2019 DIY postcards swap

This is my sixth participation do the DIY postcards swap organized by iHanna.

I usually try to have a theme or some consistency when I make these, but this time, it’s more of a mix and match. The only thing they have in common is a layer of copper tinted acrylic that I used mainly to build textures.

The foxes are recycled screen printing tests, with lots of layers (acrylic, tinted gesso, pastel pencils, Posca pencils).

I quite like the way that toucan bird came out. I rubbed some areas to remove a bit of color, but the paper came out as well! Still, I find that it adds to the overall look.

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Water etching

Another pottery session has concluded a few weeks ago. My challenge this time was to achieve transparency with water etching. Note that this technique takes FOREVER.

The transparency would be even sharper if I had access to real porcelain, fired at cone 10, but still, I’m quite happy with the results.

These bowls/lanterns are a work of love. I’ve stopped counting the hours it takes to remove the clay with a wet sponge, just to get to that tipping point where removing more would break them, which happened twice.

Fish bowl/lantern: one that got damaged during production, on a day I was all thumbs. Hopefully, I was able to “fix” it by smoothing the curve where a piece fell off, near the lip.

The Hare

The Octopus

Flying pigs series

Flying pig planter – mishima technique with underglaze and clear glaze on porcelain, mixed with grog
Flying pig water bowl for a friend’s cats – underglaze and clear glaze on porcelain

Ceramics experiments: March and April

Matte white glaze on a mix of unknown clays
An unexpected wood effect for a small series of bowls and tumblers. Combine all of your leftover clays, and this is what you might end up with!

White glaze on a heavy grogged reddish clay

Underglaze and clear glaze on grey clay
A painted plate, before the final firing.

The same plate, after the final firing. The blue paint almost completely disappeared, leaving the black underglaze exposed.

This picture and the following show multiple stain tests with wax resist on porcelain. The finished ones were covered with clear glaze.

HES, final weeks! 51 & 52

Woot!! We made it till the end!

Here’s my final montage, from weeks 51 and 52 for the Hello Every Sunday project: one year of drawing daily.

HES, final weeks: 51 & 52

Priya called HES “the monster that we had to feed” (and I agreed), for it was so time consuming. We should’ve spent 15-20 minutes each day to draw, but invested further.

The project statement started with “a daily drawing” but was quickly edited to “drawing daily”, since we put a lot of time in this project. Over time, we strangely switched our favorite mediums: ink and charcoal. We also had a one year interruption, due to a passing that led to big changes in our lives.

What else can I reflect on this one year project…

  1. I’m not so good at reflecting.
  2. Well, I can creates (small) UNIVERSES! ;-)
  3. I really enjoy embossing paper before working with charcoal and pastel (Priya’s influence) and it translated into my work with clay, mishima and other techniques alike.
  4. I’m more confused than ever between my love of black and white and my affair with color.
  5. One of my art teachers in college told me I should add landscapes to my paintings. That comment had the unfortunate effect of me overlooking them for decades. I explored this for a few weeks during this project and had fun doing it. Well look at that.
  6. Finally, even if HES drove me mad at times, it was fulfilling on the long run.

Ceramics: October to December 2018

I don’t know if this autumn and winter had me day dreaming of the sun and warmth, but my work suddenly got a lot more colored. I also began testing clays containing quite a bit of grog (tiny particles mixed in with the clay body). If I can’t have the sand under my feet, it will at least be at the tip of my fingers!

Akra planters

Small ceramic planters made of raku clay, mixed with a bit of porcelain and painted with underglazes. The interior is covered with underglaze and a transparent glaze.

Colored tumblers

Tumblers made of a mix of raku clay and porcelain. The interior is covered with underglaze and topped with a clear glaze.

Small colored bowls

Tiny bowls made with raku clay and painted with underglaze, with a coat of clear glaze. The plates are hand built with porcelain, painted with underglaze and topped with clear glaze.

Small colored bowls Big celadon bowl

A medium sized bowl made with porcelain, mixed with a bit of raku clay and the interior is coated with a semi-transparent celadon glaze.

Big green bowl

Another medium sized bowl made with the same mix of porcelain and raku clay, but the interior is glazed with a semi-transparent green.

Introduction to screen printing

I got the most thoughtful Christmas gift from my boyfriend this year: an introduction to screen printing. I spent a fantastic day learning the basics of silk screen printing and experimenting on different media.

Screen printing is a technique whereby a mesh is used to transfer ink onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil.

Silkscreen printing on paper, La Datcha

Screen printing on two different types of paper and on rough canvas

Silkscreen printing on raw silk, La Datcha

On raw silk (my favorite so far)

Silkscreen printing on rice paper, La Datcha

And this is silk screen printing on rice paper, using white underglaze. I wanted to test decals for my pottery classes. Unfortunately, it didn’t work so well; it came out too pale, or didn’t show up at all. I believe that three coats would’ve worked better.

Ceramics: August and September

White on white ceramics, by La Datcha
White on white (transparent glaze on white stoneware)

Practicing shallow bowl forms; in my mind, it was easy, but I failed many times before getting it right.

My new tiny workspace

My almost fully installed new micro studio, with invaluable furry accessory (cat enjoying ray of sunlight).

Bowl for Noémie, by La Datcha

A special request  (underglazes and clear glaze on grey stoneware)

For her 12th birthday, my niece specifically asked for a bowl with a dolphin, a bear and a jaguar, comics style. I really couldn’t refuse such a demand, coming from this lovely person.

Seedpod bowl, by La Datcha

An unexpected result (exterior: white underglaze on dark brown stoneware, interior: rutile glaze)

This seedpod was supposed to stay white, but the iron contained in this clay transformed it into a surprising golden color.

Turtle bowl, by La Datcha

Snowy turtle bowl (underglazes on grey stoneware)

Green bowl, by La Datcha

Deep green bowl (green glaze on grey stoneware)

Raven bowl, by La Datcha

Raven bowl (black underglaze on white stoneware)

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