dinsdag 30 juli 2013

The four cardinal directions

This is a little book I recently made. It is a report about my project Woodman's Journey.
In this project 'Woodman's Journey' I studied (and got inspired by) historical ceramics from the four cardinal directions. With this background, I worked on a series of ceramic sculptures.
These sculptures are the (fictional) story of a globe-trotter ("The Woodman" which stands for the wood that was used to firing kilns for centuries), who brings  souvenirs from his journey.
It was intended that I show a specific part of the ceramic spectrum. Usually ceramic techniques that have my interest, and it is partly based on my archaeological interest and love for detail and decoration.
I researched ancient glazes and especially for this project I developed new glazes in collaboration with the glaze technician at Struktuur 68 ceramic studio in The Hague.
Some of the ceramics previously shown at this blog are part of the project.
The project is supported by STROOM Den Haag.
www.stroom.nl



donderdag 25 juli 2013

Die Berchtwalder Bartmann ist fertig

Heute: wichtige Neuigkeiten. Die Berchtwalder Bartmann ist fertig!
It came out of the kiln a few weeks ago, and I am very happy with the result.

For more information see my previous post about the making of the Berchtwalder Bartmann.






















zaterdag 13 juli 2013

Dodo van Jahangir

Carving in clay or porcelain is my latest passion.
The first time I did this was in Jingdezhen, China in 2010.
See picture below: the 'Smoking skulls vase'.
Recently I carved the 'Dodo van Jahangir' (Jahangir's Dodo) box below and now I am carving vases made by ceramic artist and potter Tineke van Gils.


The 'Dodo van Jahangir' was inspired by the story of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir who had a living Dodo in his personal menagerie. A painting of Jahangir's Dodo was made by Ustad Mansur in the early 17th century.


Ustad Mansur was the first artist to paint both the Siberian Crane and possibly the Dodo. A Dodo was brought to Jahangir's court via Portuguese controlled Goa and a painting of it is found in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg and although unsigned has been thought to be the work of Mansur or a contemporary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ustad_Mansur


 Nur-ud-din Mohammad Salim, known by his imperial name Jahangir,(30 August 1569-28 October 1627) was the fourth Mughal Emperor who ruled from 1605 until his death in 1627.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehangir





































































The Circus has set up tents again

I have build up my sculpture 'Afterwar Delight' again. For the 6th time now!
This time in the far north of The Netherlands, in the beautiful village of Oldeberkoop, for the art route 'Open stal' (Open Stable): Het landschap in mijn hoofd (The landscape in my head).
The sculpture stands in the garden in front of the beautiful hotel Lunia.
Thanks to Peter Hiemstra and Hélène Smit for the invitation.
And many thanks to Bastiaan de Boer for assistance during the construction and my dad for transport.
1 day lugging (including 6 hours in the car), more than 8 hours public transport, two days assembling, liters Polymer Sealant, stone glue, and many tyraps...


Open Stal 2013 Het landschap in mijn hoofd.
From Saturday July 13 till Sunday August 11 2013.
http://www.openstal.nl





































































donderdag 4 juli 2013

Berchtwalder Bartmann: ready to be fired

I have spent many hours painting my Berchtwalder Bartmann jug the past three weeks. 
The design of the Jug is based on Bartmann jugs, a type of decorated stoneware that was manufactured in Europe throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, especially in the Cologne region in what is today western Germany. Bartmann means "bearded man", because of the bearded face mask appearing on the lower neck of the vessel. The English name for these jugs is 'Bellarmine jug', based on Cardinal Robert Bellarmine who lived around the year 1600 and was a fierce opponent of Protestantism,  so it might have been that the bearded face was a caricature of this man. Although the original Bartmann jugs were often glazed with a brownish salt glaze, I choose to use the Majolica technique in order to emphasize the details. It is ready to be fired now.