274 moons

Making of Ymir, Paaliaq and Tarvos / April 15th to April 20th 2025

Apr 21, 2025Elisabetta Lombardo

I am making my way down the list of moons and have arrived at the non-Greek mythology moons. Ymir is a retrograde moon named after the ancestor of the frost giants in Norse mythology. Paaliaq and Tarvos are both irregular moons orbiting Saturn in a prograde motion. Tarvos belongs to the Gallic group and is named after a god in the shape of a bull carrying three cranes on his back. Paaliaq, on the other hand, is part of the Inuit group of moons around Saturn. It was named after a fictional sha…

Making of Ymir, Paaliaq and Tarvos / April 15th to April 20th 2025

Making of Hyperion / April 14th 2025

Apr 15, 2025Elisabetta Lombardo

Hyperion is a large non-spherical moon that is probably a large collection of debris from ice and rocks. I have plans for this moon to be glazed with an oil spot-type glaze which I started testing last week. The first test did not turn out as expected so I will have to tinker with the chemistry a bit. I am approaching the end of the list of moons that have received names inspired from Greek and Roman mythology. Someone asked me about the shapes I am giving the moons. I have deliberately chose…

Making of Helene and Calypso / 13th April 2025

Apr 13, 2025Elisabetta Lombardo

Helen and Calypso are both Trojan moons, trailing moons that share orbits with other bodies orbiting Saturn. They are both irregularly shaped and quite reflective. Calypso specifically seems to have something on its surface capable of smoothing its craters, which scientists believe to be icy material coming from one of Saturn's rings. Because of the scale of this project, I set up a little corner in my home studio to work with clay and make from home when I cannot be in the studio and if for so…

Making of Helene and Calypso / 13th April 2025

Making of Dione and Rhea / 8th April 2025

Apr 8, 2025Elisabetta Lombardo

Dione and Rhea were photographed by the Cassini probe in 2010. The image was taken from a specific perspective, making them look as if these two moons were one celestial body in the shape of a strange snowman. However, Dione and Rhea are two distinct moons orbiting around Saturn. I made the two vases out of porcelain on the 5th and 7th of April 2025. On the 5th I made them by pinching the base and coiling the body and on the 7th I refined them, shaved them and smoothened them over. I struggled…

Making of Dione and Rhea / 8th April 2025

Making of Epimetheus and Janus / April 2nd 2025

Apr 6, 2025Elisabetta Lombardo

Epimetheus and Janus are sister moons, orbiting Saturn. Both are potato shaped and share a similar orbit around Saturn. It is possible that they are the result of the breakup of one moon. Every 4 Earth years, they trade spaces in their orbits due to the gravitational interaction between the two bodies. They both trail quite a bit of dust and particles (possibly due to impacts from foreign bodies), so that a faint ring, the Janus/Epimetheus Ring, shares their orbit. I started making them togeth…

Making of Epimetheus and Janus / April 2nd 2025

Making of Phoebe / April 5th 2025

Apr 6, 2025Elisabetta Lombardo

Phoebe is a mysterious moon. It orbits far from Saturn and only reflects about 6% of the sunlight it receives. It is a dark and irregularly shaped object which is believed to be a primordial centaur: a captured object from the Kuiper Belt dating from the formation of the solar system. I made Phoebe in the space of 2 days, between the 3rd and 5th of April 2025, right as we were about to find out that the world was potentially going into a trade war. This week has been frustrating. Personally I …

Making Iapetus / Friday 14th March 2025

Mar 15, 2025Elisabetta Lombardo

I do not keep a paper diary. I do have several notebooks with notes, drawings, sketches, ideas, glaze recipes and poems. But I do not write every day. I know all the great writers do - and I do not consider myself one. If I ever started writing a diary documenting my work, it would have to be now, in these times. The mundane and the extraordinary are intertwined. 14th March 2025 I worked on Iapetus at our studio over the course of 3 hours, while we were open to the public and people came and w…

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