I enjoy so much creating porcelain shells so much that, as with everything I enjoy, I lose the sense of time. After all, creation is what makes us human.
I´d like to share a little bit of the process of creating Dancing Airplants porcelain shells.
First, it must be said that I chose to use porcelain as it has a more delicate composition to the shapes. Compared to other ceramics, porcelain is non-porous, white, and translucent. It also means that the texture is more difficult to work with as it has its own memory. What do I mean by memory? The shape keeps its initials forms when getting drier, therefore, the shapes are more difficult to keep.
With my hands and traditional tools, I give shape to the shell. Sometimes I use molds as well. Once the shape is done and gets a bit dry, I start modeling and this is the exciting artistic process. I might use sea shells, sea urchins, and other natural shapes to decorate such seeds or plant leaves.
Once the porcelain shell is done, it needs to get really dry at its own pace.
And finally, the key moment arrives the firing in the kiln. It is a very exciting moment as there are always surprises about what you will get! Since porcelain is alive and is in the kiln where the particularity of each creation will be shown. In the kiln, the porcelain piece undergoes temperatures of up to 1,300ºC for a whole day.
Another key moment in this creative phase is the decoration of the piece with colors or gold bread. But will leave this part for another post.