Friday, August 12, 2016

R&D Evaluation Part 2

Crit time...
 
 
 
Looking at the results, my first thought is that the colors are interesting, maybe even engaging (that's quite a stretch), but they are going to be too overpowering and busy when used to plate desserts. The food risks being lost on the surface.
 
Maybe switch to a subtle play of white on white. For the next round of tests.
 
They are a little heavy. Thinning them out a little, but still leaving the thickness at the rim.
 
The foot is nice, but needs to be lightened and possibly standardized with a cut profile rib.
 
It didn't help that the finished fired works had shrunk down as much as the did. It would probably be wise to do the math next time to arrive at a proper size.
 
The rims pulled in and added an extra degree of concave to the finished forms.
 
Lighten up on slip application.
 
 
Woof Very clunky, like the direction with the design, but elegant it's decidedly not...
 

8 comments:

smartcat said...

What about something along the lines of the tests you showed in your last post! Subtle designs with a glaze that would look great with various foods on it. I think any salad would look amazing on it. Would the glaze do the same thing on a flat surface that it did on the vertical?

carter gillies said...

Joel, I think these are seriously interesting and even great in some respects. I understand all the hesitations you point out in your critique, but I have to admit that one of my challenges has been to accept those things more in my work. Especially the heavy/clunky and overpowering surface design. Neither is my first choice, and i admit to being biased against them, but learning outside that box has proved so important.

My advice is that you don't give up on those aspects, but that you figure out more about what those limits are. Things that are new are almost always challenging, and we interpret them by default from what we've already known to be true. That only makes it harder to understand new truths. Seeing new truths is the challenge here. So keep exploring. Don't backtrack too quickly, but maybe even go deeper, and see what it really means to be clunky or overpowering. From what I can see you are nowhere near those limits yet :)

Good luck! Have fun!

Anonymous said...

"they are going to be too overpowering and busy when used to plate desserts. The food risks being lost on the surface."

Depends on the size of each cake slice . . . :>)

Joel said...

Hey Carter, thank you for writing and adding a few of your thoughts to this. You often leave me chewing on a point as I head back out to the studio.
These plates are for a possible upcoming project and aside from the objections I stated, I'm guilty of making assumptions about the tastes and preferences of a audience that I really know too little about. It's a specific local audience that I'd like to encourage a new appreciation for gift giving of studio ceramics.
I need them to "feel" sensuous and joyful in the hands.
Once the form is dialed in, I'd like to seriously explore the surface.
I have a taste for busy ;)

Joel said...

Mmmmmmm cake...

Linda Starr said...

I like the contrast of the strong colors; wondering about smaller scaled shapes

Joel said...

I'm running a second round of vertical glaze tests this week. The last round of cups were nice, but the glaze application may have been too thick in hindsight.

Hummus Recipes said...

Great blog I enjoyed reeading