Dynastes Hercules in clay!

Oh, this project has been active in my head for quite a while now... And now finally during the past weeks I have put myself to work... and these are a couple of pictures of the result.

This is my Dynastes Hercules... If you look this up in Google, you'll notice it is a kind of beetle. Quite a ferocious looking one, as a matter of fact! I saw a pictore of one made in bronze in Bristol, last year when I went to Cardiff with my sister to watch the Wales vs. All Blacks rugby game...

Surprising how you go for a rugby game and you meet an idea for ceramics! Nevertheless, this is the true story. I took a picture of the creature (left) and instantaneously fell in love with the bug!

It's so massive and so impressive looking that it gave me the idea of creating it in clay. As you all should know I throw... So everything I make is basically round at the beginning, so how on earth could you throw a creature like that in a wheel?

That is just the whole challenge... And the more I looked at the creature, the more I found round shapes of its body. The head is thrown in the shape of a sharp and high pointed vase, which is then cut with a wire and shaped to form its head.

The tongue or inner part of his head is also thrown and then cut and folded in and further shaped to form this massive jaw. This part is then inserted in the head and put together using the traditional methods.

The back end of the creature is also thrown and then partly shaped and two parts were cut away to let the legs pass through. The back is stuck to the head after the legs are fitted.

The legs are pulled from a piece of clay using a lot of water, just like pulling a handle for a jug or a mug. It is shaped with water and my hands. The right thickness and shape is important. They are then bent in the right angle and shaped before letting it stiffen slightly till it's leatherhard. Then they are fitted to the body parts and the whole animal is then put on a wooden stand.

The next day I can add details to the legs and shape them further. Using carving tools, pieces of clay, and the traditional techniques to fix clay together I managed to create impressive looking legs for the creature. Now it is actually in a slow drying process, as all parts have different volumes. It is very important that the whole creature dries slowly to make sure no cracks can appear. The body is quite heavy and thick comparing to the legs so this will take more time to dry. I've put it in an old refrigerator so the humidity can be stable. Opening the door a couple of hours per day lets the moist out and the bug will dry slowly.

Only when it'll be totally dry, I will be able to put it in the kiln for the first 'bisque' firing...

In the mean time I have plenty of time to try out various colours for the creature... It will most probably be a very dark blue, or black with a blue hint... Very shiny. But I just might do it's back in another colour. As you can see from some info I got on the internet, it's back is usually a brown colour...

So not sure now how I will finish my Dynastes Hercules!

It's a lot of work and extremely fragile untill it gets in the kiln... But I'm sure it will be worth all the trouble! Patience and a lot of time, that's the only thing you need!

more to follow...!

Comments

[elsje]

goe gedaan zelle! nu nog bakken en glazuren he ;c)

[Virginie]

Wow! That's a fabulous idea you got, and you turned that beetle in clay very cleverly! I hope I'll get to see the result one day!