Terre des Oules

Guess which one of these new vases is NOT a mobius vase?

I love using Nerikomi patterns to make mobius vases, since you see the pattern on both sides and it seems very well suited to this shape.

However I've been making mobius wall sculptures with white clay and a line of color, so I wanted to try the same minimalist look for some of my vases.
What do you think?

As for the answer to my first question: I made the third vase to rest on a ledge and I realized it was not a mobius strip after it was already made it. I liked it so I kept it.

I call these "shelf-hugger" vase, but when I took pictures, I realized you could tilt it on the side and it was balanced as well. Bonus vase, two in one!

These vases will be available at my Holiday markets in December, more information soon.

Work in progress: two wall sculptures each made with 5 mobius strips that are almost done drying and got painted today.
Fingers crossed they make it through both firing without breaking apart 🤞.

I call this a propeller vase: thrown on the wheel and Nerikomi "wings" added later.
I made a couple already and I just love the flow of the wings. The pattern turned out a little brighter than expected, but it balances the white of the porcelain, I think?

Throwback Thursday:
I used to make a lot of clocks
Coincidence or not, I just wrote a new post in my "Art Musings" blog titled "no time for art!"
So many people tell me this, and they're wrong. If you don't have time, you need to find it. The weirdest thing about time is that when you are using it well, it disappears!

Find out more here :
https://www.terredesoules.com/art-musings/no-time-for-art

In my mobius strip clay family, I introduce.... the sponge holder!
Working on a double holder right now, because I usually have two sponges by my sink.
What do you think? Ditch or keep?

A few square (and round) small tiles.
first picture shows my finished magnets. I LOVE them! It's so fun to have a small canvas and try whatever decorating technique you can think of. Which one is your favorite? I can't choose but I like the two blue ones quite a bit. A couple have textures too, but it's hard to tell on the picture.
Second picture is a magnet at different stage of the process just to show how much shrinkage occurs. The picture on lower right is finished piece.
Third pictures is black slip test tiles. Each row is a different white clay and each column is a different black slip made with the same clays. Without much surprise, the first column gave me the smoothest silkiest slip. It's of course the most expensive porcelain of the three 😥😬! The clay underneath doesn't seem to make much of a difference.

Series of Mobius wall sculptures/ shelves
I showed them in a reel, but I took decent pictures and I wanted to share them again, just because I love them.
I am working on other ones now, so many possible combinations! I can't wait to make a set of two or three meant to hang together!
But first I need to get the hang of it!

My latest egg!
I haven't made a lot of them lately since I have been exploring other shapes, but I care about this one because it's the first Nerikomi handbuilt egg that I managed to produce using the plaster mode I made in June or July and that is semi-successful.
I really like the marbled agate look of this egg.

These six Mobius vases found new homes at Corvallis Fall Festival
They were definitely a favorite! You never know what is going to appeal, but this week-end was apparently Mobius-themed!
Even the strange slumpy one found a new home. I am happy its unique weirdness appealed to somebody!
Now I'd better make some more before the two holiday markets I am doing in December. It seems like a long time, but ceramics takes time.
I'll talk more about upcoming markets later, I'll promise.
But first let me recover from this weekend!

Since I put colors in my clay, the glaze is clear and just to make sure the pot is water tight and food safe.
Here, I could just glaze the inside and leave the outside unglazed.
With glaze, the pot is glossy, no glaze makes it matte .
But glaze can smooth imperfections too.
Decision, decision.

Two more weeks before Corvallis Fall Festival !
This year I will be in booth 101 with the Corvallis Art Guild in the center ring
I will be the only ceramist among a bunch of great painters and I am looking forward to our conversations.
Although it might be so busy I won't have time for in depth conversation about the comparative merits of our art forms. Almost a shame, but not quite!
Make sure to turn up! It might even be sunny! 🤞

Back in the studio! Wall sculpture in the making using ceramic Mobius strips.

Various Colored clay trays and plates stacked up.

A few of these were made using the left over clay from the Neriage vases I shared recently.
Basically the clay that was scraped off when I was throwing on the wheel.
You'll recognize the blue and white color scheme; the orange, dark and lime green scheme; as well as the light red and grey-green color combination.
I love colored clay, because sometimes, like in Nerikomi ( for example the small flower tray on the top) the pattern is very deliberate, and other times it's just completely random to create these marbled effect.
Even when you just smash clay together, the moistness of the clay will change the finish on the piece.

Sometimes you're in charge, and sometimes you let the clay make its own magic...

Slumped Nerikomi Rainbow Mobius Vase.
A lot to unpack in this title! If you've been following me, you already know what I am talking about, but don't hesitate to comment if you need some clarifications.
This is my second "slumped" Mobius vase for lack of a better word (shelf-hugger vase? Got a better idea? Please comment!)

It turns out that my new clay shrinks a bit more than my old one, so the opening size that worked in the past is not wide enough for the kind of test tube I normally put in there, but a smaller one works OK, although it has to be angled to stay put.

The problem with rainbows is that when you cut the strip in half and reattach it the other way to create a mobius strip, the colors don't match.
Can you see where I switched it around? It's only visible on the last picture I believe, so it's not too obvious and I can pat myself on the back!

Love this piece, although I need to figure out my new opening size when the clay is wet so my standard test tube fits in.

This vase is different.
I made it as a tribute to my cousin Anne who died last year in a traffic accident.
She was just a few years older than me, and she took me to my first concert (Pink Floyd).
She was never in a bad mood and always had an interesting story to tell.
She is missed deeply.
I wanted to make a piece for her partner and her kids so they can put flowers in it and remember her.
Today would have been her birthday.
I hope she would have liked it and that her family will appreciate it.
Life sucks sometimes and I am aware that ceramics is a poor answer, but at least that's something I can do.

Neriage Vase with Peacock, Tangerine and Chartreuse rings.
I discovered a way to incorporate colored clay that just adds colored rings to your vase instead of creating swirly lines going up the side of the vase, so that's fun.
From the reactions I got when I shared it as a work in progress, this vase seems to hit just the right spot for most people. Is it still true once finished?
I had to stop myself from carving it and find out what it would look like, because sometimes less is more.

A couple of Mobius vases.
They look very similar because I used the same recycled colored clay to create a marbled pattern, but if you look closely you'll see that one test tube stands straight when the other one is more angled.

Carved Neriage vase in green and mango orange.

I laid out the colored clay so that the colors actually interact and overlap each other, and I like it.
Now I need to come up with other ways to disrupt the lines!
The carving could be better, because I started with a tool that was too deep for the thickness of the vase (yes, it went through but I could patch it up!), so there are a couple of places where the grooves are uneven compared to the other lines, but maybe I am the only one who notices?

I love making these type of pieces on the wheel and then carving them, so fingers crossed people like them too and I can make more!

Weaved Nerikomi clay basket.
Honestly I made this piece with scraps of Nerikomi patterns, expecting it to crack and fall apart, but it didn't and I really like it!

Latest batch of eggs and what I learned from them.
1: Colored slip stripes with a little texture. I learned from this egg that I can add colored slip to a bisqued piece. Some flaked off but most of it stayed put.
2: fifth attempt at my "fish egg", this time handbuilt instead of thrown on the wheel and then Nerikomi scales attached. It's all right but I like the look of the one thrown on the wheel better, so I will try again. In the past I had issues with scales cracking or falling off, but I think using my new damp box that solve the problem. I talked about my wonderful damp box on another post, check it out!
3: First attempt at an handbuilt egg using the plaster mold I made.
Obvious issues with the joint where you see the white clay when it should be the same pattern: I added a bunch of clay to smooth the joint, because it was caving in, so I need to plan excess clay at the joint that can be smoothed down.
The other issue is that it cracked in several spots because Nerikomi slabs need to dry slowly and plaster sucks moisture out. A few things I can try: thicker slab, wet plaster mold and take the egg out of the mold earlier.

Patchwork mug.
I am deliriously happy with this mug, more than the piece actually deserves, and here's is why:
For years, I tried to attach strips of Nerikomi patterns to my wheel-thrown pieces and carve them, but in at least one or two places, the attached strips would always (always!) crack.
Recently an *awesome* potter friend gifted me a damp box, and if you're a potter and don't know what it is, look it up and get one ASAP.
A damp box keeps your clay pieces moist.
It seems very simple, but when you attach pieces of clay to a clay vessel, the best way to make sure they play well together is that they're the same clay and equally damp. So I threw my mug, let it dry enough to trim, then I put the pieces of Nerikomi pattern as well as the handle and the mug in the damp box overnight before I attached them together. Then the finished piece spent more time in the damp box before I let it dry sloooowwwly.
See Mom, no cracks!
Mind blown!
I could have saved so much time!
But if someone had told me this years ago, I wouldn't feel as smug as I do now, and that's pretty special....

Expresso cup handbuilt with a Nerikomi pattern I made with my new clay, as well as a little square tray I made to test the new pattern.
Do you notice that the flower pattern on the tray is a lot bigger than the ones on the cup? I made the same Nerikomi roll but I squeezed one to get a smaller flower design.
That's why the petals are more distorted on the expresso cup.
I didn't plan it but I love the cup, even though I wish the rim was more even.
I always find some faults in my pieces 😫.
I made another one which was the yin to this one yang, with white body and Nerikomi handle and bottom with the same pattern. It didn't make it to the finish line, but I'm really grateful this one did. It's cuter!
I mostly made wheel-thrown expresso cups with Nerikomi handles until now, but handbuilt Nerikomi expresso cups are super cute and I will make more.
Too bad they take twice as long!

Close up on this blue and pink Neriage piece.
Neriage means the colored clay is thrown on the wheel. I also carved it, but that's not an obligation.
When I started using colored clay I tried this technique but I was messing up and ended with grey lumps of clay after all the hard work that had gone into making the colored clay in the first place so I concentrated on Nerikomi instead.
Lately I tried it again, and it seems that I am better than I used to be (yay!) and I love the results.
It's a lot more versatile than you'd think depending on how you insert the colored clay into the piece: randomly or in a more organized way.
I also love this shape, and -to my eyes - the carving enhances the technique in a mesmerizing way!

This piece came out of my last firing before I take some time off and go on fun adventures.
It will be available with other really cool pieces when I come back in the Fall.
I have a few markets and events planned then that should be lots of fun. More on this later !
In the meantime, I planned some post in advance to show you my favorite pieces from this last firing so you can get a preview of the pieces that will be coming up to a market or website near you in the Fall, but I will also share what is happening in my life on my stories, including a colored porcelain workshop in Italy in August, so don't miss the updates!

Detailed look at my five strings Mobius strip sculpture.
I dipped the strings in colored liquid clay before I attached them to the sculpture.
When the piece got fired, the strings burned and what is left is an imprint of the strings made of clay.
I figured some would break and that would be part of the sculpture, but they've been sturdier than I thought and all five made it through even though the entire piece did slump during firing.

It looks like some kind of fantasy harp to me, what would you play on it?

Weird treeish three piece sculpture that looks like nothing I usually do.
I am not sure I even like it and I had to glue one "leaf" back.
However, I had the idea for this piece and needed to create it.
Almost every time, even if I don't like the piece I end up with a new idea or technique for a following piece.
Trust your creativity.