Snapshots

ALIEN OBJECTS

by

WORKING CLASS HANDS

New Termite Piece

I’m delighted and thrilled to welcome another addition to the Termite family! It’s smashing to see a familiar face and he will be much loved of course, what with him being the cutest and all!

This white clay is best for sculpting because it is very soft and malleable. Not the best for threading though! Trying to sew the worms through the holes with this stuff was like trying to play pool with a rope, or have sex while rotten-eyed drunk! It was like knitting fog, I tell thee! Of the thirteen coils you can see on the front, there were at least fifty on the waste pile! All buzzin’ now however!

The rear side is so messy that it would take a perfectionist to even try and tidy it up. It’s best accepting the messiness as a design in and of itself.

And as for me, well, you know, I’m just spinning along on this wheel of life like everyone else, unable to get off, pause it for breath, or speed the damn thing up. Still learning from the same old mistakes, still shouting at pigeons, and still feeling occasionally hopeful despite being vaguely dissatisfied but uncertain why. Ya heard. Over and out. Roger that. Yup. Yippee. Hooray. Laters.

Termite Monastery & All the Same

TERMITE MONASTERY

Termite Monastery took maybe 2.5 hours. To remake, it would take less than 1 hour. It’s the first piece this year. Writer’s Block is a myth compared to Potter’s Block. It doesn’t even come close. There has to be a certain frame of mind involved before being prepared to shape something respectable from a lump of clay, especially hands only with no extruder involved (extruders make clay worms of varying thicknesses which can be wrapped or weaved into interesting shapes). As is common, there was a point when it was nearly scrapped and scrunched up to start again, but anything is salvageable because it’s a trial and error process. The clay does exactly what you want. A.D

DB TINK: Sample of latest song (bottom). The keyboard is running out of voices. What we have here is two versions of the same track, separated by 5 years and a better unit. Play old one first (top), but watch your ears don't pop. It was never DB Tink's purpose to create perfectly sounding tunes - nor harsh and screechy either though, ha! He only recorded stuff any old crap way so as not to forget the melody. He's saving them for when he has the right mike, and a belting machine. Give him a studio, and he’ll give you the world.

A Keyboard and Personal PC computer are 2 heavy contenders for desert island objects. What would you wish for if you were stranded on a desert island for all eternity: pool table, packed larder, expresso maker, doll house, toilet roll, go kart, the complete and unabridged commentaries of every test cricket match ever played as an audio book, a life size bronze cast of Laurence Llewelyn Bowen......or a better genie?

Other Termite Fortresses

from left to right in above (bottom) picture:

Termite Den

Termite House

Termite Hive

Termite Totem

Termite Shuttle

Trademark 'threaded lace' effect

THE CERAMIC DEVISION

...fake it till ya make it...

Temporary Glazes

Make it, Paint it, Cook it

Here are 2 of 5 recent Termite Fortresses. Although Termite Fortress is the generic line name, this pair would be categorised as Termite Fortress Hive (left), and Termite Fortress Shuttle (right). In the larger scheme of things, when they link in with upcoming fiction, they are actual large population places, not ugly ornaments.

The colours are temporary crackerjack brown and buttercup majolica glazes. MAYCO discontinued their gold but fortunately a German company called BOTZ do a replacement and in the nearest suppliers, PotClays of Stoke, I personally hand-picked the next 3 glazes that will hopefully carry The Ceramic Devision forward. Thanks to Creative Possibilities. Cheers Julie!

There have been breakages and explosions lately, but also an insightful visit to a Potter's Barn and a new technique on how to pattern plates, so all is fair in love and war. The next news will likely be about the remaining 3 TFs, one or two plates in the pipeline, and maybe a different golden grape. Or perhaps not. It might be sod the blog and go back to school.