Abstract Art - Handmade Ceramic Sculpture

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In this video I thought I would talk about how people often see my ceramic sculptures as being made from plaster moulds. 

Plaster moulds basically act as a tool to make multiple ceramic forms. For example, factory’s can often use them as you can pour liquid clay into the mould/shape like a teapot to produce multiple items quickly without them being made on the potter’s wheel. As this process has less physical interaction between the makers hand and the clay object, the resulting objects are usually very geometric and clean from makers marks. 

People usually think my ceramic sculptures are made from plaster moulds because they are so precise. But acutely they are not as they have all been made using the potter’s wheel. I often throw simple shapes like cones, cylinders and spheres which I then cut up and join together to create these abstract ceramic sculptures.

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How do I make my ceramic free standing open sculptures

Like most of my ceramic sculptures the making of my free standing open sculptures process starts on the potters wheel. For me the wheel is a tool to help create artistic creations. It can be used to create tableware but it can also be used to create sculpture. There are many possibilities.

I usually throw individual objects on the potters wheel like cylinders, cones and spheres. I use stoneware as it is good for throwing and hand-building. It is strong once fired and assists in depth of colour and glaze.

I then cut up these shapes and join them together, it is all a constructive process of cutting and joining.

Once the desired shape is complete I then use tools to refine the shape such as the edge. When making open sculptures the edge is very important as this defines the shape and the inside and outside space.

I then bisque fire the forms to 1000c to remove the water and harden the clay for the next process. All firings are done in an electric kiln to control the temperature and in most cases the results. Then I will refine them again with sand paper to remove any rough textures. I am looking for clean defined forms.

An example from a previous open sculpture.

Next stage is to spray on a white vitreous slip using the spray gun. As the colour of the clay is bage in colour, white provides a good base coat to work with. In most cases I use the white slip to highlight the rim or to create pattens. Once the white vitreous slip has been applied I then fire the sculpture again to 1100c.

 At this stage I apply masking tape to the form. The aim is to create lines and patten to highlight the form and drew the eye to the inside and outside space. I will usually use different colours to draw the eye to different parts of the form like the inside and outside. Sometimes I use gradients of colour to also help brake up the form. The spray gun is an ideal tool for this as I can achieve these effects and control the application of colour.

Depending on the complexity of the colour applied to the forms I will sometimes do multiple firings up to 1140c. At this stage I am then ready to tape up the form again and apply a clear glaze. The clear glaze is sometimes used on just the outside of the form to reflect the light so that the inside remains unglazed to absorb light. Sometimes both the inside and outside of the forms can be glazed. I like to use glaze to enhance the forms and harness the way light interacts with it. The glazed sculptures then get fired again between 1220-1260c.

Finished Results

Candy. H20 W21 D12

Follow the line. H20 W21 D12

Rising Sun. H20 W21 D11

New spherical ceramic wall sculptures in the making

From a humble sphere freshly thrown on the potters wheel. 

To not one but more than one sphere thrown on the potters wheel and literally thrown near enough on-top of each other.

The resulting combination of spheres.

Cutting the sphere forms in half so i can attach it to a base.

Some tools of the trade, a handy knife and tape measure.

Two other sphere sculptures in the making.

Lately I have been working on four new ceramic wall sculptures. As most of my sculptures are usually free standing I was interested in working on some new wall sculptures. 

They are all made from spheres thrown on the potters wheel. However with two sculptures I decided to continue with experimenting with ideas started in Hungary during the symposium I undertook in 2019. This processes consisted of throwing down freshly wheel thrown spheres on-top of each other. The results are interesting as each sphere pushes and distorts the sphere next to it. A very fresh approach to creating the sculptures.

The other two sculptures follow my traditional approach of letting the wheel thrown spheres firm up before they are cut and joined together .

The next stage is to then cut all of the wall sculptures in half so that I can join them to a base to be wall mounted.

I am interested to see were these wall sculptures lead, there is so much possibility in working with a single shape and combining them together. 

Cloud Space

Before: Finished making the form and colour applied ready for a single firing. I decided to keep the colour simple by just going for black and white to focus on a contrast between the two forms.

Finished sculpture. Title: Cloud Space. Original handmade, one-off, stoneware, stand-alone sculpture including artist signature

​28/7/19, H18 x L31 x W22cm

The inspiration behind this sculpture came from my continued interest in Stonehenge and stone circles in the UK and its link to the sky and clouds. For me clouds symbolise, spirituality, entering another space, contemplation and curiosity with what happens when we die. This all relates back to my personal experience of people close to my life passing away. Importantly though I would like to leave space for the imagination and curiosity. What happens when we die?

For further information about this ceramic sculpture please see: https://www.martinharmanart.com/cloud-space.html

Inspiration behind my new ceramic sculptures in the making 29th June 2019

Bubbles/Clouds? Ceramic sculptures in the making, continuing to grow

Before

After. Continuing to add more spheres.

Sometimes I hear people say that they can not believe my ceramic sculptures are hand made, often they think it is made using plaster moulds. I have to agree with them on that, they are precise. I am often drawn to making ceramic sculpture that is very clean and very much focused on the form and using colour to highlight this in ways. There is something about this approach that often creates new possibilities. Clay has the potential to be expressed in a very textual and fluid way, some people like to revel this and I remember back when I was studying my BA I was drawn to this approach. However I eventually moved away from it as I become interested in expressing geometric archetectual referencing forms. Who knows maybe sometime in the future I might be interested in going back to this in some way.

The plan with these pieces is to keep building up the forms by adding more spheres. I am aiming for something of a mushroom cloud like shape. I guess it douse not exactly look like clouds but like a lot of my work I want to leave space for the imagination.

Freshly thrown spheres all hand-made on the potters wheel.

I have a little bit of evidence to prove they are hand-made. The potters wheel is very much a central tool for me to use to help create my ceramic sculptures. With these new sculptures I am working on at the moment they are all made from individual spheres that have been cut up and joined together. 

This ceramic sculpture is made from stoneware clay. I often use this clay as it holds its shape well and it is a strong material to work with.

New ceramic sculptures in the making

Currently I am working on three ceramic sculptures which so far seems to be shaping into stand-alone sculptures. Originally I was aiming to create a series of wall pieces but as the work progressed I realised they were getting too tall. I realised if I were to make wall pieces they would need to be shorter in hight so I decided to go with what the pieces were telling me which was build upwards. 

The inspiration behind these sculptures in the making continues my interest in clouds. For me clouds symbolise, spirituality, entering another space, contemplation and curiosity with what happens when we die. This all relates back to my personal experience of people close to my life passing away. Importantly though I would like to leave space for the imagination and curiosity. What happens when we die?

Investigating the link between archetecture and the Organic

In what new ways can I drive my ideas forward and how can the making process reflect this?

At its core I am still concerned with ideas generated from observing Stonehenge, so ideas such as space, the suggestion of purpose & function & meaning and the imagination are still important. The built environment still plays a part in visualizing this information through aspects such as architectural forms.

Recently I have been trying to investigate how to extend this idea of evoking the imagination and so I have been introducing organic forms to architectural components. Hopefully they can contrast each other and perhaps set up some symbolic meaning to add to this sense of otherness.

I think just like Stonehenge and the built environment they both share the same space with nature (the organic) and in some ways they both interact with each other. From here this fusion can create an interesting combination when investigated through the practical work.

Two new ceramic artworks almost complete

Today I have been busy applying a glaze to my two new ceramic artworks. They still need a bit more work but I hope to have them finished soon.

It took time to understand what colours to apply onto these works so I previously made some drawings to try and explore different approaches. The drawing is not an accurate representation as the colour arrangement on the ceramic artworks are different. I realise that sometimes I find it difficult to visualise an outcome so I use drawing to analyse the three dimensional form. Usually ideas develop from the act of making and drawing.

I am also starting to think of what other ways to apply colour to the surface, can I create patterns?, what else can I do with the lines? can I create multiple layers of colour? what else can I do with gradient effects? I want to free up my imagination, what other possibilities are there. 

New artwork: Rift

 (Rift. 17/4/15, L26cm W15cm H16cm, stoneware, thrown, hand built, slips, glaze fired to 1260c)

  (Rift. 17/4/15, L26cm W15cm H16cm, stoneware, thrown, hand built, slips, glaze fired to 1260c)

  (Rift. 17/4/15, L26cm W15cm H16cm, stoneware, thrown, hand built, slips, glaze fired to 1260c)

  (Rift. 17/4/15, L26cm W15cm H16cm, stoneware, thrown, hand built, slips, glaze fired to 1260c)

 (Rift. 17/4/15, L26cm W15cm H16cm, stoneware, thrown, hand built, slips, glaze fired to 1260c)

Its good to be able to see some finished results, it was a surprise opining the kiln as I was not too sure what to expect, but then sometime you never really do.

When I was deciding a title for this piece I instantly thought of a Rift, like a divide through time and space.

I think each piece I make is a journey and an experience, I hope I can continue to test out new ways of working.

New artwork nearly complete

After 4 firings I can finally say that this artwork is almost complete, the only thing left to do know is apply the glaze to the outside and fire it again for the final time.

With this artwork I have tried build up layers of colour to hopefully achieve a depth. There is also a black line running through the centre to add contrast. 

I'l have to see what the final outcome will be like, its always a tense moment.

Artworks in the making, started 7/3/15

This weekend I set my self the task to finish constructing two new artworks. Just need to let them both dry slowly then they can go in the kiln.

I would like to continue to push my ideas and try new ways of working so this time I have made work that includes a base. The plan is to hopefully tern them both into wall pieces.

New Artwork Complete: Solitude

 

 (Solitude. 1/3/15, L20cm W20cm H12cm, stoneware, thrown, hand built, slips, glaze fired to 1260c)

Today I finished a new ceramic artwork. 

I decided to name this piece Solitude because it got me thinking that I was in a quiet, empty space of some kind. The piece has a stillness about it and I get lost in its space and colour, the work becomes a conduit for the imagination. For a moment I am teleported away from the normality of this world.

Artworks in the making

Today I finished making two new artworks started: 28/1/15. The plan now is to leave them to dry slowly and then bisk fire them both.

With these two pieces I wanted to try and create a new challenge for myself, I wanted to find a fresh shape, something different from the ones I had previously been making.

Artwork and bowls in the making

The colours have now been applied to the forms and has been fired, all that is left to do is to glaze them and fire it again. I should expect to see some finished results soon.

Artwork in progress

Yesterday I managed to apply colour to one of my artworks started 12/11/14. All that is left know is to fire it, then glaze it, then fire it for the final time if things go according to plan.

The work generally goes through a long process, I hope I can reveal the time and patience involved and that this can contribute to the outcome.

Applying colour to two of the new ceramic artworks started 6/12/14

(Spraying the work with second round of coloured slips)

(All coloured slips have been applied, its now ready for the 3rd firing)

Over the past week I have been continuing to work on the two new ceramic pieces started on 6/12/14. Today I finished spraying all the colours onto the surface so the only thing left to do is put them in the kiln and fire them, then apply the glaze. Soon they should be complete.