Artist Statement

My textured tiles were a chance to experiment with making different textured forms.  There wasn't any deep decision making but rather some things I thought would be fun to try.  I chose bark, pebbles, logs, and stalactite patterns for my four tiles.  The most basic was the tree bark which was just a simple imprint while the hardest was the stalactite form both in shape and color.

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The emphasis for all four of these piece is best brought out through the primary use texture with secondary use of color. The texture patterns allow the user's eyes to visualize and interpret each of the chosen themes and have them feel real.  Color brings context and reality for each of the forms that allow the viewer to connect with where they may have seen this type of texture in the real world.

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The main obstacle out of all four of the tiles was getting enough cones close together on the stalactite form.  I had to move from one end of the tile to the other end because there wasn't room to add in additional peaks between other once they were placed.

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Even though the tiles were not very large, each one let me connect to different forms in nature.  I felt like getting better at textures like these would be key in being able to make more elaborate forms down the road like you see in sculpture showing nature scenes like horses or mountains.

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The process was as follows:

  -Decide on four textures to be used

  -Wedge the clay and roll into one large spheres

  -Flatten the sphere on the table using a rolling pin

  -Cut out four ~1.5" squares

  -Apply Textures:

    -Press grip from eraser into the base - Tree Bark Texture

    -Roll spheres out of clay and scratch and slip onto base - Pebbles Texture  

    -Roll coils out of clay and scratch and slip onto base - Logs Texture

    -Roll cones out of clay and scratch and slip onto base - Stalactite Texture

Place in kiln and Bisque-fire

  -Apply iron-oxide and/or under-glaze with brushes for color

  -Glaze fire again to finish hardening

  -Place in kiln and Glaze fire to finish hardening the glaze

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