This week we found out that the school was closing for 2 weeks do to the corona virus. The studios would not be available to us so we had to get our work finished up and ready to be fired before the studios were locked up. I’m not sure what that spells for ceramics but Brian said we would figure it out. I’m a little stressed out but we will see. Also our last project was cancelled and Brian said we would probably have a research project instead. He is not sure yet.
This week we unloaded and cleaned the wood fire kiln. Everything turned out nicely. We did have a few things melt. Others cracked really bad. And we had some crunches. We also did a deep clean of the studio in preparation for workshops with Ben Carter and Kate Johnston. I made a bowl this week after Ben Carter suggested I do my mishama technique differently. Instead of cut the design into the clay and filling it with slip and cutting away I’m going to cut the design into the clay, bisque it, then fill it with underglaze and wipe away the excess underglaze. I also made test tiles this week in the hopes of making and testing glaze washes. I really liked the way they looked on Alma’s white body trees.
I realized that the torso piece that I created for the choose your own adventure wasn’t great and decided to restart. I created an armature for a bust of a woman I shall create. It will have fabric textures all over. I repurposed the clay from the torso onto the new bust. I hope to create some washes and use those on this piece. We are onloading the wood fire kiln this week as well. I also found out I could combine my ceramic and drawing class final projects into one.
Remembered to write my blog this week but unfortunately didnt really remember to take photos this week. I have a bad habit of not documenting the process of my work. I don’t like let people see my stuff unfinished because it allows people to put in their opinions before I can full get my idea out and in clay. With that said though I think it would be a good idea to get into the habit of documenting my process and allowing people to see that work before it’s finished to get feedback and twerk things as I go. This week I started my choose your own adventure project. I havnt really worked a whole lot on the project because we had a wood firing at the end of this week and a lot of my energy went to get this glazed and waded for the firing as well as helping to fire it. I’m a little behind on my project but I think if I buckle down and really focus this week i can get to where I need to be.
This is my first time writing this semester because I do a terrible job of remember to do these blogs. So to get you caught up me and Tre had a collaboration piece and I also made a set of hands. Brian also helped me make slip for slip casting. I made some slip cast cups this week. I had already made 4 previous ones but those got sold in our Dirt Bags sell. Also this week we started our third project which was the choose your own adventure project. I’ve decided to do the face jug project as mine and make more of a bust. It will have lots of fabric textures and folds. Alma also had her BFA crit this week. See all of her new work has been inspiring. Especially the glaze washes she credited. They were extremely bright and not glossy if I remember correctly. I would like to create some of my own and use them on a few of my projects.
So it’s critique week. I don’t have any new photos because we saw my work as it got finished throughout the semester. Everyone is scrambling to finish everything and gettlit ready for the end of the semester. From what I’ve seen so far everyone stuff looks really good. There was a lot of experimentation this semester and can’t wait to see the results as well as a few people perfecting already established themes in their work. It has been an amazing semester and can’t wait to hopefully practice on the wheel over the break and start brainstorming stuff for my BFA classes. Excited to be done with this semester but can’t wait for next semester to start.
So this week i made a back up for my thrown and altered project so I didn’t run into the same issue as I did over the summer if my sculptural figure explodes. She is currently being bisqued. Unfortunately we had to fire her in two pieces but let’s hope she makes it through the firing. The triangle piece is a commissioned piece. I’m experimenting with deeper set cuts in my pieces. The final glazes are suppose to alternate matte black and glossy black. It will be a nice experience as far as texture goes.
