Vessel Cover 2006

I had this teacher a while back that taught an "Alternative Firing" class without a pre-requisite, but she was so conceptual and very little firing that the class was disappointing. Her 2nd assignment was to create a "vessel" that was made with 5 parts. One part could not be taken away, otherwise it would no longer work. She also wanted each part to be at least 10". I had to think really hard and long about what to do... and became a little abstract in my thinking. I thought "What if was an important part of a vessel, with the vessel already being part of the environment." So, I created a cover that would be found on a sidewalk that was used to access underground water systems. Since I wasn't getting any experimental satisfaction from the class I decided to play on my own terms and see if I could slump glass through the cracks. It did work, but it wasn't as dramatic as I wanted. This might be a technique that I'll have to go back and experiment with again.

The piece is about 24" x 18". Oh yeah, the signature in the center is mine, but it makes the pieces have to stay together as a unit so this is why I created the embossed stamp.