"BALTHAZAR" Shroud© 2003 - Grand Junction, Colorado
BRAIN WAVES:*MEDIA EXPLORATIONS Why Clay? I began study of claywork in sculpture and ceramics
as part of a course in art fundamentals early in my college training.
The medium was direct and responsive for my purposes right from the outset.
Where my approach to design was informal, neither abstract nor figurative,
the material itself motivated form. I was accustomed to a similar evolution process in my draftsmanship.
Like with drawing, ideas in clay were evolved by and through
the search for form structures. A sculptural symbolism took root.
The three dimensional mode of expression invited two dimensional richness as well.
This expansive potential best suited my literary inclinations that would soon merge with
writing as a subtext. Creative Writing added the explicit content for drama to the implicit dance of physicality clay techniques required. Before long I was defining the crux of a multi-discipline design for ceramics as art theater. Many phases of this are illustrated in this web publication.
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To EXPLORE the convergence of CERAMIC ART FORMS
and DANCE DESIGN THEATRE I have researched various different clay types;
including porcelains, colored and textured bodies, stoneware and raku. However, most
routinely I settle for the convenience of a white low-fire mixture with no grog.
A most sensitive modeling agent, it allows for the purest color, opaque or transparant, since
the composition is uncontaminated with tinting elements.
More outstanding properties of this
clay are maximum flexibity combined with the durability for large and small scale works. It is versitile for detailing,
textural surface forms, and, I emphasize again, the color possibilities, which are limitless.
I suppose the color opportunities were what induced me to stick to clayworking as I have.
And, it is a fact, working in low-fire glaze color, led me to painting, on paper and
eventually, oil on canvas. Clay still holds its own strong place in my vocabulary,
while the rest of my skills grow out of its practices. Claywork serves as the
path of stepping stones along an enduring idea development in story and characteriztion. Once an idea is worked out initially in clay, it will see many other
variations. Likewise, once a passage was uncovered in writing or sketching, it was likely to
be put to the test in clay rendering, appropriate seeming or not. Clay became very handy for
my artistic purposes indeed. Further, I discovered early on that here was a portable technique for me. I could find ways to
make what I needed to make, just about anywhere. The peripatetic quality of my life, demanded
that and it continued as something I could do well conveniently.
With