How would you like to have a top creative director tell you all about what she looks for in a top-notch home decor pitch? All this week Margo Tantau is sharing a peek at some of the finishing techniques showcased in our upcoming class ‘MATS: Creating Collections for Home Décor’, and giving you daily prompts to get your creative juices flowing. Next up is CERAMICS.
This is another ancient element that comes from the earth. One of the main ceramic making centers in China is called Dehua. It’s a fascinating area to visit, tucked deep in the mountains. They’ve been making ceramics there, especially porcelain, for over 2,000 years. Every product is hand touched and handmade to some extent. Clay vessels are one of the earliest forms of decorative and functional art on record. There are myriad ways that you can express yourself with and take your art to ceramics.
The finishing technique we want to share with you today is… Pattern in the clay body
A piece can be sculpted with pattern as a part of the design. It can be embossed or debossed, raised or impressed into the piece. How the glaze flows in each example gives its own unique voice to each design. Also, each technique means another firing, another pass through the kiln. This method gives a whole lot of look and perceived value, but only usually has one color of glaze, so is cost effective as well!
The raised design here adds dimension and interest:
joss and main
The impressed design causes the glaze to pool and look darker in some areas. Also this glaze is more translucent so whiter areas occur where the pattern is raised and the glaze is thinner. Beautiful effects!
asentia
The glaze falls away from the raised areas, and pools more darkly in the lower areas.
Beth Sherman
The texture and the glaze combine to make a really interesting finish on these faux bois mugs.
Patch
The plates below are high-end products due to the materials used. The clay body is a darker gritty clay, and there is a white thick milky glaze over the top. This creates a luscious signature finish. These five plate shapes are well thought out and very interesting. Again, only one color of glaze makes this a simpler process.
John Darian for Astier de Vilette
Your #homedecsecrets creative exercise today is:
Either:
(1) Go out and about and find examples of this finishing technique all around you
(2) Sketch a simple plate or bowl shape, draw a pattern on it and then use shading to give the impression of three dimensions. Open your mind to all the possibilities!
Share your discoveries on Instagram using #homedecsecrets (and make sure you’re following us @makeartthatsells )
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Want a piece of the $60 Billion Home Decor industry?
What is home décor? It’s all the gorgeous and/or functional items in your house. It’s a booming market that needs tons of art, with over $60 billion in annual sales. Its massive growth is due in part to the popularity of home design TV shows, Pinterest, and Instagram, and stylish online retailers like One Kings Lane and Dot&Bo.
Art directors NEED your great art!
Our next live e-course, Make Art That Sells: Creating Collections for Home Décor starts May 16 and teaches you everything you need to know to create killer presentations with your art. Registration is open and we look forward to seeing your gorgeous designs.
This will be the last time we will be offering this course this year! Don’t miss out, sign up here.
