Up, up and away...

Weeks 4 - 6

In my blogs for this project I have mentioned twine, bowls and ascension and I have been developing and testing aspects of this design idea.  This blog shows the development and making of the core bowl idea.

The challenge in this design was to take my research into the Norn and the Valkyries and how they and man sat in the larger world of the Norse gods, and portray their sagas in a work of art.  I've described that the three Norn would create a thread of life for a new born baby and how that thread set out its entire future.  The youngest Norn, Skuld, was also a Valkyrie so she was able to fly over the field of battle with two powers, the ability to cut the thread of a mortal and prematurely and their life, and also the freedom to select who had an honourable death and worthy of ascending to the gods in Valhalla.  A big ask indeed.

My idea was to create a large bowl made from threads and that those threads )of life) would spiral around and up the bowl as though souls ascending.

The maquette twine bowl was very effective but for the size that it was, I thought the gauge of the twine would not be suitable for scaling up in terms of execution of the design and thickness of the glass.  I explored other options particularly since I wanted to plait the threads, but why plaiting?

A Norse family would live in a home granted to them by their village council.  The man was the head of the home and his family's wealth and status were dependent on his standing in the community.  If a man died then his families security and future was dependent on the determination of the council, who would consider their standing, their means of income and any family support.  Consequently, the lives and future of the mother and children entwined with the destiny of the father.  Battle was an opportunity for a man to die like a warrior and gain honour for his family, which in turn would be favourable for his family's future.  It seemed appropriate that the bowl's threads should be entwined too, hence the plaiting.

The following is the development of the thread of life:

I spent time working on the scaled drawings of the bowl and the use of 6 threads of life.  Once I started to plait the twine I could see my suspicions regarding scale were confirmed.   I used the twine to practice the making of the threads.  I recalled going to a basket weaving workshop when I was a young boy so I used these principles for making the base of the bowl. 

 

I tried different chords, weaves and textures to find a suitable alternative to twine.  Sadly I couldn't find anything with the loose thread of the twine however the green garden twine.  It made a tight and strong plaited thread.

 

I made the threads using the same basket weave and plating as in my maquette.  It created a good scale against the steel bowl I was going to use for the main form.

I transferred the scale drawing onto the bowl and used these lines to attach the threads.

Once the threads were attached I filled the gaps with clay but not to the same thickness as the threads.  This would create the depth of gap for the glass in the final piece.

The finish form was then placed in a mould frame which was then filled with plaster; using the 50:50:50 plaster, flint , water mix.  Again, great care was taken to ensure there were no air pockets or bubbles that could compromise the design.

Once dried the mould was removed from the frame, upturned and the steel form, clay and threads all carefully removed so that the textures and shapes were not damaged.

Once emptied and washed out the mould was very carefully picked of all clay residue.  I was very pleased with the level of detail captured in the mould.

I will cover the casting of the glass in a separate blog.