Last week I was working with some wall tiles that had flower buttons "planted" on them. It struck me then how much like fossil coral they looked. This bowl is what came out of that.
I moved on from there to this large vase form. It was handbuilt over a 2 liter soda bottle. This photo is the naked start of the vase. It's only got its rim in place, thin 3 mm thick strips of most clay.
The next day I started the process of applying sprigs of clay to build up surface pattern of the vase.
And two days later and many hours and many hundreds of tiny little balls of clay, the vase is wrapped up and drying in my living room. Luckily no one in my house really minds having incomplete pottery 'decorating' our home.
And two days later and many hours and many hundreds of tiny little balls of clay, the vase is wrapped up and drying in my living room. Luckily no one in my house really minds having incomplete pottery 'decorating' our home.
The idea of working with fossil imagery has been with me for a while. I've always loved fossils and the idea that beneath us is this huge hidden sea from long ago. When I was a little girl I dreamed of being a paleontologist. Yes, I was a strange child. I've got a little box of fossils from my childhood camping holidays. There are brachipods and ammonites and coral in there. Just tiny little specimens. I think this new work must be what is resurfacing of my childhood dream.
I don't know where this new work is going. But that's OK. I do know that this is not the production work I need to get done by the end of the month. So for now, the next pieces will be slowly forming in my mind and I'll go back to making some things that will help me meet my deadlines. At least for a day or two.
Have a lovely week,
LeAnn
