#framing

it took me awhile to get used to considering and planning out the rim of a piece while I was sketching. oftentimes I would forget about it, and once I was finished carving the central image I’d suddenly realize the piece needed a frame to feel complete. sometimes it just doesn’t look right without something on the rim! this piece definitely falls into that category.

once it was carved it just felt too open without a frame

I really like decorating the rim with little things that relate to the subject of the piece. it might be my favourite kind of framing

(the violets relate to the pigeons because the sapphic flag is pink with violets, and this is a portrait of my pigeons, who are lesbians lol)

sometimes the framing design escapes the confines of the rim lol, despite my plans. the gum blossoms just really wanted more space in this thylacine piece

framing a design works on tiles too of course, but the raised rim is more fun imo

(both of the above tiles are from pretty early on in my sgraffito experiments, so the photos are unfortunately very bad 😬 I hadn't yet learned to take nice pictures)

sometimes a frame can act a bit like a stylized background for the subject, like these trees

or a more distant set of trees to indicate a forest

or I can use the rim's design more like a closer look at the environment around the subject, their immediate surroundings; the rabbits surrounded by thorns, the jackdaw surrounded by juniper

it's also interesting to bring the carving of the background of the piece out onto the rim when it’s a different colour, like in the (above) jackdaw plate, and the (below) red winged blackbird plate. it can show the subtle background carving in a more visible way and kind of tie the design together

sometimes a simple directional pattern is the way to go. I did this a lot in 2023 especially for some reason?

I've really grown to love carving imperfect patterns, and I find it relaxing to just kind of go with it and not worry about perfect spacing or lines

it’s really an exercise in frustration to try to make a pattern exact when it’s being carved on a hand built piece of pottery that is already an imperfect shape.

I’ve never been particularly intent on being exact with my art tbh (though I do admire that quality in other artists)

I am happy with a more relaxed method lol

this one below was done really roughly and I enjoy the way some of the underglaze remained after I scratched most of it off. it follows the shape of the piece really nicely, because I let my carving tool just followed the shape of the rim without much guidance from my hand lol

sometimes I experiment with using glaze to add a little something to the rims

and sometimes, the frame is just the perfect place to put a few words