Oh snap.

So what do you know meagans already behind on blogs. Bah...one day ill het it right. I've been working on thesis show and ideas this week. Lots of scribblings of concepts and possible work for the show. Also making clay. I've found a new clay making buddy and we are getting it done 3 batches of clay made in two settings of 1 hour and thirty mins a piece...having a buddy makes for some quick clay making.
I've decided to construct a how to use booklet for my tajines and flameware in general, things like what you can and can't do with them along with a couple recipes. I should have tajines out before the end of the week with the booklet and instructions on how to photograph finished dishes for the project. Next week I plan to begin photographing volunteers holding mugs and accumulating photos for the project. As well as making new objects, as the ones from last semester are not quite show worthy in my opinion, and I'd like to have all the kinks worked out.

Oh this week.

Missed a blog during firing. Oops. I'd consider the Woodfire a success because I didn't lose many pieces. I used more celadon in this firing and really liked the results from that. Most of the shino turned too orange this firing. I was hoping for more white clear with dark marks like in previous firings. I'm not sure if it was the reduction cool or the placement of my stuff or that the glaze was just thinner this time. I lost most of daltons drawing so the leftovers that didn't make it in the woodfire were fired with cone 10 as I would have put them in the woodfire. I wanted to have some peices that showed the drawings since they mostly disappeared and didn't want to risk losing them again.
I'm in the process of making teeter totters for BFA. I've collected a tire and lots of logs and driftwood for them and have to have a few made for crit Tuesday to get feedback for my meeting with KMAC curator on wed. I really need to make a few more pieces before wed as well to Gove joey some options. Wanting to have a few mugs plates and bowls made with colored mason stained wedged porcelain. I'm thinking the colors might appeal to him more displayed with some of daltons playdoh pieces. Well find out.

Sam Marissa and I have formed a group for the installation project. I'm trying to come up with a project we can do that won't require us to make a lot of new stuff so that we can get more work ready for the next Woodfire and the BFA show while creating something we can talk about in the future that still applies to all of our work. I've considered a few things:
1) we have clay taking over and enveloping different parts of campus...maybe some of the clock tower maybe some part of some campus signs (something that would represent the academic) ....this would reflect the concept of clay taking over our lives and our schooling.
2) we use dried scraps and leftover pieces that didn't make the cut (sam's giant pots that cracked all to hell and scrap post-it that have cracked and chipped and broken and cracked fired pieces from the woodfire of mine. I also have lots of trimmings and cups that got too dry to trim and attach handles to that I've crushed to fit in my scraps trash bag. The concept for this one is still pretty lose ill have to talk to the group more to formulate a concept that more directly applies to all of us. For me it would be using what's already been used and rejected to make something new and exciting. This would give rejected clay new life and a second chance. I think this could apply to all of us because clay in its natural form in the earth isn't generally thought of as useful (i know sam has been finicking with it but) you can't really plant flowers in it or start a garden where ever it naturally occurs because its too hard to dig up and collects the water instead of the plant. I'm thinking using something that's rejected (referencing natural clay...although a few different clay types will be used) that has again been rejected (because of cracking or holes being trimmed into the underside of a bowl etc) and reclaiming them as something that can still be used or that is still significant. This would be saying that even though something does not meet the requirements for the originally intended thing... those pieces still tell a story of process, learning, and trying...something all three of us do on a daily basis. As far as where to install I'm thinking somewhere where these scraps can take over. Again saying these processes take over the work and our lives. Or having them simply on a pedistal saying that even these discarded things are important to all of our making processes.

Still tinkering with more ideas in my mind. I say if we all have two different ideas it should be easy to come up with something. Waiting to hear ideas from the rest of the group.

Here's a few pics from the past couple weeks. I've already posted pics of tajines. Here's the woodfire. And one of my wood hunting excursion for the BFA this weekend. I'm still working on sanding and will have pics up of project pieces after the firing asap.

Tajine and Woodfire

I've had a lot going on this week. Trying to get everything that I want woodfired made and working on tajines. I've made two so far because of everything else I made for the Woodfire. I like the tajine on the left in the pic. I like the wider top instead of it being skinny but I want to make one with the lid walls straighter instead of bowed out. Ill try to make the next two like that. Then move on to a double tajine or a tajine with a divider in the middle. I really hope to get some mini microwaveable stoneware tajines. I'm thinking something like a soup bowl I made a while back with a lug handle but with a tajine type lid. The lids have proved challenging to trim because of the tall cone shape and I broke a piece of the rim off of one. I was able to reattach it but I'm not sure if it'll hold. Flameware is supposed to be finnikie so we'll see.

I was also wanting to make something for bfa that correlates with the color of playdoh and how Dalton tends to mix the colors. If I choose to use those pieces I'd like some of my pieces to incorporate the same colors and twisted color patters that come with mixing playdoh. I saw an article a while back about layering colored blocks of clay and compressing them with a rolling pin to make slabs. Then using the slabs to lay over a built form. I might try something like that. Or just wedging some different color clay together and throw something with it. Ill probably just stick to mugs bowls or plates. I need more plates so those should be first on the list.

Past for the future.

For this project I will be making tajines. Cooking is something that I do every day and will most likely continue to do in the future. While I cannot find an origin date, I know the tajine has been around for a while and originated in Morocco, Maghreb, and North Africa. This cooking apparatus of the past is still being used today. I will "modernize" this form of cooking by incorporating elements from my life that will remain a prevelant force in my future. My son, being a huge part of my past, present, and future will draw on the finished tajine thus connecting its past to my future. In further thinking about this, I have considered taping off some negative areas on the pot so the entire thing is not covered in scribbles (see photo for sons drawing example and photo for neg. space reference) while adding a little something extra to look at. I have considered further ways to bring the tajine up to modern times by making individual smaller tajines for the single person or the loner. Flameware would be nice for baking, stovetop, or the grill while a stoneware mini-jine would be great for the microwave further bringing it into the present/future. I've also considered a double tajine like the one below for microwave cooking of eggs (ew. But something my brother insists tastes just as good) or even for making two dishes at the same time for families with picky eaters that may insist their carrots be cooked separately from their meat. I've already quoted 4 full size flameware tajines to fufill project requirements, but would really like to make some individual ones out of stoneware before Woodfire.

Sorry this is so long. I got inspired while  looking for reference pics.

Goal met.

My goal for the project is met. I have made two chip and dip servers. I want to make one more before crit. I've found time to be crucial when it comes to cutting and bending the rim. I think I need to make taller walls on outer platter to better connect to shorter inside bowl. The shorter walls are giving a nice wave profile of the rim. I think I like it but need to make the other just to make sure. The plates are done. I've considered making them a little bigger. Ill probably make more before the woodfiring and after crit. I also tried to bend the rim out but decided against it. I felt the rim bending in on the plates related more to the platter.

Transformation

In all my excitement of finishing up the previous project and coming up with plans for the next, I forgot to post last week. Tea pitchers turn out ok. I got some great feedback from crit and really want to make some more before the end of the semester. Next time I do these I will probably pull the handle and the ice cube catcher at the same time to better insure even thickness and marks on both parts. I've also figured out the forms look way better taller rather than more wide, and that the rule of thirds is something to keep in mind.
The transformation project really fits in nicely with my them and ideas for the fall BFA show. I will allow my son to inspire me to transform my work as well as my new home work setting. Through exploration excersizes with my son I've found he enjoys very basic activities with the clay. Cutting it, suishing it, poking holes in it, and stamping it. This has led me to revisit an older idea that I attempted a few semesters ago where handles for mugs were cut out of the rim and bent back. My home setting, with frequent family gatherings, has already inspired me to make objects that can be used for food. Whether their used to eat out of or cook in. I want to further explore that and make serving dishes. I would like to end up with one good serving dish that consists of a big platter with a smaller bowl inside for chips and dip, connected by the cut and bent rim of the bigger platter. I am aiming for 6 small individual plates with rim cut and bent for thumb handles to better hold plates.

Below is a pic of a greenware tea pitcher, a previously made mug, and a chip and dip serving platter that shows placement of where I plan to place the dip bowl inside the serving platter.

Tea pitchers

Slowly and steadly completing tea pitchers. I already have two finished that need to be bisqued and 4 mugs to match them. I worked on overlapping two others to make a three point pitcher but didn't like how they turned out. My walls twards the base were too thick to overlap nicely. I'm worried about cracking. I'm considering finishing a handle for one although I hate it.
I threw my first 10 lb ball of clay tonight and really liked the hight I got from it but it was hard to throw the walls nice and thin without it crashing and burning. For this one I will pull the spout of the rim then attach an ice cube catcher similar to the one below. I want to get one more 10lb pitcher thrown and would like to have 4 more mugs but Im not sure that will happen. Hoping for the best.