For those who don't speak Dutch, the blog title says '
1 square meter'. It's a new concept that I started up a while ago. I found an
accomplice that is just as enthousiast as I am and we both set to work and hope that it will be a succes. Her name is Annemiek from TwoTreesWorld. She's also a ceramicist and loves anything handmade and special. We felt it was time for something different on the fair/market scene. Instead of trying to take as much as you can, we thought it would be fun to take as little as possible. Just the very best of what you have and spread it out on one square meter. The 'less is more' - principle...
Another reason to keep it small is to give new makers & artists a chance to show the best of what they have without the pressure of having to fill a few meters.
We also hope to welcome people who actually make stuff and show people what they do & how they do it. It's always great to see work processes! We would love to see dialogue and enthousiasm for anything handmade. So, a concept that is
accessible and fun!
To start all of this, I felt I had to open up a Facebook account even though I'm personally not a fan of Facebook. So I made an account under '
1 vierkante meter' and for a few months, I was there entirely incognito. Haha, that was fun!
But yesterday, Annemiek and I deciced it was time to give up our anonimity so if you want to be our friend, don't hesitate to friend us on
Facebook,
blog or
Twitter.
And if you are in the area and interested in taking part in the concept of '1 vierkante meter', don't hesitate to contact us at
eenvierkantemeter@gmail.com to receive an application form.
The event is on
april 22th 2012 in Hasselt, Belgium.
It will be held in a beautiful industrial location and lasts from 10am till 5pm.
See, there is no bottom, its just big enough for the tea light.
And here it's in it's unfired but 'light/hope' mode...
A feeling is never really ready until it's fired and reveals it's pretty white color.
I love how this turned out - might need to make one for myself too...
The making of love is not very hard but applying clay to clay is just a tad bit more tricky then taking away clay and takes time and patience. For the heart, I roll out a very thin slab of clay to cut out the heart. I use a heart cookie cutter but because I find that hart a bit too long, I cut away a piece so that the heart is 'rounder' at the bottom. Then I roughen the place where the heart is placed and the back of the heart and add clay slib so that it's 'glued' together. I finish the edges with a wet paintbrush.
image by Emmanuelle Brisson
image by Emmanuelle Brisson
Free is fun feeling to make although it can be frustrating sometimes. After I have cut the wings via a template, I smooth the edges out with a wooden tool & a wet paintbrush. This takes a while and when I work too slow, the clay dries too quickly. Then it's hard to bend it a bit at the fold and sometimes it cracks which makes me want to scream as that means that I can start all over again. After the wings are totally ready to be put on the feeling, I make scratches on the back of the wings and on the back of the feeling and add some clay slib. Then I stick it together and finish it off with a wet paintbrush.
We have a lime, metal birdhouse in our backyard and it fell down once and we left it on the ground for a while. Since it's metal, of course it got a bit rusty standing in the soil and some soil also ended up in the birdhouse itself. My partner loves spreading birdseeds for our feathered friends so also seeds ended up in there. And look, it's already spring for the birdies! I'm sure they'll love a bit of green in their home. :)
The feeling stress is partly made on the couch and partly made in my studio. For a few evenings, I roll little spikes that I keep in a container. When I have enough, I apply them to the base of the feeling. I start out with holding the feeling upside down and carefully place each spike next to each other in a bit of slib. When I nearly reach the top, the feeling is too heavy and delicate to hold. Then I place it onto my turning table directly onto a kiln shelf. That way I don't have to move the feeling anymore as it's superdelicate once it's finished.
From the bowl, it ends up into a plastic container and I poor water over it so it gets all soggy and soft again.
Of course, in this condition, the clay is too soft so from the container it ends up on a plaster plaque that sucks the water out of the clay. I spread it out with a credit card and then scrape it off again.
When it feels all smooth again, I knead it thoroughly with my hands so that there is no air in between.
And now it's ready to use again. It's a pain to recycle clay as the process takes some time and patience but it always feels great to recycle. :)
It's that time of the year again to send off our New Year's wishes.
