Diana's Birds Fly Into the Present! 2016

 

I have found a family of my favourite students recently. When they graduated from high school, they went forward with their lives, and my fond memories of them grew a bit misty around the edges.

Actually, Patricia found me, on Face Book...I am so glad to reconnect with her and her brothers Bill and Greg.

Recently I posted an album called "Chameleon 2016", and described how my work is changing. Patti messaged that she wished she could have seen my earlier shapes. So, I have made a bird for her. It did not come easily, as my hands would not default to my old shapes. I raku- fired my old birds, and relied on its flashes of colour added by the fire.

Now, I am refining my lines, and creating an elegance to speak for the bird. The glazing is a mystery.  I'll figure that out later. These new birds will not be flashy. They will exhale...

Chameleon One, 2016

Chameleon     (January , 2016)

 

I am back to mindful meditation. Quiet time  in my studio.

I have been looking forward to playing with curves again. Last week, I started an old familiar form, one of my bird forms.

Those who have followed my clay for thirty odd years are very familiar with my birds. I always Smoke or Raku  fired them, enjoying the happy accidents of colour and smoke.

My biggest bird ("Birdsong") was over 3 feet high. I made her in my first sculpture course with Christina McEwen in 1992. She lived cheerfully in my garden  for several years, until a lovely lady decided she could not go home without her. "Thanksgiving" left my nest. 

My tiniest chicks are about 1/2 inch high. Their plump shapes, with tails in the air have trailed behind me  for decades. Last fall I experimented with them, new glazes of colour, and colour, and colour... They too have flown.

Last week I started out with the traditional rough form of a life-size bird. It came easily. BUT, my eye saw new shape in this very familiar form. Working on my Angel, Budform  and Dancer series' has changed my view. Elements of each form are involuntarily combining to create something new, yet old. It always surprises me when I look back at my old work, and see their essence following, creating my own, recognizable style.

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

It is very interesting to be 'Diana' observing 'Diana the artist'.

 

 

Resting Angel June 2015

Resting Angel (June 2015)

 

 

I'd like to share a short photo-history of  "Resting Angel" with you.

 I made her in June 2015, before I started this blog.

 

I have a detailed history of her birth and growth

in a photo album on my face book page (Diana Earle Clay).

 

 

"Stirring Angel" grew out of   "Resting Angel".

 

 

Her development was rewarding. Our process was meditative.

 

 

She now lives with a dear friend of mine,

ensuring that the sun will always shine on our shoulders!

 

 

 

 

 

(photos by Gary Viola)

Stirring Angel Complete

Stirring Angel Finished

October 2015

 

 

 

Stirring Angel and I struggled.

I was rattled by the roofers, she got too hard, her head fell off, and I blanked out on her wing until Victor draped a tendril of Bittersweet Nightshade over her shoulders.

The glazing of 'Stirring' needed to be distinctive, in order to reveal how much energy and resilience she has. I wanted to show growth in organic, but soft colours. 'Stirring' needed to look related to 'Resting'. There needed to be a similarity in their pulse, and skin tones.

 I first glazed 'Stirring' the week after Potter passed away. I was pushing her, not feeling her. The result was aggressive. I walked away from her for several weeks...

When I came back, I was feeling  'our' peaceful resolve. I sprayed on more glaze, with confidence, and she came out of her second firing looking right.

She was the first piece I sold in "Before the Rush" 2015. She now lives with a resilient woman in the home she was destined to live in.

 

 

3 photos by Gary Viola

 

 

photo by DBE

 

Stirring Angel Day 4

 

 

 

 

 These final touches took hours, and were as interesting to watch as glue drying.

How long did it take?

Forty years,                                                   plus                                                           four days, in August, 2015

 

Time to dry, Stirring Angel