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Thursday 24 September 2015

The Bottle

I have been dying to post these photos for a while now and here they finally are! At Christmas time, a friend gave me a tiny little jar of chutney in a preserving jar. I have always loved the lid contraptions on these, so decided to dismantle it to try to work out how I could combine it with my own work. After doing some research and gathering some ideas and influences I had a clear idea in my head of the piece I wanted to make, and here it is!





I'm really enjoying the concept of mixing different materials together and intend to show this more in my current work. As the ceramic has to be fired to over 1000°C this is too hot for the other elements to survive. Also the clay body shrinks by about 10% through the firing process so when it came to constructing all the bits together I had my fingers and toes crossed that they would all fit together, so, when they did I was thrilled! I wasn't sure if the ball was going to be able to move, but it can spin around on its axes, which also really pleases me! The bottle is probably my favorite ceramic piece I have made to date. 

It wasn't until weeks in to its creation when I was locking my bike up that I glanced down at my keys and noticed the keyring on them was very similar to what I had been making! Something clicked... I had been carrying this around with me the whole time... could this mini bottle have been subliminaly in my mind the whole time?!