Boot the bugger out!

On my recent travels I heard that slip cast was not allowed at a local guild shop. You can use commercial clay, glazes and stains, stamps, texture tools,  slump and hump moulds, trimming contraptions, include little Chinese made sticks and doo dads as accessories but ya can't slip cast. Oh and Andrew's  favourite you can take a hosta leaf and impress it into a slab clay and call it dinnerware.  Hmmm, I'm bewildered!
I've been taking a break from the wheel and having a ball slip casting.
I see the Queen of Social Media Craft Marketing Ayumie Horie is showing a video of her bowls being Ram pressed. Ayumie is so well known for the narratives she puts on her work. I remember having her for a workshop at Sheridan and she sold every one of her cups for $125 to STUDENTS!
Nothing but applause from my corner.
So my narrative is torture,  slip and wood fire. Does that count???? I think it does! I'm making some pink, and blue slip cast vases with sculptural additions,  a crackle slip, shino glazed and wood fired. Does that add up to a personal touch more so than a Hosta leaf plate? The Hosta leaf plate is welcome at the Guild shop but slipcase is  not.
I remember an Ontario potter was Ram pressing his work but he didn't want anyone to know so he hired a guy to press during the night. He made 3 different size moulds of items so some would think  they aren't the same size so they must be handmade. He got exposed by the potters and kicked out of the big craft show in Toronto. You can shit the fans but not the players. Potters know pots. It's a hard climb up the ladder and and an easy fall off!
So with my slip casting I leave the seams to show process. I am celebrating the slip casting process. Not trying to fool anyone. Boot the bugger out!
I could even live with potters using styrofoam meat trays for slab plate moulds if they would actually do something original other than lay a piece of clay in there and impress it with a Queen's Anne's lace. I'm really easy to please. Just show me some originality.
vases for cheapskates- one flower required. 

If you're wondering- yep it's slip cast. 

Comments

Linda Starr said…
one person's trash is another person's treasure
smartcat said…
I almost wrote that slip casting from commercial molds could be banned, then I started thinking about some terrific work that has been done using commercial molds as a starting point.
Do painters have to stretch and prime their own canvases to make valid paintings?
I love styrofoam trays. They make a good surface for majolica painting where less is definitely not more
Jacquie Blondin said…
Making is making! Casting is challenging in its own way. It allows you to make and see many options that you might not otherwise see.
Anonymous said…
Great sculptors have always cast their work in bronze, and it is displayed in the greatest museum collections. So why can't a potter slip cast, and have their work shown in a local
guild?
Anonymous said…
Lead the revolution against these flunkies and tin plated bureaucrats and we'll show up will our slip cast creations held high!
Anonymous said…
I tried the styrofoam meat tray thing for a while, it gets really boring fast. Only beginner ceramic students should be playing with them. As for slip casting, it's a process, however the work you make can be simple production ware or some of the most interesting and creative work out there, and your work is definitely unique and visually interesting.

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