7-third time infactuation
Having had several days of intense pleasure relishing in my results from a sultry second time, I could not wait another moment - it was time to go in deep again …. and this time with the amourous reds.
At the beginning of this process, you may recall in my batch of test vases, I had made five in different coloured clays (mainly terracotta) but also a grey mix of my own reclaimed clay. I also had bought some prepared red clay terra sigillata. I was interested in the effects on red clay, knowing that the subtle colours and hues of some of the organics would play out very differently, if at all.
I coated one terracotta vase with just one coat of white terra sig, (just enough to give it a bit of shine but also allowing the texture of the red clay to peep through). Two of the vases I coated with three coats of a red terra sig and polished them, I left one without any terra sig and my grey test vase also without any terra sig.
To the best of my ablity I applied the same materials in the same places to all vases to see what effects they would make on different surfaces on red clays.
This time I wrapped around tightly:
Copper wire.
Dried banana skins tied on firmly with alpaca wool.
Dried seaweed ‘snack’ sheets held on with cotton sheet strips.
Copper carbonate and cobalt carbonate (solutions in water).
I spread over pure vitamin e serum and sprinkled over that a bagel topping mix comprised of sesame seeds, poppy seeds and salt flakes.
I then placed them on a bed of sugar cane mulch and surrounded them with dried lavender, dried hybiscus flowers, dried vine and fig leaves, pine needles and general dried composted mulch from my garden. All of this wrapped in two layers of crinkled aluminium foil and then rested them in their own individual terracotta flower pots.
The next day I fired them. I took the kiln up to 720 degrees celcius. I was starting to get use to the stages of ‘smell’ now - starting from a sweet smoking ‘hickory’ wood chip scent at around 300 degrees, to a wafting bushfire in the air smell at around 400 degrees - to an acrid metalic scent at around 550 degrees - then the ‘normal kiln’ hot smell at 600 degrees and higher. Just to be clear, and in case you are wondering out aloud - I am NOT standing over my kiln breathing in the fumes!
As you might recall, my kiln is in my car garage - When firing I have both double garage doors open (front and back) so I have complete air flow through and around the kiln. The scents I am experiencing are in the air outside the garage. This sort of firing (in fact any sort of kiln firing) in an enclosed room, with no ventilation or extraction fans can be very dangerous to your health!
Early, the next following cool autumn morning as the sun rose above the Adelaide Hills behind my home I unpacked the amourous reds from their red beds.
Here they are - straight out of the kiln, all ashy and unwashed, glinting in the morning light - Suffice to say, I was pleasantly surprised and instantly satisfied!
As I washed them all, their beauty began to become more and more revealing. Firstly, the terracotta vase with one coat of white terra sig applied - I was just mesmerised by the range of colours, the tones and hues, the rustic red clay texture peeping through, the smokiness on it’s base. Both sides shown below, it’s just beautiful!
Next was my grey clay, raw with no terra sig applied. It just shone anyway! See below - just washed and held up to the morning light
The raw terracotta was next - dare I say the 90 shades of grey, the lines left by copper, the exposed, abraded surface - Needless to say, I was very excited by this one - Look for yourself!
The final two with the red terra sig applied - one had a broken neck, however I also fired that piece and will glue back together when I am applying the beeswax polish - the join adding to the imperfections and randomness of these results! These were interesting - I was surprised I did not get the same range of subtle smoke purple and grey hues as on the raw vase above - however they were rich! So very rich and deep as if pulled from the volcanic ash in some ancient ruins ….
I could hardly wait to polish these ones up - They are a gorgeous contrast to the effects obtained on white clay - beautiful and sultry in their own right - and I think very rich and opulant. You can see the finished results of test 3 - ‘third time infactuation’ in my portfolio on this site :)
Now, I believe I am on to something and I have an idea! Some of you who know me may be exclaiming right now “Oh no!, What is she going to do now!”
Well, I leave you all to wait in suspense and expectation as I move on to Chapter 8 of my saggar in the city - going in deep, down into the seasons and sensual earth, the essential oils and native aromas and textures … made in South Australia …. made FROM South Australia ….