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Find me more frequently for the time being at Folk-Art-Life.
Thought I'd share a couple shots of the pieces I'm proud of from this last semester.
a teapot
i plan to use this one as a planter for succulents or a candle cave
one from a set of shino tea bowls, photos really can't do them justice
set of celedon tea bowls
a sake set
Whew... so for all my complaining, a few things did turn out nicely. I'm headed back to the CCSF studio at Fort Mason in a couple weeks and plan to play some more with sake sets and tea bowls and move onto porcelain. It's time.
Photographing your work is very important. It comes second only to making the art itself. If you don't have photographs, and nice photographs, how is anyone going to ever see what is boxed up and stored in your attic or garage? Any photo is a good start, but having a nice photo makes your work look a million times more professional and skilled. It's true.
A light box is a cheap and easy way to go about getting nice photographs of your work without resorting to professional shots. In my opinion, done right, photos taken with a DIY light box can easily be used for a portfolio and definately will benefit your Etsy or Ebay shop. A couple days ago I followed the tutorial below and created my own light box for just a couple bucks.
Here's my box:
Here is a photo taken in said light box:
Be careful of super glossy or reflective objects. Lighting there can be a bit more tricky and needs better diffusing or you'll end up with a window pane effect on your photographed piece.
Like I said, photos are incredibly important. If I had been in the habit of taking photos the past few years, I would have a much more representative portfolio at this time. You never know what will happen. Your whole apartment building could catch fire and take every single piece of your artwork with it. Happened to me. Don't let it happen to you! Take photos. ;)
These came out poorly from the first high fire, then a second high fire yielded ever so slightly better results, but finally a third firing just made me realize they weren't going to make it. I think I will still continue to experiment with this basic design element, the cut-outs that is, but I'm definitely disappointed in the final results. Mostly I'm sad that such a cool collection of shapes was destroyed by crappy glazing which was unfortunately not entirely my own fault.
You might be asking, "If it is so horrible, why are you sharing it with everyone?"
The answer is that art... ceramics incredibly so... is a process. It is a process where more often then not, we fail. A process where we are guaranteed to learn something valuable at every step. A process which develops in oneself, or at least in myself, an incredible sense of humility. I am not ashamed or afraid to make ugly things, this is the cost of my aspirations. I am only afraid I will not make beautiful things often enough. It is when this feeling creeps upon me that the lesson of humility proves invaluable.
My friend said to me this brilliant little piece the other day as we were sitting outside the studio.
"I've come to realize that you can only ask the clay to do as you wish. Sometimes it won't be able to oblige you and you must forgive the clay. In return, it will sometimes forgive you."
