"turtle" bottles

I was hoping to finalize the project till the end of september but I realized that, as of this weekend, just one out of third is completed.. Therefore, a bit of disprited, I went into my studio yesterday.. and instead of trying something new, I decided to use some of my former knowledge on surface design which mostly I have learnt in workshops..

In those workshops, not only I learned a lot from the "clay" people that I met, but also I learned more about myself.. In a completely new environment with new people, you have a condensed period of time in which you need to learn and try. This makes you focus more, consider from a different angle, try new ways and push your limits.. I joined 3 workshops so far, in Italy, England and Hungary and each&every one of them has a remarkable impact on my works.. As I have said, not just the topic that I have been taught, but I think whole experience makes the difference. I will write in detail my workshop experiences later, in case some of you might be interested joining one of them...

This weekend, mostly I used techniques that I learnt in Peter Beard's workshop 2 years ago.. we had made tens of test tiles when I was there, but for the first time, I applied them on an actual piece..

I am quite happy with these funny little ones, they are about 15 cm high.. and looking like turtles... don't you agree?

art deco bottle

Last saturday I have completed the bottle I started.. But, I couldn't find time to install the image, because right after it is finished, I set off for Paris, actually for Disneyland!!! we were back on thursday but I am still trying to recover since these 4 days were truly exhausting but full of fun... therefore, with a bit of delay, here it is: No28. Art deco porcelain bottle...

too hot to work

We waited for the summer so long.. and it arrived.. what an arrival!!! for the last few weeks, we are dealing with extremely hot weather here in Istanbul.. unbearable.. it is impossible to do anything.. Every single move should be avoided unless it is utmost necessary! that's why I have dedicated my last weekends not on working clay but leisure.. near to the pool!!!
But yesterday I decided to go back to work even though the temperature was 37°C with 90% humidity.. I summoned up my courage and entered my studio! I kept working with porcelain or I should say I tried to.. I only threw 3 parts of one bottle in whole Sunday.. I threw one part - got out of the studio urgently - looked for somewhere less suffocating - drank something cold as much as possible - rested a bit- went back to studio.. within this cycle, I managed to throw the parts but not to combine them and complete the whole piece..
if I could gain my strength again, I will be back to studio, high possibly on Thursday evening and complete what I started...
so, ...to be continued.

porcelain, at last

I always wanted to work with porcelain.. but I could never dare.. because it is always said that this clay is very difficult to work with, very capricious.. especially when it comes to throwing.. but its pure colour, fine and translucent nature make this material impossible to resist. I admire porcelain pieces which look very fragile, but in fact very strong.
..and last weekend my father brought a piece of porcelain clay from his friend's workshop for me to try..
I have thrown this one ... Here is #27, my little plain porcelain bottle.
it has a buttery texture, a pleasure to touch and definitely a pleasure to throw.. has a deep, warm colour.. candy for the eye.. even only for these reasons, surely it worths to give it a try..
I still have almost 4 kilos left and can keep trying a bit more.. so happy!

1 out of 4 is completed

I have reached the 26th. Here are the latest bottles...on which I will try some surface decoration after the bisque firing.

But #16 is cracked... so from now on, there will be 99 bottles in 100 bottles project!

re-focus

2 slab built and 1 thrown bottles with thrown spouts: this is all I could do last weekend.. I applied red iron oxide on one of them which looks a bit messy at the moment.
I started this project mainly because I want to streghten my skills on surface design.. I thought making dozens of bottles with different surfaces would help.. but I realized that it is again turning into something about form... I found myself searching for different forms and challenging myself on construction methods!

I need to refocus, get back to do some more research and start sketching...

keep on working

It is not easy being a weekend ceramist.. there is always a lot to do in two days.. Last weekend, I had a long list: Do some shopping, tidy up the house, meet with friends, do some more shopping for father's day, visit family and keep working on bottles project!
Besides, the weather was incredibly hot and my studio was like "hamam"..
Nevertheless, even under these hard conditions, I worked till 10:30 pm on sunday night and finished these 6 bottles!!
Their spouts are thrown and bodies are slab built.. slabs have been textured first, then the bottles are constructed with these heavily textured slabs when they were pretty wet...

100 bottles project

this time, I have thrown different spouts and bodies without measuring or even thinking about how they will look like when finished...
then, like a puzzle, I brought them together and made these ones..
they are smaller than the first two bottles.. around 15-20 cm height.. and right after I finished them, I realized that they look gorgeous when they are all together.. so, wouldn't be great if they were, for instance, 100 in total? ..each one is different than the other in some way?
I am still not certain if I could make it (since I am only potter/ceramic artist on weekends and it could take ages) or if it is a good idea (could be not as interesting as it sounds), but I will give it a try..
From now on, this is "100 bottles project".. if I could cope with..

work in progress - thrown & altered #2

I started to work on another thrown & altered project this weekend..
This time, I threw 3 different part seperately and assembled when they are in leather hard stage.. I should admit that I find all these experiments quite entertaining...there is no tension or worry, since I am not after a finished piece.. I accept whatever the outcome..


I applied yellow and black slips which is coloured with stains..
Here is my second test piece...

is it getting better or worse?

work in progress - thrown & altered #1 - slips and oxides are applied

I applied red iron oxide and yellow slip coloured with stain.
this bottle has been formed and decorated when it was pretty wet.. not even leather hard..

work in progress - thrown & altered #1

I'm a bit tired of same techniques and similar surface finishes..I should try something new..
In the last few weeks, I have read some articles and watched videos on ceramics art daily website.. from Robin Hopper, Lana Wilson , Mitch Lions , etc.

Here is my test piece to try what I have learnt.. "extended and altered form" with some "decorating techniques".. it is not the end of the story, I will also try oxides and slips on it..but a promising start: different spout, textured surface, oval shape.. but yes, it is another bottle!