WORKING WITH CLAY

I was struggling with working 3D and  though I'd try my hand at clay. I thought I could get it to look like knit by using my wire knits to create a knitted imprint in my work, similar to the work of claire gage but almost reversed.

Claire Gage Mugs

I started cutting clay into various rectangles, and using the wire to make an imprint of either garter or stocking stitch on the blocks.

I wasn't sure how I felt about it while it was still wet as I was unable to move the pieces around. However I already felt they were more interesting than the knitted piece as at this stage they were interchangeable. The city scene had the potential to be changed, enabling it to show the bustle of city life.

When they had dried I looked into how to finish them. I tried covering them in varnish, ink, water colour and acrylic and decided that ink worked best with the clay. Showing the pattern well and being the easiest to work with.

From left to right: Plain, Ink,
Clear Varnish, Water colour, Acrylic.

My Finished Clay City

I quite like how it has turned out and the overall rigidity of the piece. However I don't think it gets across the feel of knit across and also the choice of mine to use black seems harsh in comparison to the other colours.