So I had what felt like a million projects to be glazed this week so even though I threw one bowl and one mug, it still didn't feel like I got as much done this week. Additionally my ability to make art was somewhat hindered by the kiln catching fire on Thursday and the subsequent closing of the ceramics room on Friday. However I am one of the lucky ones who bagged up their projects on Thursday and therefore neither the bowl or the almost finished mug (pictured) will be ruined come Monday. Thank goodness. So this mug I feel as though I should explain. If you can't read it it says, "should I kill myself or drink another cup of coffee?" -2K14. I realize how morbid this quote is but in my defense it's supposed to be a tad ironic. The 2k14 is my best friend Maile and my way of writing 2014 when we're trying to be ironic and this quote, however weird and depressing... Sort of describes how we feel day to day. The stres of AP classes and college deadlines paired with strong senioritis, life is too hard to handle and we just constantly take breaks to drink coffee and escape from pressure. So don't be sad! Have some coffee! And tip your firemen!
Well I had a mini epiphany this week that I'm leaving for college soon and I want to bring some mugs and bowls with me to college from this glorious class that I will be able to use in my dorm and all the people who see me will be like "Omg who is that girl with those awesome cups?" and then they'll want to come hang out with me and I'll make lots of new friends. So I made some mugs and decorated them. And I talked to Ratchet and he's going to be making some new glazes so hopefully they will look interesting! I'm excited. Also elephant in the room, I've made so many extra projects at this point that I'm not even bothering to turn them all in but... I haven't made my second plate yet. I know, I know it needs to get done. But to be honest I hate making plates so much. They're so dumb and I've already ruined 4 of them so I'm trying but just... cut me some slack. Also even though it's not pictured I made the biggest bowl ever this week. I gave it some simple moon spirals and now it is getting glazed. Pictures will be posted eventually. This week I worked on art in 3D. The wise and beautiful Ms. Heideman advised me that to take my art to the next level I shouldn't just draw in the clay but carve it out to provide depth and space where previously there was just a smooth 2D surface. It was really fun taking my patterns to the next level but to be honest it was exhausting carving these patterns. With the exception of the rightmost bowl these each took at least 2 hours and even though they will probably look great when they're done it was more effort than I will probably put in again. But hey! It was a learning experience! I learned that carving takes soooo much time! This was the week of porcelain! I love it so much and this week I devoted all of my time to throwing cylinders of porcelain. I realized that since it's so different from the types of clay I'm used to that I should relearn throwing from the beginning using porcelain. So this week I made cylinders mostly and a bowl. I admit that oftentimes it was very frustrating because porcelain is so brittle that I broke 3 projects that I threw the day after I had thrown them. But in the end I still got 4 cylinders done (two not shown) and a bowl and I carved some pretty henna tattoo designs into them (I don't claim to have come up with these, I found them on the internet). Overall it was a fun week and I'm very much enjoying playing with porcelain. Glazing next week hopefully! No Pictures unfortunately because I made tons of new stuff and now it is all either in a kiln or partially glazed and I don't want to ruin the surprise! So for now I will just say that everything is turning out magnificently. I still need to make two plates because I've been having so much fun making random bowls and vases that I haven't had the time to do actual assignments. Next week (after break) you should see from me: A glazed inverse bowl/vase (first blog post), a glazed porcelain bowl, some glazed red projects (the ones from last post), some fired mugs (two sea mix and one red clay), an additional tall project fired, a porcelain vase (probably start glazing but I have a plan for that one so be patient), AND a fired "goblet" (my name for a weirdly shaped bowl I made this week). So yeah, I've been busy. Sorry for no pictures. Be patient.
This week will forever be known as the week that I discovered all the different types of clay and I must say, now that I know what's available to me I may never go back to grey clay. This week was also one of the most productive and stressful weeks of ceramics I've ever had because since I was so excited to get to use all these new forms of clay, I made A LOT of stuff and then had too foot A LOT of stuff and next week I'll be carving, making handles and hopefully glazing A LOT of stuff. But such is life. On Monday and Tuesday actually, I hadn't discovered the new clay so I made a tall project (not pictured) which is now being fired. On Wednesday though, I found the red clay and in one period I had thrown 4 things: Two bowls, one cylinder and one plate (which we haven't officially learned to make yet but which I wanted to try). Then Thursday I footed them all and after school I threw three more things: a porcelain vase, a porcelain bowl and a cup/cylinder out of sea mix. I love all these new types of clay. The red clay is extremely messy but so soft and easy to center. The sea mix is very similar to the red clay and I hear it turns bright white when fired. The porcelain was by far my favorite though despite it being so different from what I'm used to. It was leathery and soft and harder to throw with but easier to make thinner than the other clay. These projects all look simple now, but I assure you by next week they'll all be handled, carved and hopefully glazed! This week I worked on an extra project that I am calling my "Inverted Vase". The idea for this wide vase came from a doodle I'd had in my head for a while, with parallel lines and sharp corners and I became intrigued with the idea of making a 3D representation of this doodle on the surface of something I'd thrown. So as soon as I made something decent, I got to work. Starting with a flat surface, I first carved a line around the edge to mark where the lines would all stop (top left). Then I used a pin tool to carve the basic design (top right). Since it's sharper, it makes thinner lines and if I mess up, it's easy to scratch out and restart. Then I used a ball tool to make half of the lines thicker and deeper (bottom left). This gives the carved appearance to some of the lines. Then lastly I made many thin snakes of clay and molded them into the rest of the lines (bottom right). The contrast in the parts coming out of the clay and the parts going into it creates an interesting effect. I'm excited to glaze it next week! |
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