I fell in love with these sculptures the moment I
saw them and thought you might like them too.
They are made by Chloe Harford who originally studied Design Crafts at college. I’m
not sure when love blossomed between her and partner Chris Hawkins, but they
met at college where he was a potter.
After completing her course he invited her to learn more about ceramics
in his workshop deep in the heart of the Tamar Valley.
Chloe explains how it all began for her. ‘I
started with making a few small ceramic brooches & necklaces soon after and
slowly the animals developed to where I am now with the very popular puffins and
seals.’
She has been making animal sculpture ever since and,
inspired the local wildlife found on the land surrounding the workshop set in acres
of woodland on the banks of the Tamar, they are perfect raku replicas.
‘The Tamar Valley has a long mining history and the workshop itself
stands close to one of these mines. Tin, copper and tungsten were once mined
here and the whole valley is rich in
minerals, some of which are used for glazes and colour.’
Chloe starts by sculpting a new piece from which
she makes a mould for reproduction, She casts each mould by hand and pieces the
sculptures together sometimes altering the sculptures as she goes to give
differing poses.
Each piece is hand finished, bisc fired and glazed
before being raku fired. During the raku process the work is rapidly fired to 1,000° C. It is then removed from the kiln whilst still
glowing and placed in a container of sawdust which instantly combusts. The shock of the air causes the glaze to
craze at which point it is covered and left to cool. The smoke from the burning sawdust penetrates
the crazing giving the distinctive black lines.
‘By altering the
sculptures I can create different poses making many of the sculptures truly
unique. Some, like the puffins and penguin,
are decorated with coloured slips and the fishing puffin has individual fish
made by hand and not from a mould so every puffin has a totally unique group of
sand eels for his dinner.’
Visit her website to find out where you can buy her
work in galleries around the country.
And don't forget we have our own range of wildlife hats for your little 'uns to look just as cute in. You can find them here.
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