Today I got to take my final piece out of the salt kiln. I was very nervous because I have had bad experiences with the salt kiln. The salt creates a beautiful finish onto bare clay and interacts beautifully with certain glazes. For this piece I chose the Oribe glaze that many others had tried in the salt kiln so I figured it would work and it did and came out exactly as I wanted it to. This is my final a biggest (about 12 inches in diameter) piece of the semester so I was really hoping that it would be the best piece and in my opinion it is.
I was supposed to be focusing this semester on hand building projects with low-fire earthenware clay which is red clay.
In the end I got tired of taking the time to hand build and threw some red clay on the wheel and was very pleased, but when I glazed it I wanted them to be clear glazed but the glazed freaked out and came out purple-ish.
But after I was done throwing these on the wheel I still had some more red clay left so I made a variety of bowls.
and now my cart is very full of lots of ceramics...
In the end I got tired of taking the time to hand build and threw some red clay on the wheel and was very pleased, but when I glazed it I wanted them to be clear glazed but the glazed freaked out and came out purple-ish.
This semester I started practicing drawing people. I was very intimidated at first because I had never really drawn people and to do it in front of other people made me nervous but a group of art students got together with one of the professors and set up a two hour session once a week for a model to come in and pose for us. It took a while for me to build up the courage to actually draw with these people but eventually I decided to take advantage of this opportunity and eventually I became in charge of the whole thing and was able to pick which models came, which meant I got to have my friends come. I am very pleased with the progression I have had throughout the semester and now I am prepared to take the figure drawing class in the fall.
I was very busy making lots of cups and such and I have finally been able to enjoy the final result. I am very excited because everything came out beautifully. Which is great because my second attempt at the saggar firing failed again and was highly discouraging.
Generally I would be selling all these but I feel like I would much
rather spread love so I have decided to give the majority of these to
my friends. I does some what pain me to let go of my favorite pieces
but I think it will be worth it. Plus, I am going to be making a lot
more in the fall and I am assuming that they will just get better next
semester.
Some of the insides of the mugs came out pretty sweet, especially the one that is red inside, which looks like some organ exploded in.
My last great excitement was that I glazed two pieces in one of the glazes that I had made. I was my favorite but it is a cone 5 glaze which means I would have to fire the pieces separately from the rest. One of the good things about this is that I get to use the little kiln which heats up really fast and cools down really fast, so that meant I started the kiln in the morning and in the evening I had two finished pieces in my hands.
I received a survival kit for my final exams from my family. It was a great surprise and very welcome, but I don't think I will be able to eat it all myself but that's ok 'cause I have lots of people I can share the love with, except that I did eat the oatmeal cream pie that was on top right when I opened the box. Thanks a lot Laura, Cristal, Dawn, and Mom!
My first attempt at my saggar firing failed rather miserably in that nothing happened. Things that might have gone wrong were: 1. was fired too hot and any reactions were burned away, 2. the saggars were not sealed tight enough, and 3. there might not have been enough combustible items inside the saggars. So I am going to fire all there pieces again correcting all these mistakes. This time I am firing it to cone 015, rather than cone 010. I am sealing the saggars with pieces of kiln blanket that should create an air tight seal. And I have put in more sawdust, twigs, orange peels, and used espresso grounds into the saggars. They are in the kiln right now cooling off. This is taking longer than anticipated and I am really eager to open them up and see what happened.
Today I spent many hours in the ceramic studio working hard but without too much to show. The bulk of my time was spent creating these saggars. These are the vessels that I will be putting my other ceramic pieces into with combustible materials and different metals to create beautiful colors and textures on the clay. These big bucket size monstrosities are not pretty because they will never be seen and are only for firing purposes, so spending a whole day making them was not all that reward, plus I had to explain what they were to every person who walked into the studio. While I was waiting for the saggars to dry enough before I could take them off their buckets I finished a teapot that I had made in class on Thursday. I cleaned the surface so that there was no bumps and then I burnished which gave it that very reflective surface without using a glaze.
Every year my dorm holds a banquet where the girls that live in Gillette get to ask boys out to a fancy dinner where we all get to dress up. My group of friends decided not to go as couples but as one very large group, 20 in total. It was fun dressing up and spending time with friends. We even got to dance a little.
Show us a photo of cherry blossoms in bloom.... Or, if you don't have cherry blossoms where you live, show us a photograph of any flower in bloom!
I love cherry blossoms. I love their soft pink color and the contrast that has against the dark branches. I especially love the way the petals fall in a gentle breeze and create a soft blanket of pink on the ground below. I also enjoy that the represent spiritual beauty and that is why I tattooed one on my neck.
