I’ve reached an important milestone: my Masters show after over three years of hard work. Now I get to put what I learned from earning this degree into practice. It’s fun getting up in the morning!
And I finally created a rudimentary website as a springboard of what’s to come. Please visit!
I’m still really busy working on the final leg of my Master’s degree in ceramic arts, which culminates in my Master’s show in November. But a sideline project this summer was making all of these car- and plane-related mugs for a Wings and Wheels festival I was planning on attending as a vendor in September. Unfortunately the festival was canceled at the last minute due to illness in the family of the organizers. Now I have all these mugs! The person who runs their website was kind enough to post photos of the mugs on their website, but I thought I would post them here and on Instagram as well. Just in case, you know. Someone might need a car- or plane-related mug. I can always save them for next year’s festival, but you know. I can always make more, particularly since I’ll be done with school!
I haven’t posted much here lately because I’ve been too busy making. And preparing for my Masters show in November. Here is a sneak peek at some of my pieces. In addition to functional pieces, I’m also working on a possible sculptural narrative. I feel like I still have a long way to go, but that said, I’m heading for a two-week workshop in ceramic sculptural form at the Haystack School of Craft in Maine. Perhaps I’ll come back with new inspiration.
I used paper clay to create the impressionistic people in the sculpture pictured. So great working with paper clay. It’s pliable and light. When it survives through the bone dry and bisque stages without clumsy mishandling (and breakage) to the finished glaze product, it’s as strong as any other vitrified glazed piece.
Still working on mastering majolica and continuing to have pretty good results. I’m taking a break from lemons here (but they will be back in force, never fear!). I got interested in peas for two pasta bowls and two salad bowls. I also tried another herb shredder and was thrilled with the result. It reminded me a bit of an abstract photo I once made of an iris garden on a rainy day. On the fruit bowl, I began experimenting with combining techniques: majolica and mishima (carving out the wet clay, then inlaying underglaze to get crisp lines). The outside of the bowl is mishima. I liked it, although not necessarily the muddiness that occurred from wiping away the excess black underglaze. I came up with a fix for next time. You’ll have to wait for next time.
The shorter pots in front are meant to be a coffee set–coffee pot, filter that fits on top of the coffee pot, sugar bowl, creamers, four cups. In back are a kitchen utensil holder and a spaghetti jar (which is meant to receive a cork on top). I’m also working on a sculptural component for this project.
The Majolica white glaze is stable now (new batch) and I’m working through ideas for my masters program show later this year. I still have a long way to go in thinking all of this through. For one thing, I’m still working out the best way to render the drawings. Stay tuned.
Well, I had a good cone 6 white majolica glaze going. And then I monkeyed with it. Not a good idea, especially since I did so in a way in which I knew better than to do. It was then too thin and started crawling (i.e., not covering the clay in some spots) and it began breaking up my underglaze designs. And to add insult to injury, I used a hybrid clay mix that probably also contributed to my woes. The clay body and the glaze probably did not have compatible shrinkage rates. This is all I have to show for a month’s worth of work and some of these pieces are refired.
At the same time, I was getting used to my new (old) full-sized kiln. Big learning curve after firing for a year or so in a small test kiln. It took me some research and three firings to finally get the temperature even throughout the kiln.
So now I need to test and retest a new batch of majolica on white stoneware in the correctly firing kiln. And so go the trials and tribulations of a still learning potter.
What we have here are three pasta bowls, two herb stripper bowls, and a vase. Back to the wheel, although I may do some refiring of five other pasta bowls and a couple of other things. At the very least, they will serve as heat absorbing chunks of clay for new work placed nearby.
Ceramiclectia 