Chance Lines, Chance Texture

Randomness can be used, not just in the composition of  a piece but in the way you work with your clay. Applying or sculpting clay with a random approach can add wonderful, organic and quite expressive elements and textures to a piece.

Klavdija Kurent has allowed threads of clay, wound up without asserting stringent control, and ended up with these intriguing beads and the resulting necklace.

Letting go of your strict control over the clay and allowing the material to create the visual result can be so appealing both in creating this way and in the loose, natural result. Here, the end pattern is random but its the same type of pattern–loose flowing lines and loops–complimented by organic, rock like central beads and a large looping bead as the focal point. I love how the braided strings of clay start out orderly on the left of the focal bead but then break down, giving way suddenly to the chaos. I don’t know if Klavdija intended it, but that bead is a great metaphor for life in general!

Klavdija will be teaching her twisted techniques in April at EuroSynergy in Malta. Are you going to EuroSynergy? There are so many amazing artists and creatives that will be there with workshops, presentations and discussions panels. I’ll be there conducting two workshop style seminars to help attendees develop their personal voice and online presences as well as leading what promises to be a lively discussion with the ladies of From Polymer to Art on what we have and what we want to see more of in print. You can find a list of all our presentations on the Eurosynergy website.

And take a look at more of Klavdija’s work on her Flickr pages and her blog.

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