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Find me more frequently for the time being at Folk-Art-Life.
Showing posts with label work in progress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work in progress. Show all posts
A couple of weekends ago I tried my hand again at the wheel... it's been almost two years... Can you believe it? Well... Navajo Wheel is butter, which makes it so delicious but also so cantankerous if you're out of practice. This, sadly, is all I got in about an hour's worth of throwing. They are still in my damp-box, waiting for some white slip mishima, growing mold, and probably structurally deteriorating because of it.
We'll see. I'm kind of going through a clay-oriented chrysalis-stage at the moment. Stick with me, though... there might be wings on the other side.
So... just a little update on what I am working on now. I consider these studies for what will eventually develop into textile paintings of sorts. And I see these also branching off and growing into ceramic scrolls... Have you ever considered how similar embroidery and mishima are?
Molly Hatch, I might have finally found the proper application for your fancy technique.
P.S. Folks, don't worry. I have not forgotten about clay. I just have been a bad studio girl lately. More projects coming soon.
Okay, so can you tell, I've totally been sick for the last three days. Hence my mass-posting of things I've been meaning to post for some time. No pressure to read it all at once. Take your time to peruse, it might be a while again before I have time to post. Who knows.
Anyway, I wanted to share a little doodling I've been up to in my Surface Design class. We've been doing a whole heck of a lot of stenciling... Which is cool. I actually really like the motifs I've come up with so far. It started out with a bunch of automatic drawing (top) do loosen up and get some pattern ideas out on the board. Truth be told, I think my intructor was just trying to gauge where the everyone in the class was on the uptightness level and let people adjust a bit to his teaching style. But that's just me. He, he.
Sampling started with some pigment (screen printing ink) and over-dyeing. I kind of cheated and pre-dyed my fabric swatches with thickened dye. We were supposed to be experimenting with different stenciling techniques many of which you can read about in the book, Printing by Hand by Lena Corwin. I employed the traditional stencil cut from plastic film method and the stencil cut from waxed butcher paper method. I loved the clean lines of the butcher paper stencil. Can you tell which part is from that method? Because I'm really into this compositional thing at the moment I added some embroidered images that were inspired by an old magazine article from 1951. I'm really digging the way these are starting to look like textile paintings. And they remind me of some of my work from last semester.
These last two pieces were my second set of samples. Here we were testing different dyeing methods. I painted the fabrics with one color of fiber reactive dye (used for cotton and other bast fibers) and then experimented with some thickened discharge applied with a squeeze bottle quite like I apply my underglaze designs in ceramics. I'm hoping to stitch on to these samples as well, but I'd like to use some sketches of children from old family photographs. I'll share as soon as I do.
Our newest sample assignment is all about stamping and very basic repeat pattern. I'm not a basic repeat kinda gal so this might be difficult. I have died my samples lovely shades of lime and aqua, however, which I'm excited about. And I also found that the ends of cheap plastic thread spools make a lovely lotus root-esque stamp or something similar to an okra print. This might work it's way into my clay somehow. Yes?
Some wet work in progress. I'm hoping that teapot makes it all the way with out twisting the wrong way in the firing process. I bumped the handle while putting something into the damp box and had to reposition it. I think it might totally ruined but we'll see. I made up some thick slip for slip trailing, I'm excited about this new possibility. Also I'm in love with the cruet set I finished a few days ago. In love.
Question, though, is that handle too big? Is the spout too small?
-they look less like Kiefer-Schroeder-Host knock-offs post-firing
-nothing exploded
-I like the crayola colors
-the giant bowl didn't crack
The bad news?
-they're boring as all hell
-I obviously did not put the same number of coats of slip on the Navajo Wheel pieces so they look incongruent and goofy as all hell
-a couple pieces actually did crack
-my Laguna glazes disappeared on the test pieces
So- back to the drawing board, wherever that thing is.
Does anyone have experience firing Laguna mid-range glazes to ^6? I got a couple of matte glazes to try out, but I think taking them to ^6 defeated the matte quality and the color. What do you all think?
Also does anyone have experience with enamels? Like, how do they work exactly?
I felt like I had the most amazing a-ha moment on last night at the studio. Like I'd struck some kinda gold decorating some bisqued white stoneware pieces. Then the more I looked at them I felt like they resembled something too familiar. When I realized how closely the patterns resembled Emily Schroeder's work, I felt this cringe in my gut. Now, it's no secret that I am a huge fan of Schroeder, but I wasn't intending to mimic her work, nor was I even thinking of her work when I was decorating the pieces above. Somehow, though, it still seems I've channeled her designs into my work. I'm not really into this... and hopefully this is just one stage in the development of my own style. I'm still disappointed a bit though.
How similar do these pieces look to you? Am I being a total nut or does it look like I'm totally ripping someone off? What is a young artist to do when this happens?
Work in the studio is coming along slowly. I have a new, revised list of pieces to make. That is, all the pieces I failed to make over the summer and then some added bonuses. Like 30 added bonuses. Up top are the cream and sugar set and the final four cups for my whiskey set. Also a close up of my new signature stamp (it's too big but whatever for now), a salt cellar with spoon, some three-dimensional doodles, and some stamps. I also tested some beads I had laying around for textures and got some pretty awesome results. A trip to the bead store might be called for.
Update: My stamp is too big. I know. It is also too -there-. Until I make a new signature stamp I think I might just stamp the bottom rims of my piece. Also, I came up with a winning surface design tonight me thinks. I'll share as soon as I get the new pieces out of the kiln.
How do you all feel about signatures? Should they be visible or hidden? Why do you think so either way?
Tonight I loaded one of the kilns and embarked on my first real glaze firing at Red Brick Studio. I'm so nervous, but also extremely excited. Unloading will happen promptly tomorrow evening around 7. Eek! Can't wait to share what happened.
Also these are a couple of test pots of Leslie's U-Series underglazes (at ^6). These things are super amazing and most fire all the way to ^10 with very little change in color. Does anyone have any suggestions for another underglaze series that hold their brilliancy that high?
Okay, so I know I haven't been around... And I know excuses are relatively meaningless, but I have been really, really busy.
For one, I'm busting my ass in my beginning painting class. The photos below are some 'work in progress' shots for my final. They still have a far way to go, but I'm working hard. They are due Tuesday afternoon. Yikes!
Also, I've got an installation/sculpture that I'm building in my contemporary fiber forms class. Don't know how that is really gonna get done, especially with the poli-sci paper I have to write this week.But I suppose I'll manage somehow.
Oh yes, also, this Tuesday I'll be firing my first glaze firing at Red Brick. (Well, it's really my second if you count the test kiln I fired last week, which ran for 72 hours before shutting off unbeknownst to me because the speed dial is cranky, also unbeknownst to me.) I don't have much to fill it with, but I want to take some pictures to send in for a scholarship opportunity, the deadline of which is on Wednesday.
Oh yes, and we leave on the 19th for a three week road trip to Montana, then Texas, then New Mexico, and back. I'm already looking forward to coming home. :)
I leave you with this great little video to warm your winter hearts.
See. I'm doing something in the studio. I am in desperate need of some studio additions, however. Number one- I've got to build those counters. I just can't function without that space anymore. Two- more shelves, no ifs ands or buts about it. Three- must purchase large plastic storage bins to fill with plaster and make damp boxes!
Oh yes. And I need to make a clay order. Phew! Whoever said potting was easy was a giant liar.
Well, hello again friends. I know, I know. I fell off the face of the earth for a while there and you are probably wondering why, but that's a boring story that no one really wants to read about, so... I'm just going to jump right back in and tell you a little about what I've been up to at the studio.
I had grandiose plans for this summer about how I would use my studio and time to push out a junk load of work. I got around to making the list at least...
6 mugs
6 tumblers
6 espresso cups
6 bowls
6 plates
2 vases
1 whiskey set (including 1 decanter and 6 cups)
1 sake set (including 1 bottle and 6 cups)
1 salt and pepper set
1 cream and sugar set
1 teapot
1 spice well
1 serving platter
1 serving bowl
1 pitcher
I figured this would be a fair amount of output for a person who only worked her day job 2-3 days a week. But alas... the fall semester finally rolled around and I found that I had only managed to get about 35 pieces or so to the greenware level. But I'm not discouraged, I'm going to keep on truckin'! I've only got 26 pieces left on the list to get to greenware... then it's just designing the surface and glazing. Though one should never underestimate the time it takes for such stages.
I'm really enjoying working in this style and am exited to start seeing some finished products soon.
In more news, I've signed on for a Red Brick group show next June which gives me plenty of time to bust out a fair amount of work to choose from and I'm hoping to schedule another Red Brick group show maybe for late winter, earlier next year. We'll see how things go. I've got a very heavy load this semester... Wanna hear it? I know you do. Well, aside from a boring government requirement that I'm finally squashing I've got three, yes three, studio courses. Painting 1 with Lisa Soloman, Weaving 1 with Vic De La Rosa, and Contemporary Fiber Forms with Victoria May. Awesome group of professors, I know, and I'm really excited about the work I'm going to do this semester under their tutelage.
And another reminder, if you are interested to see what I'm doing when I'm not caked in mud, visit my other blog, Everyday Object. I've really got to find a way to streamline these two blogs somehow... What do you think? Would it absolutely bust your skull to read more than just clay related awesomeness on (Mud)Bucket? Hmmm... I'm just thinking about the future of things and my sanity. Any input is appreciated.
Okay, last post today, I swear. I just got back from the studio and wanted to show you some of the stuff I've been working on. I really like the idea of the 'pinched' pot at the moment and of these 'pierced' rock shaped handles. They are really fun to make and I like the juxtapostiton of the rough shap and the exact 'holes' and geometric patterns, plus if all goes well, the colors will be bright and pop against a light stoneware body. Then I might try a lustre on top, like maybe silver on the handles... we'll see.
One trouble I can't figure out is how to keep fingernail marks out of the equation. Can anyone help me out with that? The ridiculous thing is- beware TMI- I'm a nail-biter so my nails are kept impossibly short. I have no idea how to create that exaggerated pinched texture without getting nail crescents in there.
So you wanted to see some stuff I've been working on...
Well here it is. It's a totally new direction as far as form goes but I hope to surface it similarly so some of my other work you've seen. These are perfume bottles and are inspired by antique Chinese snuff bottles.
