Bubbly Seascape Reliquary

First of all, WHAT IS A RELIQUARY?!!!?!?!?!??!

According to the Free Dictionary by Farlax:

rel·i·quar·y (rl-kwr)

n. pl. rel·i·quar·ies

A receptacle, such as a coffer or shrine, for keeping or displaying sacred relics.

The object I chose was a small piece of coral from a year I spent in Hawaii that I hold near and dear to my heart. This small item is what I based my entire concept on. A bubble, I think has an amazing volume to it and I decided this would be the perfect vessel in my project. On of the challenges was to create a space large enough for 20 test tiles to sit; a bubble is the perfect object to manipulate because they come in tons of sizes and shapes! Check out this crazy video! (watching in HD is the best)

To add interest and character I added 2 different types of coral around the base of the work along with thin blades of seaweed, rippling and swaying in the water and around the bubble(s). I was determined to create a piece that was interesting in the round and I used these additions along with some "baby" bubbles to keep my viewers interested and investigating the entire reliquary.

How To Build the ________ :

First step in the process is to prepare your clay so it's ready to do exactly what you want it too. As we all learn clay takes experience to get an understanding of what it will and will not do at certain moistures, along with rewetting or letting your clay dry out a little. practice and experience is definitely the best way to gain knowledge about how clay moves and adjusts. I like my clay a little more wet than not, because A) it's a process to rewet your clay & B) you can always let clay dry out a little while you work in other areas.

The Base and Hidden Box

For the base and small drawer I rolled out slabs about 1/4 inch thick. I cut out a curvy rhombus shape out and kept it moist in plastic that way I' still be able to attach pieces to it. The box was made out of hard slabs (stiffer clay). I cut out 4 walls since i would be using the base as the bottom and the top would be covered by the bubble. I pressed the back of a wooden tool I have in rows spaced out, and went back through lining it up so it had an alternating pattern that created a sweet fishy scale effect.

Once I had the entire effect on all four sides, I cut out a small box to use as the face of my drawer so that the pattern would match up perfectly. Using that small square I cut out another a tad bigger to make sure the drawer couldn't come completely out. And the I eye-balled it to make sur the drawer would fit completely with the back and front attached to cut out the side pieces. Scoring and slipping I attached all the pieces, building the drawer into the the box. Next, I scored and slipped the box to the base and I was good to go!

The Big Ole' Bubble

To make the bubble portion I stuck with a coil pot. By spraying down the canvas like I mentioned earlier I kept my coils nice and moist which aided in really smoothing the surface and joining the layers together. The coils I rolled out were had about a 1/2 inch diameter and would be anywhere from 12 inches to 18 inches long depending on how much clay I grabbed. To fluxuate the shape and size up the pot I placed my coils further outside or inside of each other and also took advantage of how the clay moved with i compressed the coils. Using a serraded rib I'd make upward strokes in one direction across about 3 Inches of built up coils, and then go back over the entire area in a more diagnal direction. I started on the inside of the pot - not really for aesthetics, but for insurance that it was structuraly sound - and kept my hand on the outside to help compress as well as shape the pot. After, I went over the textured area with a metal rib in a million directions, and repeated this for the outside. Once I began gaining height i used a heat gun to help stiffen the clay so it could support the weight and the pull of gravity. I tried stuffing it with newpaper for a while, but as I anticipated, I learned this wasn't a good solution because it maintained the wetness inside. Using the heat gun i had to proceed with caution because evenness is a must to avoid cracking which was a difficult job as the shape of the opening would shrink or grow.

When this thing finally made it to the top, I just coiled for as far as physically possible and with about a 2 inch wide hole at the top, I diagonally cut the lid out and placed it on a piece of egg-carton to maintain its shape. I attached a little cap to it and added some more trailing bubbles on top to create a handle!

The Coral

The coral pieces are actually way more simple than they appear. I began by rolling out some cubby coils and kind of pounding them lightly on the table to fatten up the ends. Next, I used the end of my metal needle tool to create a dimple in the top, or on the sides.

While I handled the clay wasn't afraid of leaving dents of imprints in it because I needed it to feel organic. I used the pointed end of the tool to add a coral texture to the craters and a few other areas of the tubular coral. My piece of coral was super textured and had a lot of grains of sand smashed into those tiny holes and I felt like it gave it a lot of character.

Of course underwater, coral wouldn't have sand shoved in these tiny holes because it was probably forced there by waves clobbering it consistently against the shore. ANYWAY. Here's a shot of the real coral so you can compare it to the clay coral. :]

The "flare" coral, as I call it, was super easy too. Basically you pick up a blob or coral and pinch together small amounts while pulling it upwards and twisting at the same time. I got this idea from Jen in my class, she used it to create the waves in her projects. When these pieces are pinched, the edges tend to crack and when they did, I just went back over them with my finger to smooth it back over.

The clay for both types of coral was fairly moist, so to attach I scored the surface I was attaching it to and brushed a tiny amount of water on the clay and kinda wriggled the pieces into place. Sometimes I just kinda jammed a hunk of coral onto the side and built the flare coral that way so I could have more precision and maintain the shape i wanted, because attaching those pieces caused deformities that i wasn't particularly fond of.

The Seaweed and Other Finishing Touches

The seaweed is probably my favorite part of the entire piece. I really love the flow and softness it offers to such a large pot. To make the seaweed, I rolled out a fairly thin slab and cut some seaweed-y shaped blades. I let them set for about 30 minutes on their sides so I could bend them into the perfect shapes. I was really excited about bring the free floating quality of movement to the clay seaweed, the same way water does to living seaweed. Once those began to harden i went back and used a mini ribbon carving tool to create the vein down the middle that you find in plant life.

To attach the seaweed, I waited until they were at a fairly hard state to keep the shape. I modeled the pieces where I wanted them to go and also marked where exactly I needed to score. I used a thick slip because I wanted to avoid adding too much moisture to these delicate pieces. I was determined in keeping the viewer interested from 360 degrees so adding these naturally trailing bubbles was the perfect touch. My favorites were the ones trapped beneath a piece of seaweed. I felt like those bad boys were so tiny but did so much for the big bubble. To make these, I did exactly what you think I did, rolled up Coco Puff sized balled and attached them using a thick slip and scoring.

And that's how it's done! Stay tuned for some insight to glazes: Test tiles, choices, and insight into what glazes make up this aquatic wonderland!