Porcelain Grace - Meryl Ruth

THE TEA-TH FAIRY

The Tea-th Fairy, a stoneware teapot, is yet another evolutionary advancement on the Tubular Teapot series, differing from its predecessor, Squeeze Me, Teas Me, in many significant ways.
The toothpaste tube teapot is now equipped with sculpted wings for handles instead of extruded toothpaste.
The spout is relocated to the front instead of the side.
The crushed tube shape is also intended to be more gestural.
The added wings, doubling as teapot handles, reflect the tooth fairy theme.
The base is, as before, a toothpaste box, but with modifications to make it resemble a bed with a surmounted pillow.
The base is made by slab construction with a collage of silkscreen images of a toothpaste box added.
Currency is silk-screened onto clay slabs. Dollar bills are strewn about on the base/bed, exposed beneath the pillow.
Construction sequence:
    Underglazes are applied.

    Bisque fired to cone 06.

    Colored overglazes added.

    Refired to cone 6.

    Cold finished with multiple layers of China paints
    Paint layers are followed by multiple firings to cone 015.

   Opalescent luster is applied.

Final refiring to cone 017.
Cold finished with gold leaf flecks applied to wing handles.
Small colored beads added to embellish the lid and the pillow.
Date: 2010.
Size: 10.5" x 10.5" x 5.0".
Available for purchase: Price $1,350.

ENLARGED VIEWS

Enlarged view.

Enlarged view.

Enlarged view.

Enlarged view.

CREATIVE PROCESS

Teapot body is made in the form of a crumpled toothpaste tube.

Teapot body is constructed by slip casting in the form of a partially crumpled toothpaste tube.
The cap, which doubles as the teapot's lid, is wheel thrown and fitted atop the tube.

The toothpaste tube teapot is adorned with wings as handles, a spout and a cap as lid.

Sculpted wings are added to the sides of the toothpaste tube to function as teapot handles.
A wheel-thrown spout is applied to the front of the toothpaste tube teapot body.

The base is formed of silk-screened clay slabs in the shape of a toothpaste box.

Clay slabs are silk-screened with a collage of toothpaste box images. The slabs are then cut according to predesigned templates and used to construct the teapot base in the form of a toothpaste box

The base is supplemented with a pillow and currency placed beneath the pillow.

The pillw to be placed on the toothpaste box (serving as both teapot base and bed in this piece) is made by press mold and hand sculpted with extruded cording.
Faux dollar bills are to be tucked under the pillow placed atop the bed. They are made by photo silk-screening on clay slabs and bent into place while still in the leather-hard state. The surfaces of these slabs are first painted with a mixture of light green underglazes.
Then different screens are used to apply dark green images of the back and the front of the bills onto the clay slabs.
The toothpaste box is assembled with the currency sandwiched between the bed and the pillow.

Dollar bills are made of clay slabs that have been underglazed and silk-screened.

Clay slabs are rolled out and modified in shape by bending while in the wet state. They are then allowed to dry to the leather-hard state and underglazed in light green. Photo silk-screening is done with application of various dark green images of currency to the surface.
The slabs are further dried to the bone-dry state before they are kiln fired for use in slab construction as elements for development of the structure of the teapot base.

The toothpaste tube is underlazed before firing in its bisque state.

Glossy underglazes are applied to the toothpaste tube teapot body prior to its first bisque firing to cone 06.

The pillow is embellished with glazes.

Additonal underglazes are applied to the pillow before it is permanently attached in place on the toothpaste box base.

The base is assembled with pillow and currency prior to kiln firing.

The completed component parts of the bed are assembled and permanently affixed to each other.
The currency is insinuated between the underlying toothpaste box bed and the partially covering pillow.

Final asembly finishes the construction phase.

The teapot body, a winged toothpaste tube, is permanently affixed to the previously assembled base bed, a toothpaste box with pillow and currency.
Refiring is done to cone 6. Additional embellishments include layers of Chna paints, after each of which the piece is fired to cone 017.
Cold finishing includes the application of gold leaf flecks to the wings.
Small colored beads are added to the lid and the pillow to complete the work.

DETAILED VIEWS *

A collage of detailed views.