Patrick Ostrowsky – Week 3 – 3,5 – Trusting the process // ACTION

Sep 18, 2022

Hello new world,
it’s me again. Patrick. It has been a while since my last blog entry. A busy summer, some vacation and being back in my everyday life later, I finally be able to drop the last part of my journey at Sasso. Spiced up with some reflections.

My week number 3 has been dedicated fully to the making of things. Encountering and experimenting with this for me new technique ‘Raku Firing’. After my research in my second week and coming back from my little trip to Munich where I opened the great show ‘Mind_Body_Matter’, I was ready to dive right into that unknown.
Taking with me some clay I set up my working space in the workshop and started to be modelling and reworking small objects over the first couple of days. As they need time and heat to dry up, the still fantastic weather supported me a lot to accelerate the process.
While my pieces where drying I started to prepare the vessel for the Raku Firing, which needs just some wood and an old metal basket.

The shapes I’ve worked on have been a continuation of a series of forms on which I was working earlier that year. A small number of organic, plant-orientated forms that oscillated between abstract and amorphic. Kinda like that area of conflict that opens up by using to opposites.
In the end I produced around ten small and bigger forms.
The firing worked well, and I’ve learnt a lot about this new more DIY-method of working with clay. I really liked that they got the color of the surrounding stone. Out of all that I also got some new ideas how to continue with these pieces, when I’m back in my studio. Like using them as pedestals or constructing a bigger metal kiln by myself. 

Working on this hands-on project, I continued to paint my water-colour paintings, my reading practise and my walking inside that awesome nature. That’s something that I want to carry away with me from that great experience at Sasso. As well as my better understanding of my process and what it takes to start trusting into it.
Besides that I’m also thankful for the great memories, friendships and connections I’ve made there. 
THANK YOU: Charlotte, Ben, Benedikt and Eric, for being at Sasso with me and being the way, you are!

and thank you for reading. 

If you want to know more about my recent projects, just click here. 
All the best and baci, 
Patrick
https://www.patrickostrowsky.eu/