A Rainbow Of Trout Upright Ring Teapot
16" tall x 14" wide x 7 " deep
cone 5 oxidation firing
This was the last teapot I made before my October 29-December
4, 2005 solo exhibition at the Southern Vermont Arts Center in
Manchester, Vermont. I needed a second teapot to fill the
kiln next to “It is Still (And Yet It Moves.)” I
made a diamond-cross-section ring in two parts, both open V profiles,
then attached the two Vs together using clay slip and pressure
on the inner and outer diameter edges of the two open V rings. I
mounted this ring upright on an oval base, and cut out the top
lid opening with an x-acto knife in preparation for adding the
handle and spout. I was thinking of an ornate Viking shield,
and was planning to add studs and needle-like sharp points to the
inner and outer profile edges of the upright ring. I hadn’t
decided what I was going to make for the lid finial. I was
doodling around, making the inside tab of the lid which keeps the
lid from falling into the teacup when you tip the teapot forward
to pour tea, and I saw that the inside tab or hook shape was looking
sort of like a fish tail. This gave me the idea to make the
lid finial into a leaping fish, coming right through the lid, and
only revealing itself when you lift off the lid. Of course
I then had to make the spout into another fish, and I ended up
adding three more fish heads and three more fish tails, all modeled
after a picture of a rainbow trout I found in one of my animal
picture books. This teapot took something like forever to
finish, and then a lot longer to glaze. I ended up using
17 different glazes on it. After I painted many different glaze
colors on all the fish, I painted hot wax over all the glazed fish
parts, then dipped the teapot body into two different glazes to
give a watery undersea feeling to the teapot ring. I completed
the teapot after the firing by epoxy gluing iridescent reflective
glass buttons into the eye sockets I had left hollowed out. The
glistening fish eyes sparkle and change color and seem to follow
you as you walk past this teapot!
This teapot is held in a private collection in Alta Loma, California.
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