Home studio & throwing progress

This weekend I worked on tracking down a wheel for my home work space and some wood and supplies for shelving. Need to clear out my nook and start measuring and sawing. Ordering my wheel as soon asap and should have it by the end of the week.

I made plans with Dan to mix up some new flameware Tuesday. I want to get some stuff made with this! I must find a way to work in some time for my cookware prices. Wanting to make pizza stones, bread pans and skillets.

I didn't get to put in as much time as I hoped to this weekend. I managed to get in my 6 hours today, but extra dry clay made it difficult to wedge and get forms pulled up. I'm going to have to mix it in with a new batch tomorrow in class, and put in some extra hours tomorrow. Looking forward to some fresh clay!

I'm going to try to alter a cylinder for a different type of tea pitcher. I liked the mug in class the other day that was cut and overlaped back together. I've thrown a cylinder that widens at the top. Planning on cutting three times then overlapping. Handle will be on one side and spout will be the opposite corner. Wanting to make time to have a matching set of mugs. Hoping to have 2 orignal sketches and 2 altered, with at least 4 mugs for both ideas (8 total). But I'd really like to have 4 per pitcher. Maybe that's too ambitious.

techinical difficulties

Pics that didn't upload on the last post for some reason...

First blog of my last year as an undergrad.

For the throwing project this semester I want to push myself. I want to make more lightweight pots by paying attention to wall thickness. I am trying to be more delibrate in how my lids, handles, spouts, texture, etc. fit together to make a cohesive form.
I would like to make a few different types of iced tea pitchers. I plan on them having lids but after looking though other pictures I think I will try to make a couple without lids and a type of stopper for just the ice itself. I would like to have four mugs or tumblers for each pitcher I make. Realisticly I think I can complete 4 pitchers with 4 sets of 4 cups.
I'm hoping to carry through the forms and texture that I experimented with the past couple of semesters but plan to alter them as well. Hoping to be inspired.
Here's what I have after week 1.

Spring 2014

Working on making glazes this semester was cool this semester. I liked learning the science behind the glazes and why they look and act the way they do. I plan to further develop the glaze for my flameware I began working on this semester. And maybe even work on some different color shinos for future wildfired pieces.
I have been working on developing my throwing skills, and this semester really helped me get in more practice time to hone in on specific forms. The projects this semester gave me an opportunity to refine each category of pottery. Thining cylinder walls, creating a decent foot ring, pulling handles, etc. And figure out some placement and aesthetic issues like where the handle should attach and really think about placement of texture. All of the throwing will prove beneficial for the future.
There is always room for improvement. With that said I don't think I will be able to think of everything that needs improvement for this blog. I want to work on cleaning up the bottom of pieces, thinning walls, glazing (creating, mixing, application techniques), making some bigger pieces, applying conseptual reasoning behind why and what I make, and predicting how my flameware will warp.
As an artist I want to continue to make things. Work on refining skills, hopefully sell some pieces, have my own studio and means of firing. I hope to take what I learn through ceramics (time management, problem solving, critical thinking, and social skills) and help others see that they can improve their mental health through art. I hope to do this through art therapy.
My son, my family, my art, my housework and my alarm gets me up in the morning. I come to the studio to center myself and some clay and remind myself that no matter how crazy and off center the world (or my clay) gets, it can be shaped into something beautiful or at the very least useful with a little time, practice, and work.

Woodfire!

Its been a while since my last post. There's lots going on the last couple weeks of school. Since my last post I realized my cookers were combination forms that fit the requirements for the project. So I made 3 teapots and 2 lug handled lided cookers. Of those the biggest and in my opinion the best teapot and cooker did not survive the bisque.

The woodkiln has been fired and proved to be a fun and exciting time. Nervous and excited to fire without the kiln Whisperer. The bfa students are stepping up in the Woodfire world. I'm confident we can accomplish a firing on our own.

Work for the wood kiln overall came out awesome. I used Liz Kraus shino, stasha's crab claw, chucks shino, shaner shino, iron saturate, and some bisque flashing slip. I think I'm going to have to mix up some more chucks next semester. I really like the way it reduces to produce some grey spots with a little bit of crackeling in the shiny spots. Next semester I will also make an effort to glaze less work for tumble stacking. I liked how my peices turned out that survived the tumble. I got some great flashing and nice ash accumulation.

Flameware

This clay is so beautiful it diserves its own post. Before cone 10 and after.

Combination forms

This project has been slow to start for me. I've decided to revisit teapots. I've made two and I'm just not happy with how they turned out. They look too much like my previous teapots. While I feel the different components fit together to make better forms than my last teapos I'm just not satisfied with them. I'm going to revisit the cylinder forms I made at the beginning of the semester and see if I can't make something that relates to my mugs a little more. I will also incorporate the previously used line texture. Here's to a productive week.