Two more weeks.

This semester has definitely had its ups and downs, but I'm a little sad it's coming to a close! We've past the wet cut off date so all the mugs are ready to be bisqued and I have quite a bit of glazing in my near future. I'm doing an experiment with my "test" textured mugs-trying a clear glaze on the outside texture while glazing the test with a opaque glaze. Even if the clear glaze doesn't turn out how I planned I still believe that a regular glaze with allow the texture to come through and still be visible.

As for my second round of spools, I decided on incorporating them into a domestic space. I'm going to be using a small spare bedroom and filling it completely. The final project will be a single or various images of the room capturing the suspended spools of thread.

5 Weeks to go.

Crazy. It feels like school just started, right? Spring break begins next week, and with wet ware cut off date right around the corner, I'm started to feel the pressure!

I've been working on two projects for the past couple of weeks. One, our final project-Texture. And two, miniature tea sets. During my first semester I had thrown a small vessel (actually, it was the first thing I ever made on the wheel) and done texture on the outside using a loop tool. I began to think of ways to incorporate texture onto a utilitarian piece of stoneware and I came back to this idea.

I plan on making a set of mugs as well as a set of bowls with the same texture and style. The mug above is my test run of my design.

In addition to mug-making, I've been busy with tiny teacups. Growing up, I had always wanted my own tea set that I could actually use as well as having one that was "my size." I am going to make 5 different sets for my nieces, complete with cream dishes, plates, and teapots.

Keeping up.

It has been a whirlwind of catching up for the last couple of weeks. With a new job and a new puppy, I'm not really sure where time has gone. We're getting ready to complete our third project, throwing five "perfect" cylinders. Which I might add, it definitely alot harder than you would think. I'm beginning to think the perfect cylinder is a myth...at least for now.

Although I loved the dark gray stoneware I used last semester, it was not rendering itself useful to throwing. I had seen some images of red stoneware and decided that I would give it a try. My fellow student, Rebeka Trapp made a batch last week.

The clay body looks beautiful and is fairly easy to throw (thank goodness), I'm definitely excited to see how it fires!

As for throwing, after a week of some discouragement, I finally was able to make cylinders that survived.

And the cylinders made with the new red stoneware are definitely improving. Pictures of the new red clay cylinders will be posted shortly!

Spools and Spools and Spools

My week in ceramics has been composed of mainly spool casting. My goal still stands at 200 new spools to add to the ones I already have. 

 Progress! (I require 2-3 tables in the studio to be productive...)

And if taking up space in the studio were not enough, I have also set up studio in my kitchen, which seems to work fairly well. Having two molds makes the process move so much more quickly!

To help keep my sanity and improve my throwing skills, I have been trying to make mugs and tea sets for my family. The mug below is my pride and joy of the semester so far, my handles, however, are going to need some serious practice (note the sad handle at the bottom of the image). Thank you, Rebeka Trapp, for letting me steal yours!

This week will be another week of mold-casting, installation site hunting, and practice on the wheel. Pictures to follow!

Thoughts on mixed media project.

As I mentioned in previous posts, I plan on expanding on my spools (from last semester's multiples) for the mixed media project. My goal is to make 200 new spools. To help the process move a little faster, I made an addition mold Thursday. I think of making another 1-2 make the process go even more quickly.

Location is still a bit iffy.  I want to have them once again suspending from the ceiling but in a semi-public place where the viewer must interact with the piece, either by walking through or around the piece. I am going to have to take a trek around school to find an appropriate setting.

To Disguise.

The critique had a few more bumps and confusion than I was hoping, but I think that I did receive some useful feedback. I connected my verb and my finished piece in my mind, but fellow students didn't seem to make the same connections. I need to work on piecing my thoughts together in a more logical and followable pattern, which will make it easier for people viewing my work (including me) to understand what I'm trying to convey and where I want the piece to go.

Some addition images from the project:

the business of creativity.

The spring semester has started off with a bang, with the end of the first project nearing, I'm curious to see where my body of work will go this semester.

I plan on continuing my spool project, hopefully doubling or tripling the amount that I originally started with. To start out the week classmate, Tamara Franks, and I make porcelain slip, which turned out beautifully. The spool production will hopefully resume in my kitchen/makeshift studio this week!

A definite first for me was making clay by hand. I have been curious about working with porcelain this semester but with both clay mixers down, it comes down to just mixing it with your hands. After two hours of intense upper body work, a fellow classmate and I finally finished with about 30 pounds of porcelain. Although it was good experience, I think I have a new appreciation for the mixers.

The verb project 2.0
 Since my work has been exploring concepts behind coverings of clay, I wanted to yet again expand my reasoning behind it. I have a curiosity about the concept of personality. There are always aspects of ourselves that we hide from others, and perhaps, even ourselves. We seem to strive toward blending in, to disguise ourselves into the mix, covering the things we think are unacceptable.

 Instead of working with my usual dark clay I decided to try working lighter and from a different angle. The final project will feature the human body disguised in slip.

I'm looking forward to editing and choosing which photos to use, but not to spoil the final presentation...more pictures following the critique!

Bowls, bowls, bowls.

The bowls are complete! All that's left is to deliver them to my project participants. I am giving them to individuals with the instructions of taking 3-5 pictures of how they're using it (or not using it). I'm interested to see the different levels of creativity from everyone!

Before glazing.

I struggled between making the bowls all the same color and making them different, but considering the endless amount of color choices, I decided to go with different glazes. 

Unloading the kiln is just like Christmas. I was so excited to see how they turned out. And fortunately, only one casualty!

2 weeks to go!

I can't believe that this semester is already coming to an end. While I'm sad to see it go, I'm already excited about ceramics (and drawing!) next semester.

For this week, glazing glazing glazing. I will hopefully finish my bowls this week and present them to my participants for the next project. I will have to speed the process of people taking pictures a little, because of time restraints, but I'm hoping that the final project will still yield my hoped results.

I've already been thinking of what I want to focus on next semester. I definitely want to keep working on the extension of my duality project by continually adding more people. I also plan on making more spools over the break and into next semester. I found that there were a lot of options that I could do with the installation of my spools and I would definitely like to explore more of them--possibly doing a spacelab show. In addition to those projects, definitely more practice on the wheel! I feel that I got a good start this semester. Final pictures will be posted!

Three weeks to go!

These past couple of weeks have been a large lesson in letting go, sometimes your agenda doesn't get done the "right" way. I have found that I'm not a superhero, for sure. So, on to catching up with my blog posts--alot has happened! Last week I spent over 24 in the studio, whether painting or throwing. Although I got a lot done, managing my time better would have been a huge stress reliever. A big lesson to any procrastinator out there.

We finished up the modules project this past week, it was alot of work but I must say that I was happy with the results! It was definitely worth 3 tubes of superglue and 5 hours spent winding thread around spools.

Before hanging the spools from the ceiling I set them on a shelf to keep the strings from getting tangled together. Even though I had not thought of this as a way to display them, I loved how they looked. I would love to further explore this type of installation and possibly have a space lab show. I plan on making spools over break for next semester so I will have more to experiment with.

First spool up! 

 Final installation. 

For the final project, I have finished throwing the bowls and they are currently drying. I have 20 bowls to use for the project. Depending on how the glazes turn out, I may or may not use all of them. After they are glazed they will go to one of my 20 participants, after receiving the bowl I will have them take 3-5 pictures depicting how the bowl is being used--whether it sits in the cabinet, is used for dinner, or is used to hold random items from around the house. I want to get individual prints for each image and display them on a wall. I would like to have a picture book made to document all the different uses, but depending on time constraints, I'm not sure if I'll be able to do that component of the project. I will, however, make sure that the images I have will be printed off and be ready to display. 

I threw 15 bowls last Tuesday, definitely the most I've ever made in one day (or week for that matter!). The last wet clay day was a success. All that's left is glazing and documentation.

Week 11

First of all, I cannot believe how fast this semester has flown by. The wet work cut off date is less than two weeks away. Crazy. For ceramics, I'm finishing up my modules/units piece. Our final critique date is this Thursday. All of the spools have been sanded down, bisque, and slotted. Which I must say was quite a task, considering I have 83. I'm excited about the installation. I have already purchased the string to hang them with. I'm a little apprehensive about hanging them, they still seem very fragile, even after being fired. But if some of them did fall and break it could offer an interesting element into my final project.

For my final project I was really interested in incorporating a throwing element. I have been throwing some cups and bowls, but I would really like to be able to make successful vessels before the end of the semester. After seeing the examples of the next project, I was inspired by the artist who took pictures of individuals drinking out of her mugs. As I started thinking about this a little more, I became more interested in the process and story of inanimate objects. From the wheel to the recipient of the gift, where does it go? What happens to it? Does it get used for its intended purpose? After talking to my professor, we thought it would be much cooler and more interesting to have the participant get more involved. I want the participant to actually take pictures of what they're using a bowl for, do they eat their dinner out of it? Does it sit in their cabinet? Or is it a dish for their dog's water bowl? I want to get alot of people involved. I would love to get around 50 images from this project--images taken by the participants and images taken myself.

In the painting world, the palette knife is no longer my worst enemy. I find it comical that most things that I start out hating become some of my best pieces. Though I'm not complaining. I'm excited to get this piece finished up and start on the next two.

That's all for now, I plan to post pictures of my bowls this week, as well as my finished modules/units project!

Moving forwards.

This past week has definitely flown by, pieces due, new projects, and so many opportunities.

I'm very excited to have work that survived my wheel-throwing skills! I've made cups and small bowls so far, and I'm excited to keep learning and experimenting with different shapes. I'm encountering a bit of an "acorn" rut. All of my mugs have came out in the same shape, not by personal preference.

My second project (duality) is coming along. I have quite a bit of editing in my future (though it will be good experience). My biggest task for the week is editing and cropping down my images to unify them. I received alot of constructive feedback during our crit, I'm hoping to incorporate the new ideas and made a very impacting final presentation. I still want to stick with the projection display for the final critique, but I also want to get the individual images printed out. Possibly continuing this project into my senior year. VERY excited about where this can go.

Duality.

I can't believe that the semester is half way over, it's flown by so fast!


I finally finished my clay people this weekend. I'm starting with 10 people, and I hope to add more as the semester goes by. I've really enjoyed this project, I must say that it has been my favorite so far. I was definitely surprised by the amount of people willing to help me out. It's amazing what people will do in the name of art! I'm still not sure on how I'm going to project the photographs, I'm going to experiment today to see if I can figure out. I don't want to give too much away, but here are some pictures from the photo shoots: