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Porcelain
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Inspiration: After creating a large scale piece (3' x 5') inspired by Pat's fabric quilt and Marty's hand stamped stoneware tiles, Marty and Pat decided to try working with porcelain, giving them a completely different color palette. These porcelain pieces are based on the landscape of Cape Ann—abstract images of granite quarries, water, trees and hills. Their latest project was inspired by this photograph taken on a late afternoon walk at Halibut Point State Park in early December. See Fall Quarry, Quarry Ridge, and Quarry's Edge 1 and 2 in our exhibit of porcelain works. Process: The first step is to create sheets of clay using a slab roller. These slabs are then transferred to sheetrock boards. The stoneware slabs are textured using hand-carved stamps and sliptrailing with liquid clay. For the porcelain landscape tiles, clay is added to the slabs and various objects are used to alter the surface and create texture. Each tile is then hand-cut with a copper frame. In general, 20% more tiles are made than needed to allow for tile warpage. After the tiles are dry, each is carefully numbered on the back to mark its position in the piece. The tiles are bisque fired, then the piece is arranged and digitally photographed to create a record of the proper layout of the piece. The application of glazes is planned by creating a glaze map on tissue paper that overlays the work. After applying layers of various glazes, the tiles are fired in a gas kiln for12-14 hours to 2350 F. in a reduction atmosphere.
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