This ceramic bowl is about 15” x 4”
This is what it looks like inside. So difficult to photograph bowls, I find.
The bowl is press moulded and I have made a couple of bowls using the same plaster mould. Here is one I wrote about earlier http://annakeiller.wordpress.com/2013/01/27/orange-she-said-the-finals/
Find more at http://annakeiller.com/portfolio/bowls/
During the last few days I have been finishing off a recent body cast commission. I first wrote a post about it a few days ago here. The client wanted a smoke fired sculpture of herself to present to her husband as a gift on their anniversary. She asked for grey, brown and green hues and I have been experimenting to get it right.
The first ceramic torso was glazed with a matte white brush-on glaze from Botz with a little bit of manganese oxide added. I then smoke fired it in my trusty dustbins.
This torso was also glazed with a matte white glaze, but I added copper as well as manganese oxide. It is smoke fired.
The final torso is glazed with a transparent, matte glaze with the tiniest amount of copper and manganese oxide. I love the way the smoke has decorated the surface.
I wonder which torso she will choose.
The ceramic torsos are based on a plaster body cast I made during her first visit to my studio. This is how it is done.
To see more of my work, please go to my website
‘Boy for a Day’ smoke fired sculpture 10” x 5”
Inhabiting the land of magic and fairy tales; I spend my days in the studio creating sculptures of people and figures I meet during my dreams and shamanic journeys.
This is the Frog who turned into a Boy for a Day.
Pheasant God 12” x 5”, smoke fired and glazed sculpture.
I may glaze the Pheasant’s eyes. Not sure yet, so I’ll live with it for a while.
Dreaming Boy 12”x5”, smoke fired sculpture
King Mongkut (Rama IV) is still venerated as a God in Thailand. In the west he became famous as the all singing and all dancing King of Siam in ‘The King and I’.
A while ago I spent an evening with a Thai lady, Grace, who had recently moved to Hastings. On her house altar I noticed a postcard of King Mongkut’s contemporary, Queen Victoria, in between the flowers and incense. 
Grace told me about how she was once walking along the sea front when she came across this statue of Queen Victoria. The sculpture spoke to her, and gave her some advise about where she should go to meet her husband to be. Grace needed to get married in order to stay in England, so she followed Queen Vic’s advise and everything went to plan. Grace has now decided that Queen Victoria is a Goddess.
And who am I to argue otherwise.
This is how I’m more used to seeing her, though.
Again, I am constantly amazed by how smoothly reality can twist and turn itself into whatever shape we need it to be…Queen Vic; a Dumpy, Dead Despot with a Bollard on her Head or a Benevolent Living Goddess – take your pick.
More House Gods at www.annakeiller.com
From the plaster cast torso of the client…
To the glazed ceramic torso. It is deliberately under glazed because I want to smoke fire it.
…and into the dustbin it goes
…along with some sawdust and wood shavings; this is beautiful oak.
And…Pooof! I love this bit!
This morning, I removed the lid to see what remained
And now for the clean up…She had a few Fat Birds in for company.
If you would like to commission a torso for yourself or a loved one, please go here for more information http://annakeiller.com/commissions/
Dawn Penn at her best….
This video does cheer me up, somewhat.
These little jewels glow….
…in the snow
…in my garden. I just hope they’ll like it indoors
They have certainly cheered me up. I hope you’ll like them, too.
O.K so I am fed up! I’m usually in shorts and t-shirts this time of year.
But just look at the state of my Skittle Cat, fresh in from the garden! Wrong. Just plane wrong.
I am really pleased to let you know that some of my work is now available at Cuckoo-Cuckoo , a new gallery for contemporary art in Hastings Old Town.
Cuckoo-cuckoo showcases jewellery, ceramics and paintings as well as quirky greeting cards and limited edition prints.
If you have ever been tempted to have a ceramic torso made, then you may be interested to know that life cast commissions will be 10% off for a limited period if you order them through the gallery!
Edward Gorey was an American cartoonist who specialized in dark humorous pencil drawings illustrating the plight of the Forgotten Edwardian Murderesses, the Fateful Lozenge, Gashlycrumb Tinies or the Unstrung Harp; dark, brooding and ultimately very silly and funny. I suppose he inspired me to make a series of very deep and meaningless wall plaques.
This is one of them; ‘Glyptodont’ a smoke fired ceramic wall plaque measuring 14” x 10”.
‘Antigropelos’, smoke fired wall plaque, 10” x 9”
‘Hit me, Baby’ 8” x 6” This wall plaque is for Britney Spears…
You can find more of my work at www.annakeiller.com
Here is what Wikipedia has to say about Edward Gorey
