I started designing a new murrini pattern and thought you all might enjoy watching the on going process.
It all starts with a sketch ... this took about 4 hours.
I wanted to have it look like a ribbon falling to the bottom of the vessel. I wanted the color change to be gradual and for the flow of colors to have movement.
Here is the final sketch of the pattern without any color choices. This is the actual size the pattern will be on the finished pieces. All the measurements have been made with allowances for the shrinkage of the Southern Ice Porcelain.
This is the color shift want to achieve, so the next step is to build a murrini loaf with these colors. In order to get this look, the loaf was built from a hundred and fifty slices of colored clay.
Once the loaf is built, I cut a slice and fired it to make sure the colors were correct. This step is crucial since it would be a total waste of time to do all the work in building the murrini, only to find out the colors were off. As it happens, I did have to edit the colored loaf to cut out parts I was not happy with.
During the first week in February I created the large white and colored loaf. Once again I proved to myself that sketching a pattern with paper and pencils is a lot easier than executing the pattern with wet clay, slips and thin slices of color. It got a little crazy for a while!
The final loaf is resting now. It's never a good idea to mess with it right away.
As you can see, the outside looks terrible. I will not know what I have until I see an inside slice of it. Nightmare or lovely ... got to wait.
Today is the day though. After I finish writing this I will head in to my studio to cut into it. Images later ... if it works out!
NEXT DAY ....
Here is the loaf with a slice in front. The pattern looks backwards in the shot but you just have to flip the slice to get right side around.
I will be making some test vessels today to check for design and size.
I roll, cut and shape the slices to a beginning size then lay them over tubes to stiffen up enough to stand by themselves. I like working with the softest slabs I can so they still have movement and life.
I have to build them fairly quickly using a thick slip of Southern Ice.
They are immediately moved to a drying rack where they are covered with a sheet of paper and two layers of plastic. I want them to dry as slowly as possible and since it is winter I have to slow down the effects of a heated studio.
Here are an image of a finished piece, fired to Cone 9 oxidation using controlled cooling.
As these pieces dry, I started to work on a new pattern. I marked the over and under areas for reference.
The two images below will illustrate how to build a pattern in pieces.
Once the pieces are assembled you gently drop it on all sides to work any air out of small pockets. Don't drop it hard enough to knock it out of shape though as you can get rid of small air holes when you roll out the slices.
When your clay loaf is complete, it may look awful from the outside. Just let it rest for a day or so ...then cut off a slice. Hopefully, you will be pleasantly surprised at how good it looks.
If not, go back and find out where you went wrong and make notes for future projects. Use the murrini as is ... your mistake might end up looking better than the original plan.
Here is an image of work made using this pattern.
