Studio practice

 Cabinet practice  

When thinking about my project aims I knew I needed to create a cabinet but I was not quite sure how to make it and what to make it out of. I was originally thinking about a wooden cabinet but I just felt it to be a very typical medium to use, I had a think and came up with the idea of ceramic cabinets. When I came up with this idea I immediately knew that was the route I wanted to go down, for one reason I really like working with clay but I also felt it to be a quite whimsical idea, something that would fit with my idea of value and curiosity really well. So I was sure this was the idea I wanted to do but there was also a lot of practical things to work out when creating them. How to make them structurally ok. How would I attach them to the wall without damaging them. How big could they actually be. Firing times. So with all these things to work out I knew it was best to make a practice cabinet first. 

When creating the practice piece I knew I wanted different compartments in the shelf and curved edges to really bring home that curious, whimsical feel. The little feet were just a fun add on as I wasn’t sure how to attach it to the wall, however that question is now solved. 

With my proper cabinets I will definitely focus on smooth lines in the cabinet to give it a more professional feel, making sure the cabinets are even and I’ll work from a hand drawn stencil for consistency. These cabinets will be glazed in a rutile colour, which is a natural white beige with dark flecks, I’ve chosen this glaze as I think my gold leaved objects will really shine against the natural colour. 

Today the cabinet came out the kiln for the last time, I set it up with some of the objects to get a proper sense of the full idea and one of the 3rd years Chris who focuses on photography took these amazing photos below.