My time in the studio this week has been disjointed. When no particular deadline or goal looms, it can be this way. I spent time with friends, worked on non-clay projects and delved into the studio here and there. When creativity is a blank slate, it can be scary. What shall I make? What do I want to make? What do customers want me to make? All these questions have multiple answers, so creative decision-making can be hard. For me, the best solution is to dive in and just fool around.
I’ve been working out a new design for a berry bowl. I like the lattice base I’ve developed. I criss-cross strips of clay about 1/4 inch wide for the base. At first, I used tools I had in the studio (a needle tool and ruler) to make the strips. I didn’t like the results..
So I created my own tool that can easily slice through the clay and create the exact-sized strip I need. I used two nails and a piece of cork. It works perfectly! Now I need to figure out how to make an adjustable version of this to cut out a variety of widths!
Now that the lattice design has been tackled, I worked on the bottom foot of the bowl and the overall functionality of the design. In my mind, the bowl will be used to wash and store a variety of berries. Additional randomly placed holes will provide air flow to keep the berries at perfect ripeness as they are stored. My latest version features square-shaped cut-outs to provide this function. I like how it looks too. What do you think? Am I getting closer? Click on photo to send me your thoughts!