Embedded Files
Putting these Jellyfish together was one of the most tedious, time consuming things iv'e ever done. Threading each individual piece together was annoying but worth it. There was a lot to figure out when assembling, like how many knots to make where and when, threading waxed cord through small holes wasn't fun- I had to use tweezers in the end! But once they were put together it was all worth it.
Other than that the other issue came when it was time to actually hang them up. My lovely dad build me a stand so I could hang them all on which was very nice of him. (He told me not to bother buying anything as he would build it and save me money). The smaller jellyfish were easier to hang as they were pretty light- they were still very fiddly and took over and hour to hang them all. But when it came to the 2 large ones, they were much heavier and my white one had already fallen apart once. Because of that, it's hanging lopsided for now and If I had some more time I would re jig how I hung them all.
After assembling my first piece, the pink jellyfish, I came to the realisation that by using the white waxed cord, you could clearly see it and that took away the illusion (not that I was going for a realistic looking jellyfish) of a floating jellyfish. So I tried out some fishing wire which was great because you didn't see it as much but it was so small that all of a sudden the holes I made in the pieces became to big and tying a knot at the end became impossible. This meant i'd have to use the waxed cord for the 'bulk' parts (pictured below in the white jellyfish) while using the fishing wire to mainly hang the jellyfish.
There were some minor issues with the holes too. During glaze firing some of the holes would get blocked up as the glaze ran, or because they weren't cleaned enough before firing. (Shown in the pink jellyfish here). This was a shame as that meant some would be lopsided or not have equal tentacles, however this added on to my point of making every jellyfish different because they are all uniquely different.
The jellyfish all put together and ready to hang
The jellyfish all put together and ready to hang
The 2 larger jellyfishes I made
The 2 larger jellyfishes I made
The smaller individual Jellyfish
The smaller individual Jellyfish
Flick through the photo reel
Flick through the photo reel
Flick through the photo reel
I created this one based on the moon jellyfish I saw at the sea zoo
My 2D little jellies
My 2D little jellies
The oil spill jellyfish came out looking amazing! I just haven't made black tentacles to go with her yet but i'll have time before the competition ends to create more tentacles and maybe another oil spill look jellyfish. I researched, and Jellyfish do get harmed by oil spills in the oceans, some don't but many still get caught up in the tragedy that is an oil spill so this could be something I enter into the human impact category of my competition.
Close up of what the Mother Of Pearl lustre looks like on my jellyfishes.
Close up of what the Mother Of Pearl lustre looks like on my jellyfishes.
The collection all together
The collection all together
Reflection
Reflection
I am really happy with how my little jellyfish came out in the end! It was a lot of hard work and late night firings but everything came together in the end. The glaze colours and lustre worked exactly as I hoped and the extruded little tentacles gave the jellyfish that extra bit of movement. The sounds they make are amazing- I'm sorry I can't add videos on here but i'll link a clip of the sound from my instagram here, please do go view it, the sound is so lovely it's just a shame I can't show it directly here. (If the link doesn't work it's on my instagram highlights under 'jellyfish'). I'm really proud that I completed this project and did something out of my comfort zone, even if I don't get far in the competition I still feel accomplishment.
February 2021 Update: I have entered 2 of my jellyfish into the competition so now it's a waiting game for the results!
Page updated
Report abuse