Tiny Desk Adventure
Jenny Dowd
Earlier this year I saw an interesting call for entries at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia. The exhibition Small Favors called for objects that fit within a 4 x 4 x 4 inch plexi cube. I love making tiny things and brainstormed for a few days with my dad about a subject, we had some funny ideas but both liked the idea of making teeny tiny bookshelves.
I used a red stoneware for the shelves and books, and white slip with simple sgraffito designs on the books. One idea my dad and I had was to balance a little cup of tea on one of the shelves. I made the tiniest little cup with a handle and a saucer, but after dropping it a few times decided on a little vase with flowers.
Looks huge laid out like this, but the shelf this is resting on is from a little test kiln and measures only 9 inches wide. After firing and assembly, I had some fun posing the shelves for a photo… light switch for scale!
Titles are usually the hardest, I gave this one the name: Tiny Desk Adventure after sharing the photo with a friend who said it reminded her of the Tiny Desk Concerts on NPR. Books are such adventures and with a tiny bookshelf on your desk who knows where you will go!
I was pretty excited when this little piece was accepted into the exhibition, it’s on display until June 2nd but will be visible online for much longer. This is the 50th anniversary of this themed exhibition and almost 500 tiny sculptures are included. See all the work here: (although some images are still being added, so mine might not be at this link yet) https://www.theclaystudio.org/exhibitions/small-favors-2024
All the pieces are online for viewing and purchasing, the link to the whole shop is here: https://public.theclaystudio.org/public/shop/collections/232/Small%20Favors%202024
And the link to my piece is here: https://public.theclaystudio.org/public/shop/item/47767/Jenny%20Dowd/Tiny%20Desk%20Adventure