Looking for Inspiration

I am going to make a tall sculptural vessel for my bedroom as there is a big bald patch in our room. I have been looking for inspiration, so I returned to Karl Blossfeldt, I seem to come back to his stuff quite a lot. I am always drawn to natural forms; however I would like to add a bit more of a contemporary twist to my work. I am aware that nature as a source of inspiration is the oldest card in the pack. I mean what else was there before old Mother Nature herself? I look around at all the amazing ceramics being done, which looks so fresh, and I wonder if my work looks a little stiff. I would like to inject my work with some life, give it something different. I have spent a long time building my technical skills, now I would like to work on the themes that I explore through my work.

I love sinuous curvaceous shapes, and nature does these so well. I am going to start where I know how, making observational drawings and looking at my favourite and most inspiring artists and designers and going through my sketch books and research. Then I will try to develop my designs leading them away from the original drawings and research into something new and original. I am interested in the big bold designs seen on some contemporary paper and wallpaper designs. I would like to develop a chintzy design into the surface of my piece. With this I think about how ceramics and wallpaper are both considered quite domesticated. I think it would be interesting to explore these themes further and look closely at the role of ceramics. There is an assumption that because it is clay it should have a function. A few weeks back I was teaching some year eights clay and when I introduced the topic the students wanted to know what we would be making, they assumed immediately that it would be a bowl or a plate or a vase. I would like to challenge the assumption that all clay work should be functional through my work. The first thing I need to do is stop making vessels!!

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