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Dragonfly
River
c. 85" x 80
This
installation was done for a former colleague at the Getty Center. Three
design concepts were submitted to her in sketch format. After she chose
a direction, I proceded to make careful measurements of the space and
planned the layout using Adobe Illustrator software to lay out the tile
configuration, leaving the center area for the main image. The main image
area was drawn by hand, then scanned and added into the computer file.
I
output a full size, black and white outline drawing of the center image
area on a large format printer. This drawing was then traced onto plastic.
The plastic was laid down onto a huge slab of clay I assempled on my dining
room table. The design was transfferd onto the clay by tracing over the
plastic, inscibing onto the slab. (I learned this technique from going
to Pat Wehrman’s workshop in San Jose, sponsored by the Orchard Valley
Ceramic Arts Guild) I proceded to carve the design into the slab. When
the design was completed, I had to decide where to make my cuts, knowing
that the grout lines would need to be integral to the overall design.
After the pieces were cut, I let the entire composition dry, continuing
to push the pieces together. The field tiles were made with a cutter,
and there are pressed tiles accenting the field area. I used melted glass
in the centers of the half size tiles. I made a custom die for the trim
pieces around the fireplace opening. All the pieces were made to fit,
I did no cutting on site.
Next time I am going to get someone else to do the installation, it took
over twenty hours and I wore off all the skin on my fingers because I
refused to wear gloves. All in all the job took about 140 hours.
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