Landscape nerikomi - crying ducks

Continuing to work on this duck project, I decided I needed to make a piece or pieces to go with it that have a strong narrative. The pitcher will sort of be an accompanying piece to these cups.

I chose a slanted body so it matches the geometric shape of the pitcher. I haven’t yet totally decided on the handle, because I like the form I made with paper but as I become more conscious of the kind of handles I like to hold, I’m wanting to add my own comfort preferences instead of just aesthetic ones.

I took apart the paper model and drew an outline of its body so I could color something to reference (1:1 clay to image) as I make the nerikomi.

The clay body is a childlike drawing of a laying dead duck and a duck crying above it. The other side of the cup is a portrait to be underglazed on the bisque cup (maybe in B&W) of Jeff Landry.

Whether in an exhibition or online or sold individually, a body of text has to go along with these objects to be understood, unless somebody knew 1. me, and 2. Landry’s politics. The shorter text is: I went to a rodeo years ago, a couple weeks after the events had ended and the fairgrounds were abandoned. There were rabbits still in the cages, and that upset me enough they had been abandoned so long, but I realized there were also dead, neglected ducks on the ground next to them. Animals are treated worse than property in Louisiana.

Meanwhile, Jeff Landry passed a bill that required public schools to put of posters of the ten commandments in every classroom. Something like “thou shalt not kill” is clearly not really part of Louisiana culture, so why force it onto everyone? I’m sure Landry isn’t making anyone actually abide to those commandments.

Building up the pattern, about 2” high

A warped final view (from the bottom/top of the nerikomi block) of the slab rolled out

I put together the bottoms to the slab - I’m letting them harden just a bit so it’s easier to clean them and fix the wobbly rim.