Burnt Scene 1 at the Cornucopia Fantasy Drops, check it out here
I’ve been dreaming to have my own ceramic pottery (and art and so many things in general) studio. Unfortunately, a ceramic pottery studio requires a lot of space and safety precautions. Those two things are impossible to have for now. Luckily, while things were getting back to "normal" last summer, I attended a sculpture ceramic pottery workshop at the Aurora Bicentennial Art Center. The sculpture ceramic pottery workshop got me back on track with my sculpting skills. It also rekindled my interest for ceramic pottery. The center has all what a ceramic potter wannabe like me dreams of: organized studio space, all the tools and resources, and kilns! My instructor was very knowledgeable and accommodating, I learned a lot from him.
The glaze swatches at the Aurora Bicentennial Art Center looks delicious.
I couldn’t think what to make for the ceramic pottery workshop. But something has led me to be more curious about ball jointed dolls. I may have been too late for the ball jointed doll craze a few years back. However, the craft gave me the light–it’s one of the perfect medium to realize my ideas. It merges what I have been doing for the past decade and what I’d like to do next.
The ceramic ball jointed doll character ready for bisque firing.
I’ve read several ball jointed doll resources and found out that ceramic or earth clay isn’t the best medium for it. But I’m always open to try new things and know more about the craft and the medium, so I went ahead anyway.
Ceramic ball jointed doll character pieces painted with underglaze matte and cone 10 glazes. Although I used the swatches as color references, I anticipated changes in the color outcome.
My first attempt to create a ceramic ball jointed doll characters wasn't smooth sailing. First, one of the figures, which I called “Inc,” has one of its legs and wing broke even before bisque firing. Then, the glazing colors weren’t I expected them to be due to my misstep in mixing glaze thoroughly. A certain degree of unpredictability in ceramic pottery sets hopes not too high, so I was nervous how it would turn out.
Inc's leg broke off so I had to "glue" them with a glaze.
Burnt was burnt after firing this glaze, eye-makeup inspired from Mad Max: Fury Road's Furiosa
Tooth was the only ceramic ball jointed doll character that was baked and colored just right after coating this glaze.
The frustration didn’t stop there, stringing the parts together is another problem. The pieces were so heavy that wiring needs careful planning. I ended up not using every part to reduce weight and give it a bit of exaggerated proportion than what I intended.
Overall, I’m still satisfied when I saw my baked ceramic ball jointed doll characters come to life.
Follow the three character's adventures and get Tooth and Inc's art prints at Cornucopia here.
Watch behind the scenes string struggles:
