KARL HALE

Karl Hale, father, musician and software engineer, designed and made a wooden marble run sculpture to depict nearly 20 biblical stories of Jesus.

This interests me because of the stories it tells, it’s not just technically interesting, it also shares in a deeper meaning. The value of this piece is greater than the materials and skill, and it’s this quality that I am trying to achieve in my own marble run. My run is a direct metaphor for trickle down economics, and I hope that some people read into it to discover this meaning.

http://www.heraldextra.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/visual/a-mapleton-artist-is-making-marble-runs-like-you-ve/article_1a50d6c5-6c4f-58e0-8a59-418c779bd1f7.html

RAKU MARBLES

After learning the Raku firing process, I wanted to try making some raku marbles (obviously).

Below are the pre-bisque fired raku clay marbles:

I then added a dash of white glaze on the tops of the marbles. I only placed it on the top, because I did not want the glaze tor fuse the marbles onto the firing surface. I also wanted to leave some of the clay bare, to allow for the smokey ashen quality of raku fired pieces.

Here is the outcome:

I fired them in a small bowl I made (specially for the firing process), because when the clay heats up it can start moving around! I am very pleased with the ‘marbled’ effect caused by only glazing part of the marbles. Although not white, these have matt and grey-tone qualities which I often look for in my work.