Mastering Hand Building Techniques at Wendy Lawrence's Workshop 2025 part four

Day Two - Sculpture Two

Preparing the Surface

Similar to sculpture one, the surface was prepared with the cheese grater tool and the round headed tool for larger lumps and bumps. This was repeated on both sides and the edges were also worked on with the flatter ended tool (bottom right) to create a more defined shape

Carving

This photograph is not my piece but Lynn's, she is making a sundial but the process is identical to the process employed for sculpture two

This scupture is essentially a series of holes. First of all a series of shallow holes is carved in over all of the sculpture, with the majority being towards the base. This is repeated on both sides.

Unlike sculpture one, there is no concern re breaking through the clay, indeed this is a desirable outcome.

There is also a lot less consideration before carving. Certainly, I took a few minutes to consider where the holes were to be and the ideal depth but there was also a significant element of starting and then seeing what the clay suggested as I continuted carving.

I was attemting to have holes connected to holes, both on one side only and also through the clay to the other side.

I was very pleased with the end result, it was extremely satisfying to carve and I am excited to see how the glazing process will enhance the depth and the shadows created by the holes.