all of these pieces are made with Scarva Black chunky clay – they will turn black in the Fire at 1250c.It is THE most fantastic , versatile clay.The smaller ones are a similar clay with a finer grade which is remarkably flexible. in progress , 4/2/13

This was built solid and hollowed out – it is the best technique for getting an unexpected , complex form because you can work so freely.

same form , other view

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 I often work with one spot light so I can see the horizon of the form clearly.

I’m mostly using the music of  Avishai Cohen on this part of the Edge Series but of course Steve Vai plays a part along with some amazing Gaming music my son collects for me.It’s all instrumental.

Photos can give you a new perspective on your work.Getting ongoing  feed-back online is marvellous – for years I worked almost in secret! Now I have the benefit of advice , opinions and inspiration from all over the world ,particularly on Facebook which many Sculptors and Ceramisists use to exchange ideas. Like many others I have posted Step-by-Step photo Albums explaining my building  methods on my Osprey Studios page .

4/2/13

Three muses.

Built hollow with slabs cut straight from the block. This is the initial version .I added a new section , caught the shape then cut it open and hollowed away the previous unwanted wall. Black Chunky is extremely course and  will allow you do such things , no problem.4/2/13

Re-arranged ,Spring cleaned , far more spacious!My classes are taught right in here so students can follow my work’s ups and downs.

Feb 10th.The Edge Series ; note the board w/ wedges supporting the side.This will soon be removed.Once it’s firm enough it will be hollowed out and finished.

Feb 24th;  . Completed and drying,the newest addition to The Edge Series .It was made to Steve Vai’s latest Album ‘The Sound of Light’.It’s definatly my favourite so far  It will fire black.

March 11

The 4 smaller pieces are complete. They have taken a tremendous amount of time and a steady hand making me glad yet again that my Studio is part of the house and warm!!

The Half a Century Series;     

The Edge;     

March 30th;New pieces for The Edge.

The new set up in the Studio where each sculpture can stay in the same spot from start to finish is working really well. They are heavy and fragile until they are fired.I now have 2 good kiln loads dry,time to call in my Assistants to start moving them!

These larger , rougher  Sculptures from The Edge are showing the strong influence of living in the Brecon Beacons winter landscape and Cribarth Mountain behind the Studio.

4th Nov.2013

While the connection is clear, especially in this brand new piece, I have moved to a new series. I haven’t settled on a name but the philosophy is about how we don’t actually possess   clear boarders; the cloud of particles and especially  bacteria that make up us dissipates and interacts with our surroundings and fellows , interchanging constantly. When you leave the Forrest some of it comes with you , some of you is left behind.We are constructed from atoms that have been used to form countless other things since the big bang. After death those atoms will move on to build other parts of the World. As my son put it beautifully when he was 5 ; ”So we become part of the mountain? Good.”  Meanwhile this hydraulic motor-bike lift is  a life -changer.

http://www.sciencemusings.com/2008/01/key-to-riddle.html

by Chet Raymo

Behind the apparent decay and new growth the atoms endure, those mysterious and eternal particles that contain within themselves tendencies to combine and recombine in endlessly creative ways.

The church, the village, the rank tropical growth, the creatures that creep and fly and crawl are composed of recycled star dust, atoms forged billions of years ago in hot, massive stars, here woven by the hands of energy and entropy into a fabric of gorgeous complexity.

I went there for the same reason the naturalist/scientist Rachel Carson went to the edge of the sea. She wrote: “Underlying the beauty of the spectacle there is meaning and significance. It is the elusiveness of that meaning that haunts us, that sends us again and again into the natural world where the key to the riddle is hidden.”

Extracts from J.P. Hodin, Barbara Hepworth, London, 1961, Two Conversations with Barbara Hepworth: ‘Art and Life’ and ‘The Ethos of Sculpture’, pp. 23–24

Art and Life (in conversation with J.P. Hodin, 18 August 1959)

“Art at the moment is thrilling. The work of the artist today springs from innate impulses towards life, towards growth – impulses whose rhythms and structures have to do with the power and insistence of life. […] In the past, when sculpture was based on the human figure, we knew this structure well. But today we are concerned with structures in an infinitely wider sense, in a universal sense. Our thoughts can either lead us to life and continuity or […] the way to annihilation. That is why it is so important that we find our complete sense of continuity backwards and forwards in this new world of forms and values. I see the present development in art as something opposed to any materialistic, anti-human or mechanistic direction of mind.”

I would really appreciate any feed-back you might have on these ideas including a Title.