Pod Throb, nature abstraction project, Unconventional Clay, May 2025
The second project of Unconventional Clay was a nature abstraction piece, which involved going on a conservatory field trip to take notes and inspiration back to the studio, combining natural forms in abstract ways. In the interest of time within a very busy schedule, I chose to make the simpler forms of flower pods and vines. This of course still took a lot of effort and time, more than I had bargained for really, but it ended up in an interesting composition that mirrored a previous sculpture, juxtaposing red tendrils against white solids.
I wanted to avoid the colors normally associated with the forms I drew from, especially green, and instead I substituted in a combination of white and red to be more reminiscent of grotesque animal biology than that of plants. I found this to be a somewhat safe pick as I was still figuring out glazes, though I still ran into issues with forgetting underglaze and having to reglaze the piece over a month later in order to get the red hue I had intended. The reglaze did fix this and got the piece into a state I'm now happy with, though there still might be room to add in some other color or pattern element to the bases of the pods.
Closeup of the central pod in the middle of it all.
Full shot.
Above view.
Closeup of one of the tendril ends wrapping around one of the outer pods.
Closeup of a tendril looping around a pod.
Closeup of tendrils weaving in between pods.
Closeup from above between four pods, a pool of red unfocused in between them all.
Closeup of a crevice between two pods, red pooling under looming tendrils and staining the pod walls.
Closeup of a larger pool of red under a splitting tendril.
Another full photo of the piece, slightly more downward.
WIP, previous glaze finish that lacked red underglaze and thus turned out more orange than intended, originally completed in March before I chose to reglaze it at the beginning of May.
WIP, above view closeup. The red glaze worked well when pooled, but without red underglaze underneath the blank terracotta of the tendrils shown through too much.
WIP, closeup of an orange-ish tendril wrapping a pod.
WIP, closeup of an orange-ish tendril looping a pod.
WIP, closeup of red pools through orange-ish tendrils.
WIP, the initial glaze before firing. At the time I didn't know underglaze could still be applied after bisque firing, which I made sure to amend the next time through in May.
WIP, fresh out of the bisque kiln.
WIP, still wet.
WIP, the individual pods before attachment and the tendrils.
Concept sketches for the sculpture. I had originally intended to try adding patterns to the pods that mimicked those on some leaves I found in the conservatory, but I scrapped that idea due to time constraints.
One of the pages of observatory sketches, this one featuring the pods and the vines I was inspired by the most for the forms of this sculpture.
Another page of observatory sketches, this one featuring the patterned leaves I didn't end up referencing in the final piece.
Photo of the large flower pods I was inspired by.
Photo of a large vine I was inspired by.