Making China Figurines Comment

"LOVE THE NEW CHINA FIGURINES SITE!"

by Kris Alderson
(Durham, England)

Making China Figurines Comment - "LOVE THE NEW CHINA FIGURINES SITE!":- Hi guys
I loved the new site it is easy to navigate and very informative and i love the behind the scenes aspect too.

I wish you lots of luck and success in your new venture. I too was gutted at the loss of so many fantastic ceramic companies closing down, the loss of jobs and all that history and expertise is devastating and i agree i am not happy with outsourcing to the far east.

I have bought from Royal Doulton, Coalport and several other companies in the past my tastes have changed over the years but i still love the delicate figurines.

Financially at present i am unable to purchase but as soon as my cash flow improves i will be reserving from you.

I am now studying Fine Art at university in Sunderland, as i live in Durham its easy travelling.

I wondered if i could pick your brains, I am entering level 2 of my course and study part time with my main interests being in figurative sculpture and print. I am looking to find a placement with a figurative sculptor so i can assist and learn from them, I am struggling with my clay cracking when i work over an armature which i am not used to. Previously when i did ceramics we worked either solidly then hollowed out or did slab or coiling to form the figure.

Do you know of anyone who may wish to have an assistant either for a short period a week or two or the occasional day or for a longer period where i may gain some insight into figurative sculpture.

My lecturers feel i am too realist and too literal really they want to push me to be more abstract but i am firmly resisting, I also like contemporary sculptor Eve Shepherds work.

I don't think they cope well with mature students who don't agree that a bag of rubbish is art. I personally just don't get it although i am prepared for someone to change my mind.

Sorry its my first day back at uni and they have started already but our kind of sculpture will come back into vogue and soon i hope

Kris

==================================
Reply by Peter Holland

to LOVE THE NEW CHINA FIGURINES SITE!

Hi Kris

Great post, thanks very much for taking the time and trouble to write in.

First, thanks for your kind words - much appreciated by all of us.

You touched on so many interesting points. Where to start?

With regard to your course, you must stick to your guns and do what your heart and energy tells you.

Second, we are planning to really take the bone china medium to a new level.

We like our beautiful traditional lady figurines, but nowadays, we also make sure we are approaching the sculpt and design of them from contemporary perspective.

For example, in the past 3 years my sculpts have moved on from the historical crinoline type handwriting to working with designs and concepts from leading fashion designers like Basia Zaraycka who is frequently on the front cover of Vogue and Elle. Basia's shop in Sloane Square is a homage to the contemporary baroque.

Where I want to be is post-minimalist 21st century contemporary, romantic baroque. Remember low-end retailer Ikea screaming "chuck out the chintz?". Well, here's the breaking news -

"Chintz is IN - we are now in a post-minimal period which will probably last 10 years or more. The new movement will always have to be re-worked in a new and fresh way.

For example, my new piece 'Rose Garden' pays homage to fantastic contemporary designer Amelia Casablanca (in that post-minimalist baroque corridor).

Unlike Zaraycka and Emanuel, I have never met her, I just want to pay tribute to her.

I believe your department is filming a documentary in our factory this Friday

We are looking to commission a contemporary ceramics competition which we will be inviting all interested parties to enter. Details to follow.

We want to really get a 'fashion-forward' movement going - to express exactly what we can be doing, in a contemporary sense, with the beautiful traditional English bone china skills we have (259 years of unbroken heritage).

It doesn't necessarily have to be figurative, but like the paintings of Gustav Klimt did in the Art Nouveau period, could merge abstract with figurative - or be purely abstract, or purely figurative like my work.

We are interested in exciting use of the media and have some very stunningly original ideas in the pipeline ourselves working alongside Basia Zaraycka.

A competition or other contemporary project could be an exciting opportunity to move forward and publicise our respective doings.

With regard to your more :- technical queries about armatures and clay sculpture, please post them with a bit more detail here which is a more specialist FAQ's page I am building.

Best regards

Peter Holland