Playing with Clay

Recently I'd signed Jeff and me up for another clay-related night class. Last January, we took our very first pottery class and I really enjoyed working with the clay. I was keen to take another pottery-type class this fall and I found several courses offered through the Port Moody Arts Centre. The one that caught my eye in particular is a bas-relief tile class. There's something about tiles. I dunno what it is, but I'm attracted by the thought of making my own. So I eagerly signed both Jeff and myself up. (Jeff's such a good sport)

Last Tuesday was our second class. The pics below depict my second project which is a panorama scene sectioned over four tiles. You may recognize the chosen scene from the photo I took last Sunday depicted in my previous post. The two shots below are showing the very early stages of the work. In preparation for this project, I "simplified" the image in Photoshop by applying a stylize filter. Next, I sectioned the image into four parts (one for each tile), sized each section to 6x6 inches and printed them out.

When I arrived at the class, I prepared the clay and pressed out four half-inch thick tiles. I then placed the printed images on top of each tile, and with a pin tool, traced the contours of the image into the clay. To further delineate the lines, I used a rubber sculpting tool to press into the clay more deeply.

The next step will be to carve into and build up the forms on the tile. Stay tuned! :)

** I also have an earlier project on the go from the first class... I created a single 12x12 inch tile, but I won't show it off just yet as it's slated to be a gift. ;)