Pitcher Plants Plans

my pitcher plant sculpture and the live inspiration

I recently acquired a hanging pitcher plant for my studio. I've always liked the form of these plants. In fact I made sculptures based on this form back in graduate school.

throwing the pitcher plant form

  

I've been thinking about a couple of different pitcher plant based sculptures this summer and I finally had the time to try one of them out. I threw the basic shape on the wheel, then altered it with coils and ribs.

pitcher plant forms drying off the wheel

My plan is for the pitcher plant forms to hang down from a central base like the live plants hang from their basket. I removed the spokes from a bike wheel rim and plan to bend them to be the stalks or stems of the ceramic plants.

   

ceramic base and bike hub with spokes

I made about seven of these pitcher plant forms, but on one I forgot which way the stem is supposed to go, so it comes out of the front instead of the back. I also threw the pieces in one day without thinking as far ahead as I needed to, so all seven are roughly the same size. I probably should have some smaller pitcher plants for the finished sculpture.

pitcher plant in progress with spoke

As my daughter kept pointing out, I might also make some that are more closed on the top like those in my studio, though she might be noticing the ones that seem to be dying.

pitcher plants in progress

I didn't think a great deal about the interiors of these plants, though they are open. In previous iterations of this form, I had things coming out of the interior, but with these I stayed closer to the original plant form (if not the original surface).

bisque fired pitchers