Tips for Making Multiples for Ceramic Wall Sculptures
We have one of Lars Westby’s platters hanging here in our office (acquired as a Ceramics Monthly Purchase Award from the Strictly Functional Pottery National a few years back), and I love it. I keep...
View ArticleLose Weight, Get Strong: Put Your Ceramic Work on the Paper Clay Diet
Today I am sharing a diet plan that you will actually enjoy! This one is for your ceramic work. If you’ve never worked with paper clay, you’ll be thrilled with the doors it can open up in your work....
View ArticleSketching in Space: How to Get a Quick Start on Sculpting the Hand
Figure is not an area of ceramics that I have explored much probably because it seems like such an overwhelming endeavor. But watching Melisa Cadell’s new video Figure Sculpting in Clay, made me want...
View ArticleCoil Building Expressive Ceramic Sculpture
Ceramic sculptor Arthur Gonzalez was trained as a photorealist painter, but grew to dislike the control and predictability of that genre. So it is no surprise that when he discovered ceramics (not...
View ArticleTwo Ways to Sculpt Eyes on a Ceramic Figure
When sculpting the human head, Melisa Cadell starts with a thick cylinder so she is able to add volume and life both from the inside and outside. In today’s post, an excerpt from her new video Figure...
View ArticleTwo Simple Ways to Get Started on Sculpting a Bust
Laying the Groundwork for Sculpting a Torso If you think sculpting a bust in clay seems like a difficult endeavor, you’ll feel differently after watching today’s video clip. In this clip, an excerpt...
View ArticleUsing Nichrome Wire as a Support in Ceramic Sculpture
Whether you are working on abstract ceramic sculpture or figurative sculpture, sometimes you just need a little support. When this is the case, nichrome wire is a great solution. Lesley Risby would not...
View ArticleCreating Expressive Features in Animal Sculptures
People have been using clay to tell stories since the dawn of history. Lisa Naples tells stories in both her functional pots and ceramic sculpture. In her new video, Narrative Animal Sculpture, she...
View ArticleA Couple of Cool Clay Sculpture Techniques
The malleability of clay makes it possible to bend and shape in into any shape imaginable. But as we all know, this malleability can also present challenges. In today’s post, an excerpt from Sculpting...
View ArticleFooling the Eye with Nature-Inspired Ceramic Sculpture
Clay is a wonderful material because it can be made to look like just about anything. From Sylvia Hyman’s cardboard boxes of mail to Brett Kern’s “inflatable” dinosaurs, the trompe l’oeil (French for...
View ArticleMaking Plaster Press Molds Using Styrofoam as a Building Block
Brown carves Styrofoam into various shapes, like the above torso. Later she will use these shapes to create plaster molds for press molding.I realized that we were really due for a sculpture post here...
View ArticleClay on the Wall: An Introduction to Hanging Ceramic Wall Pieces
If you are interested in taking your ceramic art from the tabletop to the wall, but aren’t quite sure how to do it, you’re probably not alone. There are many different ways to hang ceramic wall art and...
View ArticleJerilyn Virden’s Double Walled Sculpture Process
Jerilyn Virden's forms were inspired by dough bowls and grinding stones that she came across while working on her MFA at Southern Methodist University. She was taken in by these large, rough objects...
View ArticleMaking Delicate Porcelain Sculpture with Porcelain Slip and Flaxed Paper Clay
Helen Gilmour is interested in the relationships between traditional crafts. So she decided to make traditional pottery forms - like teapots and bowls - that look like they are knitted. The result is a...
View ArticleInnovative Petal Kiln Expands the Possibilities of Firing Large Ceramic...
In 2016, the ceramic world lost Nina Hole, the pioneer of “fire sculpture” – large, outdoor ceramic sculpture that was fired in situ as performance pieces. These performances were quite dramatic as...
View ArticleHow to Make Paper Clay
If you've never worked with paper clay, you'll be thrilled with the doors it can open up in your work. Paper clay improves joining capabilities and decreases warping and shrinkage, all the while...
View ArticleUsing Nichrome Wire as a Support in Ceramic Sculpture
Whether you are working on abstract ceramic sculpture or figurative sculpture, sometimes you just need a little support. When this is the case, nichrome wire is a great solution. Lesley Risby would...
View ArticleHow to Make Lightweight Thrown, Altered, and Assembled Ceramic Sculptures
Wouter Dam works on one of his ceramic sculptures. Slow, careful drying is essential if his complex structures are to survive the making process.Looking at Wouter Dam's ribbon-like ceramic sculptures,...
View ArticleFooling the Eye with Nature-Inspired Ceramic Sculpture
Clay is a wonderful material because it can be made to look like just about anything. From Sylvia Hyman’s cardboard boxes of mail to Brett Kern’s “inflatable” dinosaurs, the trompe l’oeil (French for...
View ArticleUsing Ceramic Sculpture to Start a Dialog
Figures/busts from the “Color Theory” exhibition. From left to right: He’s cool but he doesn’t really act black; The Crossroads; The Blue Wall; I can’t let you in the club with that hat bro; How do I...
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