#HTE

Ceramist Anna Whitehouse Created 100 Unique Clay Vessels in 100 Days

U.K.-based ceramic artist Anna Whitehouse set a goal on January 1, 2018 to create a new bottle each day for 100 days. By limiting herself to a single form, Whitehouse was able to stretch her  creativity to formulate new designs previously unexplored in her practice. Each white ceramic bottle was uniformly shaped, but the designs she created on the surface differed each day. Some bottles were punctured with tiny repetitive holes, while others were covered in leaf-like applications or floral motifs.

“I tried pressing and scraping any tool I could get my hands on into the clay,” Whitehouse explains. “From my standard clay tools to pen lids, tweezers, scissors, and even a string of beads! I also started making my own tools from bits of broken pen, wire, and aluminum to create particular marks.”​

​The artist compares the 100-day-long exercise to journaling or filling a sketchbook, as each new object was like a brand new sketch that could be learned from for the next day. “I’ve kept the work unglazed, like white pages from a sketchbook, highlighting the mark making through the contrast created by shadows.”

After the completion of her project Whitehouse created a “clay calendar” which you can visit on her website. The interactive portfolio outlines each bottle she made from January 1 to April 10, 2018, and includes her unique titles which are based on something that happened during the day they were made. You can see further iterations of her bottles and clay creations on her Instagram.