Assignment: Reliquary

Overall objective:

My reliquary was to symbolically hold aspects of my academic interests. The overall form of the hand represents the humanities, specifically anthropology. I am also studying Russian which inspired the under glaze pattern and the iconographic figurines for the recesses in the tips of the fingers. The printed decals used on the base came from a book called Learning Russian through Pictures.

The base was built with hard slabs about 1/3 of an inch thick. The hand and wrist were coil built with a slab at the base of the hand to help support the structure. Once the piece got dryer, I cut out the recesses in the fingers and openings for the draws on the palm. Since the clay was already a little hard, the textures I tried to apply inside the recesses were not as visible as I was hoping for.

Application:

Most of the exterior of the piece is smooth and lacks any distinguishing textures. This is so I could apply the under glaze pencil and print-out-decals more easily. In the recesses in the fingers there is texture, but it is hard to see due to its location inside of the piece.

On the hand I used under glaze pencil to draw a Russian textile pattern I found on the Internet. I then sprayed on two light layers of Sudee Yellow. I would have done three, but I didn’t want to cover up the pencil and I was looking for a more fleshy effect which I got by letting the red clay show through the glaze. The base is covered in white majolica so that the black decals stand out and adhere to the clay. The figurines are a stain/glaze combination from a classmate's test tile which gives them an old metallic look.

Results:

Even though I wanted to have some of the red clay show through the Suede Yellow glaze, I think I should have applied it more evenly. It almost looks like a clear glossy glaze in some parts. I was also sloppy with my application of the majolica to the base; it came out uneven and there's not a clean line separating the wrist from the base.