculptures.
Box of Memories - this carved surface using the contour lines works well, would like to try this again trying to create a less soft undulation. The carved triangles dictated by the contour dots I found particularly difficult, couldn’t decide if it was the technique or my skill level! If I do pursue this further, I will need to make the contour map bigger to increase the size of the carved areas - so less fiddly.
Not sure about the clay - think for this project I might revert back to good old White St. Thomas, as I know exactly how far I can push the properties of this clay. I found PF700 dried very quickly, becoming crumbly and not forgiving at all - perhaps I just need to use it more.
23-24 January 2025
Still not sure if I’m pursuing the right direction for this project, all feels very uncomfortable! Well, here goes…
I rolled out some 3cmm thick slabs of MJ Originale Valentines clay to leave overnight to harden. The next day I cut out the slabs and started to assemble the first of the 2 boxes.
Not sure of the carving treatment I am going to attempt next week for the contour design, need to do some more research and some more thinking.
6-7 February 2025
Finally started on the carving process, put my headspace into lino cutting mode as still feeling very overwhelmed, this definitely seemed to help. Still haven’t finished the first box ‘Chester’, with ’Sawbridge’ still to start! Quite a time consuming process. Have yet to cut the lid on the Chester box - this could be a complete disaster!
12-14 February 2025
Onto carving the ‘Sawbridge’ box, feeling much more confident. Decided to cut the lid off first, once I had marked the contour lines onto the box. This was much easier to do this time as the clay was still damp, able to then tidy it up before starting to carve the contour lines. Went much deeper, with I hope more expression this time in the movement of the lines and how they relate to each other - now to leave to dry slowly for a couple of weeks. Not sure about the final finish yet, will give this some thought…
4 April 2025
Have been completely stumped as to how to move this project to it’s conclusion. I had made a couple of test tiles and bisque fired them, today I finally managed to add some oxides and glaze for a final test firing. Hoping these will inform what I do next.
