On painting, and other media all mixed up
25 July 2010 2 Comments
Sometimes I wonder why I’m so drawn to clay when my inspiration is so ethereal.
It’s more difficult to represent — either realistically or abstractly — such wispy notions with a substance that turns to rock after you’re done with it. Painting allows you to create transparencies on a surface that much more accurately mimic the kinds of light I’m so attracted to in the case of thunderstorms over the prairie.
However, I still want to create a way to beautifully and imaginative portray said supercells with sculptural materials. I believe it can be done, if I’m able to give more time to the idea. Recently I’ve been doing a little bit of painting anyway, as a way to think through the problem. And because the clay around the house (almost all of it reclaim) was either too wet or too dry to work. And I haven’t found a new supplier yet, though have one in mind.
Time to slake! Fun!
Clay’s a tough material for your subject matter. Maybe paper clay? Just add paper pulp to clay slurry. But why not paper pulp by itself? I love clay, too, but I am realizing that it’s not always the suitable medium for whatever idea I have in mind. That’s good news and bad news. I’ll still keep working in clay because I *love* touching clay. But I may end up working predominately in other mediums. It’s quite strange to ponder.
Another thought is to simply abstract it a lot further. I don’t know. I’ll be curious to see what you do.
Part of why I’m still attracted to clay with respect to clouds is that soda firing, atmospheric firing in general, seem to be a good representation of the colors in a thunderstorm at sunset or sunrise. Unfortunately I haven’t had access to those kinds of kilns since college. And, like you, I love the feel of clay in my hands, and the ways I can manipulate it.
Of course, I also still refer to myself as a mixed media sculptor more than a ceramic sculptor. We seem to be in very similar boats.