As the narrative of this project was the beach, I used pebbles to experiment with clay whether that was creating press moulds to create clay pebbles or burnishing using pebbles.
Burnishing Clay
I made this piece out of terracotta clay and created multiple curves and over hanging pieces so that I could experiment with smaller pebbles to see whether burnishing would work in harder to reach areas. I found that the pebbles work better on drier clay and that sometimes it creates a textured surface amongst the other parts of the piece that are smooth and shiny on the surface. What I liked about working on this piece is that although it took a long amount of time, it was interesting to feel the different pebbles in my hand while burnishing the piece and see what pebbles worked better on what parts of the piece e.g. on the rounded bump a flatter pebble worked better and was easier to use.
These range of clay pebbles are from three different press moulds.
1. Fired clay pebbles from a mould without notches
2. Fired clay pebbles
3. Non fired clay pebbles with sand
4. Burnished non fired clay pebbles
5. Mix of burnished and not burnished non fired clay pebbles
When making the clay pebbles with the press mould I found that sometimes I had to be careful of the slip and the two pieces falling apart as they were still drying and were quite fragile. I also needed to be careful because they were so small I had to lightly hold them with my finger other wise my finger print would rub off on the clay. I used clay modelling tools to take away the small ridge that tended to form from the clay and clay slip during the process.
I took some non fired clay pebbles to the beach when I was doing research. I was able to take photos of these clay pieces amongst the beach and see how the light reflected against the pebbles. This was to see how the clay pebbles can look in its natural habitat and blend in with other pebbles and sand. As my narrative was the beach I looked at erosion on Mumbles Beach and how the council has set up a coastal projection project to put up new sea walls. I wanted the smaller pebbles to symbolise the erosion of rocks along the beach and how water erosion can be dangerous if coastal preventions are not put in place.
I also photoshopped a fired pebble and a burnished pebble into this glass bottle piece on the beach because I liked the way the clay contrasted with the class and wanted to see what the other clay pebbles could've looked like with them. As I was using Photoshop I discovered more tools that I hadn't used before that became useful when editing these clay pieces into the photo and replacing the original clay piece.