Ken Adams

Because this is the closest I come to perfection! Porcelain slip (with added 20% 'binding' matrix) was applied with a palette knife to a partially inflated balloon, which was then fully inflated. Black Mason-stained, long silk fibres were then applied across the balloon's surface to create a web of sorts. There followed a number of deflation/inflation cycles during which more black stain was sprayed onto the slip, and more layers of white porcelain were added in places. The balloon was let to dry for about an hour, and a collar of white porcelain slip applied, before deflating: the slip was dry in places, which is why the splits in the walls of the vessel were created, but it still remained largely intact thanks to the net of strong silk fibres within the clay. The vessel was fired upside down on a bed of sand, with internal support placed a couple of centimeters below its base, allowing it to partially slump (collapse) during firing as gravity made itself felt on the liquifying porcelain, creating the vessel's attractive 'shoulders'.