Developing Skills - Throwing Clay

I have really wanted to integrate ceramics into my practice for a long time but i feel like i need to get better at it before trying to integrate it into my practice. I decided to start where i struggle the most; throwing.





















Throwing clay is really difficult as its a way of using my hands that im completely not used to. Not only that, clay has a lot of variables to begin with, when you slop it onto a moving surface it just makes it ten times harder to deal with.

I have been watching throwing videos online for a long time now, specifically the videos from Ingleton pottery as he throws a lot of simple pots to sell and therefore will demonstrate how to throw an object up to three times within a video which is incredibly beneficial for learning.

However this did not really prepare me. after a bit of time on the wheel, im still finding it difficult to create something that is actually usable, it is either too small or to sloppy. However each time i throw i am learning something new about the position of my hands and the speed and thickness of the clay etc so all of these failed attempts are at least not in vain.

Madrid - Reina Sofía

Because of the exhibition in Barcelona, I made sure to visit an art gallery when I went to Madrid. The Gallery I visited was the Reina Sofía.

This was a really lovely and huge gallery that offered a bit of everything. I was actually quite surprised at the amount of graphic design pieces i found as it is quite common to find a lot of fine art pieces in art museums and so that was a pleasant surprise.

They had a really good exhibition on punk zines from the 70's, It was so cool to see the methods they used to produce zines and see what really was the origin of the zine. This is something i definitely want to try and do more of during second year because i feel like the offer a great sense of freedom.

 Along side the zines there was a lot of really nice graphic design prints

Barcelona - Local Exhibition Opening

There was a gallery space opposite my hostel and one night we noticed there was some sort of exhibition opening going on (because of the free beer and sangria) The name of the space was called La Capella, however i'm not 100% sure what the exhibition was called. Despite this it was really fun to experience an exhibition opening in a different place and a different country. A lot of the people there were travellers like me and it made for a different atmosphere, it felt like people were more curious about what was going on because it was in a different language perhaps. For the most part, people didn't know what was going on because it was in a different language, this made me at least. think more about what the work could be about and really pay more attention to the work because of the language barrier. This has made me want to try and make it to more exhibitions and opening nights when back in Leeds.

Barcelona - Local Culture

Whilst in Barcelona I did a lot of walking which gave me the chance to get a taste of the local culture. As I was doing the summer project whilst I was here I was paying a lot more attention to the artwork throughout the city which just made for an inspiring trip. More than anything it made me realise that you shouldn't limit visual research to the specific works of an artist or to books, you can simply use what is around you.

 I especially loved coming across a little market in the Gothic quarter and seeing old and and antique objects that have come from Barcelona, my favourite being the extensive collection of letter press letters I found.

This just reinforces my love of travelling because of how much it benefits me as a person and as an artist to see and experience different places and cultures,

Barcelona - Antoni Gaudí

During the Summer I visited Barcelona which is home to lots of works by Antoni Gaudi, the most notable being The Sagrada Família. Once I was familiar with Gaudi's modernist style, his influence became recognisable all through Barcelona.

Whilst in Barcelona I went to visit what I think is called La Pedrera and the Sagrada Família,which is still awaiting completion. The Sagrada Família was such an astonishing building to see in person because of how unique it is and completely unlike any other architecture i have ever seen before,

Being from Liverpool and living in Leeds, i'm used to a very different style of building and generally modern urban architecture. The attention to detail throughout the entire building is unparalleled and is probably due to Gaudi's method of building. He would sculpt the entire thing in miniature beforehand rather than sketching, You could see this in the exhibition which in inside/underneath the Sagrada Família.

This way of working encourages me to try and plan physically rather than just planning on paper because it gives a better sense of what the end product will be like. I think this method of planning is applicable in all disciplines when you intend to create a physical product.