Inspiration & Sketches

Photos

Artist Statement

This project included the creation of two tiles—the first, to carve into with the sgraffito technique; the second, to use as a test tile to try out a glaze. I created two sketches for the first one, one of them is shown above. 

I looked at inspiration for the sgraffito tile, specifically searching for something that would be more of a clean-lined image that would allow me to experiment with different lines and shapes to get familiar with the carving and what effects I could create. I came across lots of images of eyes, which transitioned to fish, and I decided to experiment with fish and the textures of the scales. I used different tools to acheive various thicknesses in the lines. For most of the outlines of the fish bodies, I used a tool with a wire loop to scoop out a thicker line, then I used the needle tool and tools with a small, flat, circle at the head to again scoop out smaller lines. For most of the thin lines, I used the needle tool, like the criss-cross on the tail and detailing around the two eyes. The final product was almost exactly like my sketch, which was satisfying but I was a little disappointed I didn't make any discoveries along the way. 

Though I don't have any particular emotional connection to fish, I was thinking of my mother when I made this tile. I decided on a bright green glaze and I thought the overlapping shapes combined with a color that popped would be interesting as well as something she'd like. I took some inspiration from Scandinavian minimalism. I feel I achieved my goal of experimenting with tools and markings with this tile. 

This project was a really good one since my goal was to discover how differen tools created different lines and textures on clay and I was able to experiment with it. I wish I'd used a different glaze since my original vision was a bright green tile, and I wish I had gone with a chartreuse glaze instead of the avocado one. Other than that I'm very happy with the final product! I like the design and I think it shows up well on the flat tile.