Some of the best art happens through sheer happenstance. Or at least through a long held intention which suddenly comes to fruition.
Such is the case of the above creation, impressed in stoneware clay from the bark of an old wisteria, lopped down in Mike’s garden when Lance was there helping with some much needed pruning.
Lance:
“I have always had a fascination with texture, particularly that of tree bark. For a long time I wanted to create something from the texture of tree bark, or at least something that resembled it, in a medium such as plaster of paris, which I was working with a fair bit back then.“
“I had discussed this with Mike a few years back and some ideas came up as to how this could be achieved. Purely by chance, when I saw the beautiful texture of the deep scars into the wisteria bark after cutting it down, I felt that this had the potential to make this project a reality. And what a better place for it to happen, right next to Mike’s studio where all the material needed was ready to be used!”
Consequently (after the gardening) Lance took a clay impression of the bark, pressed deep to get as much of the texture as possible. From this, Mike created a plaster mould so it could be used again. Mike did the first firing on the clay impression for Lance, who then applied black oxide and a blue crystalline glaze ready for Mike to high fire the stoneware piece. The resulting piece far surpassed anything that either had envisioned.
Alongside being a wonderful realisation of a long held project idea, by coincidence it was noticed how much the piece resonated with the current Earthwaves investigations into landscape and water. When laid flat, the peaks and dips of the texture appear as mountains and valleys in miniature, the blue of the glaze signifying lakes and rivers. An accidental landscape had been created.
Lance:
“I was amazed at how beautifully the piece turned out, way beyond my expectations, and it happened at the right time, coinciding with the landscape work we are pursuing at the moment. It just goes to show that sometimes patience is involved with these ideas – they should never be discarded, because you never know… at some point they may just become a reality”.
