Altered Swans Series

This is a large swan

Max was really taken with the Jade and Gold effect. Each of these 7 singles are the sketch books toward the Jade Series. Testing how the Gold reacted and the overall look was critical, some of these test pieces and the Series did several firings to reach a balance point. The Jade green is a subtle tone and required the correct balance. As the kiln decided on the the final look with the Jade colouring, a similar effect was experienced opening the metallic firing – the gold is an on paint containing real gold, and fires at 780 degrees celcius, some 400 degrees below the Jade! We never really knew what something would look like as the gold paint goes on purple and changes in the firing. We could aim towards the look, but Max had an idea and kept trying to reach his ideal. There is a lot “said unsaid” in this body of work, Max was working through a lot of themes in this Swan Song.

Artist: Max Brown

Important Note –  There is a crack on the neck of this large piece, number 54/55, this is visible in the images. Max chose some bisque(the unglazed ceramic body) with what would normally be considered faults. These were worked in to series, as what began as a hair line crack opened up during the glaze firing – Mathew enjoyed learning some new tricks, as the story was woven into these sets, and individual pieces.

Here Max worked the gold paint, not to cover this but lead into the form…..it works!

Max mentioned ‘ life is full of these moment we choose, often without realizing, sometimes blind to the obvious”