Dolphin Fountain by Gary Lange

Well, this is a tad bit better. Coil building these fountains is a real challenge. I need to keep hidden pathways open going up the sides, so that once the fountains are fired I can go back in and run plastic tubing through them. This allows for some water to flow down the back wall and out of water ports on the sides. Besides the female figure that holds stage on the inside of the back wall, there are also two of her sisters that emerge from the outside walls and define the sides of the fountain. If you look close you can see one of their faces on the left side of the fountain. This is part of what makes this fountain so difficult to construct. I have to work figures from both the inside and outside of a thin wobbly wall of clay simultaneously. If the clay gets to dry it cracks as I push and pull on it, if it is two wet, the whole wall starts to move and collapse. Needless to say, each finds it's own form. Under the sculpture side of this part of my web site, I will soon have a a photo essay . For now I've included the small size picture to the right that helps explain my process. If you link to that page you can see better how I form these figures. In a series of photos, I take a pot I have just thrown on a wheel. and develop two female figures into it's walls. I build the dolphin fountains up with coils, and it is a challenge to work the figures in as I go. I've only done three of these, and yes they are expensive, running up to 1,500$. There are two or three dolphins that sit in the center amongst ceramic waves of water and various forms of water play. The pump sits down in the bowl out of sight.

 

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