Stacks: Blue and Amber, Paint and Paper

I've been busy in the studio this summer, but as I sat down to chronicle my progress, I looked back to see when I last published a blog post about my works in progress and realized that I haven't tracked a bunch of my recent (or less recent) work here at all.

two sections of this sculpture, nearly ready to stack

The last time I wrote about my big work was before the Labor Day weekend show last summer. And that work wasn't even finished when I posted. I did finish that work, and may have shared images on social media, around the time of the show. 

painting in process, summer 2025 (RIP Cali)

I know I photographed the tallest piece during the show, because I had help getting it set up. I also had an audience of friends when a gust of wind blew into the photo backdrop, which blew into the sculpture, knocking the top of it off the sculpture and onto the sidewalk where it smashed. 

Disappointing photographic results from shortly before the backdrop crash

I had to take a little break because of how much I liked the piece and how upset I was that it broke. (I was also mad at myself because I had taken out the internal support that would have prevented disaster.) 

cracked top section, awaiting repair

I later repaired it and it now has putty and an interior support helping prevent similar accidents in the future. It is also helps that I keep it inside, away from weather and the risk of wind-borne paper backdrops.

close up of the section needing epoxy, paint, and paper repair

The irony is that this piece was unusual, compared to my other work, and had taken me a long time to finish, because it was already broken before I started adding color. As I started building these stacks (there were more in progress that summer), I found that they were cracking at an unusually high rate. 

the finished sculpture stack drying before firing

Because of the size constraints of my kiln, this stack was built in three pieces. My kiln has an interior space of about 25" in heights, so I had no way to fire a sculpture that is taller than I am (I estimate it is about 5'5", but I'm too lazy to go find a tape measure). Of course it was a bit taller before firing, since clay shrinks from wet to dry and during firings.

top and bottom sections in the kiln, ready to fire

Instead, I built the "stack" in three sections with galleries inside to help secure each piece the one below it. The width of the bottom edge is nearly as wide as the interior of my kiln, and the height of each section, including the gallery, is less than 26" wet. The first part of engineering these pieces went well, but my clay wasn't up to the task.

crack in the bottom section after bisque firing

The increased size and/or weight of the stacked clay was too much for this clay body, leading to cracking in the bottom edge of the piece. Usually I fire several times to achieve my preferred surfaces, starting with a bisque firing, followed by a firing after the first layers of underglaze, then one more firing for the second layers of underglaze and any glaze. The last firing is usually just a bit hotter than the first two. 

starting the acrylic paint layer (maybe I should have just dry brushed the whole thing and saved a zillion hours)

However, bringing the clay or ceramic up above 1800 degrees stresses the material. That's usually not a problem, but the base of this stack already had a weak point and I didn't want to risk the crack getting worse from repeated firings. Instead, I made two adjustments. For this piece, I decided to use a "cold finish" meaning I wouldn't fire it. And for future stacks, I bought several different types of clay to build test pieces to see what clay I could use to build big without cracking.

all those little gaps in the paint because of the background texture

The clay testing is another story for another day, but to finish this piece, I used paint and paper in place of underglaze and glaze. Since I am so accustomed to both glaze and underglaze materials and my own particular techniques for highlighting textures, I had to ask my painting instructor friends for advice on what paints to use to achieve the results I wanted. 

first layer of gouache in the background

Upon their advice, I ended up using both acrylic and gouache for the paint. I coated the whole piece with blue acrylic paint. It was tricker than I anticipated to get the paint into the background textures of the sprigged surface. 

different gouache colors on different sprig shapes

The acrylic dries quickly and doesn't wash away with water, just like the fired layers of underglaze I usually start with. Next I added gouache over the top of the acrylic with the idea that it would wipe away just like the unfired layer of underglaze. 

gouache layer wiped (on the left) and not yet wiped (on the right)

I hadn't worked with gouache before, so I wasn't sure what to expect or if it would work well. I ended up bying a large kit with 56 colors, but only about an ounce of each. I'm happy with the results of using so many colors, but it was also super annoying to wipe away all these different colors.

after wiping, starting to apply paper

For some reason wiping away the gouache is messier than wiping away the underglaze, at least it felt messieer, maybe because the paint didn't wash out or settle as quickly in the water as the underglaze does.

I planned to cut the paper to shape, but the curved surface made it tough to fit

I have used mulberry paper layers in other sculpture, so using handmade paper here made good sense. I bought the paper in Seattle before choosing the gouache colors, so the beautiful contrast of the amber paper with purple and blue paints was a bit of luck. This particular paper has bits of bark mixed into the pulp which I also love.

I ended up adding two layers of paper in smaller pieces to fully fill the space, and because one layer was slightly transparent

I'm really happy with this piece, despite the hidden crack inside. It's been sitting in our living room since last summer and I don't plan to sell it because I love it so much. I do, however, plan to show it at Larson Gallery in January at the art faculty exhibition. 

sketch made this spring, planning for a show of tall pieces

For the faculty show, I was originally hoping to have a room full of pieces taller than me, though that's a bit of a tall order (pun intended). I probably need a bit more time to reach quite the level of size and quantity than I envisioned, especially if each piece is going to be a lot more complicated than the ones in my sketched plan.

the piece in my studio, Labor day 2025

Since I started building this piece in summer 2024, I have tested attachments and galleries, clay bodies, surface decorating techniques, shaping, and surface textures. Periodically I tell myself I am allowed some time to experiment, then I get excited about what I can make and how soon. I now know I'll have lots of large work at the faculty show, but I don't think I'll be quite ready for an immersive environment of works towering over the average gallery visitor.

the piece (and it's summer 2026 friends) in my living room