I am coming to you with a different makes post today. My pottery makes.
I went to a pottery class in the last year with my sister. It is not a typical class with scheduled plan and timetable. We found Bosiljka Bahat who worked her whole life with pottery and now runs private pottery lessons at her studio. Private means that she works with one or two people per class so that worked great for my sister and me.
Danas ću pisati o malo drugačijim hobiju – lončarenju.
U nazad godinu dana išla sam na tečaj lončarenja sa sestrom. To nije bio tipični tečaj s rasporedom i programom. Naišli smo na Bosiljku Bahat koja je cijeli svoj život radila u lončarenju, a sada vodi privatne sate u svojem studiju. Privatno znači da su sati za jednu do dvoje osobe što je meni i sestri savršeno odgovaralo.
When we started I had no idea what to make. First time we went there we had a meet and great day to meet and for Bosiljka to get to know us to see what we would like to do. She had some kind of a big scarf over her outfit and the scarf was decorated with a single clay button. So of course I instantly had an ephiphany and buttons it was. My sister ended up doing a vase.
Kada smo započeli tečaj nisam imala ideju što izraditi. Prvi sat smo došli na upoznavanje kako bi se upoznali i kako bi Bosiljka vidjela što želimo raditi. Nosila je nekakav veliki šal koji je na jednom mjestu bio ukrašen jednim glinenim gumbom i tada je sve sjelo na svoje mjesto. Odlučila sam raditi gumbe. Sestra se odlučila raditi vazu.
Buttons are small and they look like a quick make but it takes time to have them finished because you need to:
Gumbi su mali i izgledaju kao nešto što se može brzo izraditi, ali potrebno je vremena da bi ih završili jer trebate:
Then…
Onda….
And that is only part of the job.
I to je samo dio posla.
***
It takes time to prepare the clay, cut it out to right size, sand, paint, glaze, wait for it to dry and bake for them to be ready for use. Especially when you are doing it for the first time. I made several designs and some of them I already used for garments. Usually I am a wooden button kind of gal but when I have my own me made buttons I reach for them to make the garment fully ‘mine’. And the feeling is just that much better when you get to say thank you, I made it. All of it.
I used the white and blue set of buttons for my Erin skirt from the Sew Over It City Break Capsule wardrobe e-book as part of my personal capsule wardrobe challenge but I will write more about this in another post. Another version of the similar button design but in a different colourway will end up on my Flint shorts soon that I am making out of this weird shade of green linen.
Potrebno je dosta vremena da se pripremi glina, izreže u odgovarajuću veličinu, pobrusi, pofarba, glazira, posuši i ispeče da bi gumbi bili spremni za upotrebu. Posebno kada to sve radite prvi put. Napravila sam nekoliko dizajna i neke sam do sad već i iskoristila. Inače sam najslabija na drvene gumbe ali kada imam svoje vlastite gumbe ipak posežem za njima da bi neki odjevni predmet u potpunosti bio ‘moj’. I osjećaj je utoliko bolji kada kada možete reći hvala, to sam sama napravila. Sve to.
Plavo bijeli set za iskoristila za Erin skirt od Sew Over it iz njihove online knjige City Break Capsule wardrobe. To je bio dio mojeg osobnog izazova za izradu kapsularne garderobe, ali o tome ću detaljnije pisati u nekom drugom postu. Drugačija verzija sličnog dizajna će uskoro završiti na kratkim Flint hlačama koje radim u ovoj čudnoj zelenoj nijansi lana.
In the second month of the class I made three quick makes. These were modelled on some templates so took lees time than they would if they were modelled by hand. First two are a pot and a plate made as a matching set. I painted them with Angoba paint on the outside with no glazing and with glazing colour on the inside (or top side). The plate is in our dinning area holding fruits and the pot is in my sewing area holding all the threads.
U drugom mjesecu tečaja sam izradila tri brža projekta. Brži su jer su izrađeni po predlošku, a ne ručno. Prva dva su bili posuda i tanjur koji su izrađeni kao komplet. Obojila sam ih angoba bojama bez glaziranja s donje strane, a s glazirnom bojom s gornje strane. Tanjur držim u blagovaoni za voće, a posudu pored šivaće mašine sa svim koncima.
The third make was a Christmas gift for my boyfriend. I decided to make him a beer mug painted with some music reference. Technically he asked me to do it for him, but let’s not fuss over the details. As there was not much time Bosiljka gave me a template of a mug she made earlier and had left over. So all I needed to do was to paint it. It is sort of a cheat for a Christmas present but it was the only way to get it done in time. I painted the mug in white and drew some typical Led Zeppelin details on it like zeppelin form the Mothership greatest hits album. This is not maybe the best one that symbolises them but was the easiest to draw on a mug. I also added the band’s “personal symbols” as they appear on the ‘Led Zeppelin IV’ album sleeve. At first I skipped that option as I thought it would be too tricky to do it without ending up with 4 black flecks but using the thinnest of brushes made it work. For a final kick I put the band name on the handle and I like that detail the most. On the bottom of the handle there is a slight dent in the mug design so I thought a detail like guitar pick would be fun. I realised I need to point out that one to people for them to go a-ha, but I like it. And boyfriend likes it so everybody wins.
Treća stvar koju sam izradila je božićni poklon za dečka. Odlučila sa napraviti kriglu za pivo s nekom muzičkom poveznicom. Tehnički me tražio da mu to napravim, ali pustimo detalje. Bosiljka mi je dala predložak krigle koji je imala u radioni od ranijeg projekta. To je varanje kada se radi o božićnom poklonu, ali je to bio jedini način kako bi stigla na vrijeme imati gotovu kriglu. Obojila sam kriglu u bijelo i iscrtala detalje s nekoliko Led Zeppelin naslovnica albuma. Odabrala sam cepelin s Mothership best of albuma, koji možda nije najbolji odabir među njihovim opusom ali je svakako bio najlakši za nacrtati na kriglu. Nacrtala sam i ‘osobne simbole’ članova benda koji se nalaze na albumu ‘Led Zeppelin IV’. Isprva sam ih preskočila jer sam mislila da ću završiti s četiri crne fleke, ali najtanji mogući kist čini sve mogućim. Za završni detalj sam na ručku krigle napisala ime benda i taj detalj mi se najviše sviđa. Ispod ručke se kao detalj dizajna krigle nalazi malo udubljenje pa sam odlučila tu iz fore nacrtati crnu trzalicu. Taj detalj uvijek moram objasniti ljudima da bi shvatili što je tu pjesnik htio reći, ali meni se sviđa. I dečku se sviđa pa je ovo bio uspješan poklon.
In the third round I went for the vase. I searched Instagram for ideas and came to the class with several options but when you go to an artist for lessons you always hear this answer: „this is too regular and you can get that kind of a jar in any supermarket. We are going to make something more unique.“ Well, I could not agree more as a sewist. Although basics sewing is a big one for me I also like something nobody else has in my wardrobe – and on my shelves! So I went for a drastic design to have a beautiful vase for all those flowers I do not have. But now I can because I have a vase for them. Ta-da!
U trećem mjesecu sam se odlučila izraditi vizu. Pretražila sam Instagram za inspiraciju i došla na sat s par ideja. Ali kada radite s umjetnicom onda na takav prijedlog dobijete ovakav odgovor: „to je previše jednostavno i tako nešto možeš kupiti u bilo kojem supermarketu. Mi ćemo napraviti nešto jedinstveno.“ S tim se u potpunosti slažem kao netko tko šiva svoju robu. Iako volim šivati osnovne odjevne predmete također volim imati u ormaru nešto što nitko drugi nema – pa tako isto i na policama! Iz tog razloga sam se odlučila za drastični dizajn vaze za svo cvijeće koje nemam. Ali sada mogu imati jer imam vazu. Ta-da!
The vase is hand modelled (not on a wheel) and that took some time to make. I like that because it clears my mind and puts me in the right place while it is happening. The same as with sewing. You have to be in the moment. When the vase was made I had to decide on the colours. I had no idea what to do but went for a surprise element in the end. On the outside the vase is grey and glazed with a matt glazing but on the inside the vase is ‘painted’ with a colour glazing. It is fun to glaze it like that since you do not do it with a brush. You pour the glazing in and then pour it slowly out by tilting the vase and turning it while covering the whole surface with it. I am sure this can be better explained but I am lacking the vocabulary in this area even in Croatian so you will have to forgive me.
Vaza je ručno modelirana (ne na kolu) i zbog toga je modeliranje duže trajalo. To mi se sviđa jer kod modeliranja ispraznim glavu i koncentriram se na to što radim. Isto kao i kod šivanja. Morate biti prisutni u trenutku. Kada sam izmodelirala vazu trebala sam se odlučiti za boju. Nisam imala ideju ali sam na kraju sam se odlučila za element iznenađenja. Vaza je izvana siva i glazirana mat glazurom, a iznutra je pofarbana glazurnom bojom. Glaziranje glazurnom bojom je zabavno jer pri farbanju ne koristite kist. Unutrašnjost se farba tako da u vazu ulijete glazurnu boju, nagnete vazu i polagano izlijevate glazuru van, a pri tome vazu okrećete i prekrivate cijelu površinu glazurom.
The glaze colours as different colour before and after baking. This made it hard for me to imagine what I would get in the end. Bellow I have put the before and after pictures together so you can see what I am talking about. Pink becomes deep blue, what? But it does.
Glazirna boja je drugačije boje prije i poslije pečenja. Zbog toga mi je bilo teže zamisliti što ću na kraju dobiti kao gotov proizvod. Ispod su slike prije i poslije pečenja da možete vidjeti o čemu pričam. Roza postane tamno plava, što? Ali postane.
I love how all hobbies I have somehow go hand in hand with my sewing even without me planning it. How I used the pot to hold my threads for example, or of course, all the buttons!
Bellow I have added more photos of my sister’s makes and some in progress shots.
Sviđa mi se kako svi hobiji koje ima nekako idu ruku pod ruku sa šivanjem. Kako je posuda koju sam izradila idealna za držanje konaca i naravno svi gumbi koje imam spremne za ručno šivanje!
Ispod sam stavila još slika sestrinih uradaka i neke slike iz radione.
Thanks for reading!
Hvala na čitanju!
Ana