Handcrafted with Love

Nice to have some space to try out fun things! WIP double-walled, two-piece, differently-fired mushroom vessel which, will be the constantly moist substrate for some wild moss.

At least that's the plan! ...

Playing with new forms

#asobi #play #experimentation #contemporaryceramics #modernceramics #pottery #clay #studioasobi ...

Made this little vessel out of leftover clay from our workshop, to try out some carving techniques. It wasn't particularly spectacular, so we used it to try out a glaze, and then we thought it could be quite useful as a pen/brush holder. So now it has left the shelves, and arrived at our table.

I realize that over the years, it is usually these random, average looking clay vessels that we end up using the most, and loving the most.

#studioasobi #handmade #madeinsingapore #ceramiclife #ceramics #sgceramics #sgpottery #pottery #artisan #jarsofclay #love #worth #vase ...

(Backbreaking) Work In Progress! ...

"Scope for imagination!" - our recent favourite phrase
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Picture: @bellybokeh

#imagination #making #creating #loving #anneofgreengables ...

Final testing on our local clay tiles for a residential project we are embarking on! Really pleased that after some tweaking of the process and formulas, the tiles came out flat, the slip didn't crackle, and the colours are beautiful (at least to us haha)!

#studioasobi #handmade #madeinsingapore #ceramiclife #ceramics #sgceramics #sgpottery #pottery #artisan #tiles #localclay #slab ...

Every new form we experiment with teaches us something. About our glazes, clay properties, our kiln... and often, about ourselves too! ...

Sometimes, you just got to indulge in a bit of obsessiveness (I think this is already pretty mild)! ...

Since we started Studio Asobi 6 years ago, we have been so blessed by the opportunity to experience God's Word in our daily interactions with clay.

You are invited to join us in this intimate little retreat, as we meditate on our Potter's presence and work in our lives while shaping clay with our hands.

5 places only, $80 per person. *Update: Fully Booked

Email huiwen@studioasobi.com to book. ...

This has got to be the most challenging vessel I have ever thrown on the wheel. 1600g, 30cm (H) x 6cm (W). A 5:1 ratio cylinder with an inner diameter significantly narrower than the width of my hand.

So this is how my day went. After we dropped Tobie off at school, we had breakfast, and I started making this around 10am. After 4 failed attempts, it was 2pm and I suddenly got a call from an elderly church friend who had a fever and needed help getting to a doctor. Huiwen thought it would be a good idea to give my clay-soaked, wrinkled fingers a rest, and so off I went on an excursion to Joo Chiat.

At 5:30pm, I came home, showered, and tried again. Another failed attempt, and then it was time to entertain my boy whom I had promised to take to the park after school to play at the sand pit. So I cut up my piece, analyzed my mistakes, and went on another excursion to Punggol Park.

At 10pm, I returned home with my wide-awake son, showered away his grime and left him to the capable hands of my wife to be dispatched into dreamland, and embarked on one last try.

It's now 2am.

Moral of the story - with clay, there are times where it's pointless to keep trying. Just got to rest, recuperate, and fight again.

And also, there are only so many times in this life that my boy would ask me to take him to the playground. Work can always wait. ...

Amidst the quiet moments of creation and the lively moments of hosting guests in our home, here is a shot of the sweaty, sometimes frustrating moments when time and effort is spent just getting things back to normal.

For a home studio like ours, these moments include mopping the floor, washing the clothes, wedging the clay, and less frequent but more complex tasks like deciding that our kiln elements have reached the end of their road, and spending a whole afternoon taking things apart and putting them back.

One of the reasons why we refrain from having workshops everyday and taking on too many commissions is because we feel that all these mundane or maintenance things that happen in the background still deserve our attention, our joy, and our peace. Of course, it feels bad to turn down requests, and often we question ourselves if we are being less hardworking than we should be.

But for now at least, this feels like the right approach, so that we can continue being a home and a studio that is filled with love and joy! ...

Who knew that making flat things was so difficult?

Here are some tiles we are testing out for a project, and they are nothing complex - regular rectangular tiles covered with a layer of local clay. But the thing about clay is that it contains lots of water, and when water evaporates, the clay shrinks. Laying a flat piece of clay on a flat surface often means that it dries up faster on one side, causing uneven shrinkage and a warped surface. Getting slabs to shrink evenly is something we haven't quite mastered, and so this project is surely going to accelerate our learning curve!

Hopefully without too much heartache... ...

Work in progress! Letting these playful little plates catch some late afternoon rays.

Making plates is always somewhat of a tricky affair, especially those done using the slab method. Anyone has any good techniques for preventing warping?

#studioasobi #handmade #madeinsingapore #ceramiclife #ceramics #sgceramics #sgpottery #pottery #artisan #plates #commission #slab ...