A Mural Maker | Roxanna Dourthe | Episode 547

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Roxanna Dourthe | Episode 547

Roxanna Dourthe is a Caribbean born artist who has settled in Sabiñan, Spain. Not content with any one medium, Roxanna is involved in printmaking, experimenting pottery, tile making, and ceramic murals. Roxanna is a never-ending student.

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How thick do you make a slab of clay for a mural?

It depends how big is the mural. It also depends what kind of mural you want. You could have one mural that is just tiles so it would be like you make any tile. But if you want a big mural with really nice texture, you need to measure the size and measure the thickness of it.

When you make a five foot or ten foot slab or clay for a mural how do you make a slab of clay that big?

Okay! For example I will make a mural like a tree for two meters, you take all the clay, for example the complete box of clay. You soften it first with a hammer and later you pass it by the rolling. Then you put it on the table and you put all your slabs of clay and you are working like a mason and try to make all the surfaces unify. So when you have this nice big canvas you can now put texture and carving,

Do you have a pattern in mind before you ever start a project?

Yes, sometimes yes. Sometimes not. So when you work on a customer project, yes. When you have a specific idea on your mind also, but sometimes you just let your emotions go through and what happens happens. Sometimes I start with one idea and then it becomes a totally different thing. But of course you make a sketch first if you are especially working with a customer.

How do you schedule your time working on a big slab of clay like that?

It is not easy, I want to say. For me it’s not. But if you are a lazy person it will be really difficult. I do not consider myself lazy but I am really slow. I am really slow, my mother was always crazy with me. Time is like money. If you waste it, you won’t have it when you need it. On the other hand if you budget your time you will have some left over to do the job.

How long does it take to make a mural?

It depends on the size of the mural. So a small one, the same as it takes to make a nice thrown pot for example. To make the form. The process of a pot is the same as a mural. It is time consuming to make all the tiles. It depends on the size of the mural and also the technique you will use. If you are making a big one and you have a lot of friends helping and working with you, you can make a nice really big mural ready to bisque in one week.

How long does it take if you don’t have help?

If you don’t have help you can’t make a big, big mural. You need help really. If it is a nice measure of a mural and you use small tiles it can take you one week to be ready for the bisque firing.

How do you store the mural when you have to do other things? To keep it from drying out?

Well, you never leave the mural to do other things.

Well, you have to sleep at night.

Yes, true. So you first make your canvas and if it time to go to sleep you cover it like any pottery you would cover, with plastic. So it does not dry really fast. Then the next day you continue. Everyday you do the same. Sometimes you take of the plastic and let the piece dry by itself. If you go to eat, sometimes it is not necessary to cover the piece but if you go to sleep overnight it is better to cover the piece.

Do you ever mist it with water?

Yes, sometimes, it depends on the humidity and the environment, whether it is hot or cold, yes. It is the same process really. It is really nice, it is different , but it is the same.

What do you love about living in Spain that is different than living in the Dominican Republic?

In what way? Because I miss the beach a lot! By the way, we have beaches here in Spain but they are cold. Nothing like the Caribbean.

What I really love to live here is the tremendous culture and tradition. It is really nice. Spain is a really old country and all of Europe is, but I come from a small island and we have a story so close to Spain because we were colonized by Spain and we now have 500 years of story in the Caribbean, my island specifically. But you come here in Spain and no matter what buildings are more than 2000 years and it is full of stories. Now I live in a small village and its story is more than 2000 years old. I found trees that have one and a half thousand years-olive trees and they care for their really old trees. No matter what village you pass by you find a lot of culture and a lot of story, it is really beautiful and it is full of ceramic traditions too.

Book

In Praise of Shadows 

Contact

Instagram: @roxannadourthe