Sarah Jenkins 9 October 2019

Wednesday 9 October2019, 7:45pm at Polehampton Junior School

Sarah Jenkins (9 October 2019)

 

  • WFP Speaker Notes – Sarah Jenkins Oct 2019 (By Caroline Gatfield)
    Sarah’s vessels are informed by the landscape she sees around her home in North Essex and are therefore ever changing and evolving as she tackles more complex ways of layering porcelain slips and oxides (mainly Iron and Rutile and Cobalt) with a Tin glaze. She works with a limited palette letting the etchings speak for themselves. Decoration is three dimensional telling a story from front to back. Her shapes are becoming more abstracted and therefore more complex to construct.
    In the past Sarah used moulds to make many of her vessels and has a collection of moulds made using a damp sharp sand former with plaster poured carefully over. The sharp sand gives a gritty texture which she prefers. Most of her most recent work is hand-built with slabs and or coils. She also made a collection of textured plaster rolling pins which she still uses in her work.
    Sarah fires in an electric kiln and uses Scarva Black chunky, Scarva Hand build ES40 and Porcelain. Her slips are blended to fit, not sure if they are vitreous but do contain ball clay china clay and a frit – possibly Ferro. Oxides are brushed directly on then sanded or wiped off depending on the layers she wants to create. A typical making process would be:
    Slap out then roll slabs evenly with a rolling pin – dry to leatherhard.
    Cut out box sides back and front using a set square
    Chamfer edges to a 450 angle and scratched with a hacksaw blade to form a key for slip
    Join all with slip (with added vinegar) and a coil inside each join to supply added strength
    Incise design with nails pins metal kidneys Stanley blade or similar, fire to a bisque of 9900 c
    Add slips, tin glaze (mainly on inside) and oxides and fire to 1200+0 c
    Add final porcelain slip rubbing in to the incised marks and rubbing off the surface
    Fire again to 11200 c with and add gold leaf if desired. Gold leaf is applied using a size and soft brush.
    Sarah made a range of tiles which were useful in honing process and colour tones, the Tin glaze needs to be translucent enough to let the colour under to gently show through. 
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