This week Rob Parr came in to the studio to show us his work and tell us about his ceramic journey. I found his talk very interesting as he took us on his journey of graduating then going into work in various ceramic roles and then going back to uni to study a masters.

Below is a selection of his work

For his degree he made a chess set with the pieces all being made individually. I would love to play a game on it.

Later that day rob demonstrated how he makes one of these pieces. First he made a plinth by simply rolling out a slab then building up the sides with coils. Then he fashioned the edges with his finger tips to give detail. Then he coiled the tall base for the bird to sit on. He textured the sides using various basic objects like a hack saw blade, piece of concrete and a broken piece of timber. He then sculpted the bird, which he made look very simple.

Below is the finished piece.

Next I had a go. I can’t make (or draw) anything from memory so I found a photo of my dog to try a copy. With the help from Rob this is my attempt.

It doesn’t resemble my dog but as Rob said it’s very difficult to capture the essence of a pet, I should have just found a random image to try and copy.

I enjoyed making this, using the clay that Rob used was a lot nicer than the reclaimed clay I first attempted to use.

Sculpting is something I might consider doing at some point.