Finally Throwing Again

    Last week, I did a lot of painting on the pots I threw back at the beginning of March right before the pandemic lockdown. This allowed me to think more critically about how to get my pieces done in less time than usual, which I believe I wrote about in my last post. I am still keeping up with my details and patterns, and have some new floral motifs in my sketchbook to try out as well. 

    Another suggestion from my critique was to use white clay, which I got some of from Mudworks this past Friday. I am trying out a clay called Little Loafers and I am absolutely in love with it- there is less grog than the clay I was using before, it feels like porcelain but is not as short as porcelain, and also does not have as high of a shrinkage as a porcelain I used to use- 14% !

    Yesterday I woke up and went right to my studio to throw with this new clay, and practiced making forms that were the same size and shape by measuring with a wooden rib. I threw 8 pieces in total and they are not as even as my goals, but they are much closer than I have been in the past. 

Exact Measurement

My critique went very well. I received lots of feedback on where else I can draw inspiration from, as well as advice on how to make my print and ceramic styles more cohesive. I got the idea to use a white stoneware rather than a terracotta, in order to make my colors appear brighter on my ceramic pieces. I was also given inspiration to experiment with paper clay to bring in printmaking elements to my work. In printmaking, rather than printing in a gradient, I want to experiment will cell coloring and doing  CMYK process of screen printing. 

This week, I have been working on making my measurements of my drawings more exact- 45 degree angles, using a ruler and a protractor to determine where each line would go mathematically. While I enjoy the uneven "doodle" style of my pieces, I really would like to see them as more mathematical, just to see which style works best.

Critique Week

 This week I have spent preparing for my BFA critique. I've been attempting to photograph the work I am making as it would be used in its environment. I have figured out that I want to make functional objects because I want people to be able to consistently use art in their daily lives, and that I want to design a line of handmade products. These products would be artwork that can be used in the home, like dinnerware, or printed products such as folders, notebooks, and other stationary.

During my critique I hope to receive feedback on the level of success of my patterns and whether or not my prints are cohesive with my ceramic work, because one of my goals now is to create a website for my product line and to design enough products by the holidays to have the start of a brand.

Printmaking Patterns

 This week, I worked on three projects! I designed a pencil case, envelopes, and match boxes. I am currently in the process of gluing the envelopes up and have realized that they do not follow USPS envelope guidelines, so I plan on redesigning them this week so they can be mailed. I also work on pencil cases, have hand sewn a couple and then used a sewing machine for the rest. I am working on new package/bag product designs for printmaking as well, hopefully soon making packaging for my ceramic work in the same style. 

As for ceramic work, I have been cleaning up new forms as well as painting bisque ware with underglaze before they go through their second and third firings. My critique is coming up in about 10 days so I will be working hard to get these pieces done, as well as some packaging they can be placed in.

Progress

 The past few weeks I've been busy creating stencils and sketches for functional printmaking projects, as well as pondering what to make next in ceramics. My goal this semester is to bring these two mediums together in having the same style.

The stencils I have been working on for printmaking include an envelope, matchbox, sunglasses case, and a pencil case. These each have patterns that have made an appearance on some of my ceramic pieces. The two pieces that I am making out of leather and fabric will have cast aluminum buttons, which I recently learned to make on Saturday this week. The process was simpler than I thought, and the mold for the pour was made of tightly packed green clay and sand, and the aluminum took about 15 minutes to become its liquid state.

Post-Lockdown Startup

The past few months without access to a studio have been very challenging. There are countless sketches in my journals for projects I have been wanting to make, but have been unable to. At the beginning of what was supposed to be a two-week hiatus from school, I took home some leather hard pieces and carved them to prepare to be bisqued. I will hopefully be getting these in the kiln soon.

The semester has started, and I have been tasked with creating a project. I chose to create a "resting place" for objects that don't usually have the comfort of a customized space. I have made several sketches, but am trying to figure out which piece I want to make. 

Ceraminanigans

I have finally gotten my clay studio set up in my garage, complete with my new kickwheel, clay, reclaim buckets, throwing tools, and plenty of natural sunlight (pictured below is my dad trimming part of the rod that connects the two wheels). I am still working out how to throw on this new wheel and create pieces that are evenly thrown. I have been making sketches of patterns I want to use on some new pieces as well as drawing different forms I want to experiment with. I also attempted coil building because I enjoy the texture flat coils create, however I have always struggled with coil building, so I want to figure out how to make something look like it has been coil built.

I have also kept working on my colored pencil drawing series and hope to complete them digitally with poetry that goes along with each part. I really have enjoyed doing research about the work that I am making about fruit and women in society.

Studio Shutdown

April 4, 2020

Over the past few weeks, I have been struggling with the anxiety of not having a studio to work with clay. Ceramics is the medium for me that relieves all of my stress and keeps my depression at a manageable level, and without it, I have been feeling my mood deteriorate. Although I have been using other media, I have realized that I have a higher emotional need for clay than I do for other materials. In order to relieve some of this stress, I was able to get a kickwheel from a friend- Larry Beisler, whose wife, Sandy,  I worked very closely with at the Arts Council of Southern Indiana when I was in high school. When I went to pick up the wheel with my dad, Sandy had me come inside and showed me her collection of ceramic bowls- one even made by my friend Ollie Reed, who was a post baccalaureate student the year I started doing ceramics.
In the week since I got this wheel, my dad helped me to build it, I ordered some Speckled Turtle from Mudworks, and got some sketches together for what new imagery I want to put on my pots. I have also been using colored pencil to plan out some lithographs I plan to make in the fall.