"Throwing off the hump"
In my comments yesterday, I wrote how clay speak is sort of bizarre and cryptic. Since I had already written about the “slump” mold, I decided that I would demonstrate “throwing off the hump”. Sound like an odd ritual or maybe some sort of offbeat sport? It’s actually an easy way to throw multiples of the same form from one piece of centered clay on a pottery wheel. So, it saves some time and it’s much easier to handle 2+ pounds of clay than a 1/3 lb.
In this case I decided to throw some more spoon rests. Before I began to throw, I decided what size I wanted to make them – roughly 4″ across and 1″ tall. Choose an amount of clay that you can comfortable manage. I wasn’t quite sure how many spoon rests I would get out of 2.5 pounds before I began, but now I know that I can get about 6-7 from this amount. I’ll add this to my studio journal for future reference.
Meanwhile, I did something yesterday that I’ve wanted to do for quite some time… I’ll share a photo in my next post. (^_~) (want more emoticons?)
Last night I went to a party made some excellent contacts. I gave my friend one of my new ceramic pendant necklaces which she promptly put on after I gave it to her. I was introduced to a lot of people who wanted to know where I sold these. Of course, I didn’t have any more with me other than the one I gave my friend and the one I was wearing. I could have had a trunk show right then and there if I did! Not the right time though. Major faux pas on my part – I didn’t have my business cards with me! Silly me. Then I met someone whose wife has a boutique in tony Cherry Creek in Denver. He asked me how much I was selling them for. Right now I’ve got them listed for $14.00 in my Etsy shop. He told me his wife could sell them for $70.00 – $80.00 apiece in her shop. Yikes. Maybe I’ve got them in the wrong place, wrong market.
Well, I did do something right. I’ve got his business card and a good introduction and referral to follow up with. By the way, he’s the founder and CEO of iTZADOG if you need any pet tag silencers.
I have to go now. My 1/2 marathon training group has started up again. I have to go lace up!
Have a good weekend everyone,
In A Slump
I’m in a slump, not figuratively but literally. Before you start to feel sorry for me, read on…. I turned 41 in March and my father in law mentioned that he wanted to make something for me and my new ceramic studio. He thought it would be more meaningful and useful than something store bought. Boy, was he right. I had read an article in Pottery Making Illustrated, (or was it Clay Times?) where the artist had made a slump mold out of plywood. I asked my husband if he would make one or two for me and he said sure, but in my mind, I knew it might be several months before I saw one.
So, when my father in law offered to make something for my birthday, I immediately envisioned an assortment of wood slump molds. I sketched out the shape on the all weather plywood and he cut out the shapes with a jig saw and then sanded the edges. Yesterday, I decided to try it out and report that these are going to be great! I love them, thank you Tig! I have a number of circle, square, oval and other shapes to make all types of serving ware. I think I’m going to make myself a set of dishes this year. Check out this link to see a tutorial of how to make your own slump molds. So after reading this you can see that being in a slump is sometimes a good thing!
Talk later,
Glazed Sgraffito Tray and Misc. Musings
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I’ve spent way more time today online that I should allow myself to an any given day. It’s Tuesday morning, my daughter is home sick and it’s rainy gray outside. I’m trying to psyche myself up to go out into the garage and get some work done. However, I thought I’d add a post today because I won’t get around to it tomorrow since I’ll be at the League all day (providing daughter is well enough to attend school).
I wasn’t super happy with the final results of my slab built tray above, but I learned something. I need to work on the brown slip recipe. Funny thing is artists are often times their own worst critics. A fellow ceramic artist at the league told me how much she liked my tray. I was admiring hers about which she was blasé and she mentioned a trade. Done and done.
I’m reading through a text by ceramic artist, Lana Wilson and came upon a bit of inspiration and self critique. In the front section, she poses a series of questions for the artist to answer in order to “Pursue a Personal Form”; one of which I thought I would share, as it’s relevant to all artists. The question is “If I were my own aesthetically mature teacher ten years from now what specific critique would I give on my own present work?”
If I look at my current work critically, I would have to answer that I want to:
1. Lighten the pot (wheel thrown)
2. Pay more attention to surface decoration
3. Pay attention to the edges, rims etc. of my work.
4. Continue to explore colored slip
5. Continue to develop a personal glaze palette.
6. Add to this list when I think of more considerations.
The other day, I was mentioning to a friend of mine, that I worry about trying to pass myself off as some kind of a ceramic expert on my blog. I’m not, I’m merely an artist who is willing to experiment and to share my successes and failures in a public forum. Then I read further in Lana’s text and found this quote:
“I am still learning.” -Michelangelo at age 80.
Talk later,
Cone 6 Triaxial Glaze Test
While it may look like I’m getting ready to bowl with my ceramic materials, I haven’t quite lost my mind yet! With the help from my friend and ceramic’s mentor, Mary Cay, I performed a more complicated glaze test this past week. It’s called a “Triaxial Blend” and I used Robin Hopper’s text, The Ceramic Spectrum (page 96) as a guide.
The idea behind the testing is that you get 21 different variations on 3 base glazes which opens up quite a new world of color development to the ceramic artist. It was a pretty cool experiment. For base glaze “A” I used a Val Cushing cone 6 glaze, VC Satin White Liner, pg. 130. For base glaze “B” I used another Val Cushing cone 6 glaze, D base pg. 123 and added copper carb at 3% and cobalt carb at 1%. For base glaze “C” I used Denton 6, pg. 282 from the Electric Kiln Ceramics Book and added copper carb at 2.5%. There’s a few keepers, but I’ll need to look at them a little more closely in the next week.
Meanwhile back in the real world, my Epson printer died! BooHoo. It’s been acting funny for the past month and last night when I went to print an invoice for someone, just blank pages. I tried cleaning the print heads and all the other maintenance tasks and all I get is yellow ink. Not very practical. BTW, I also replaced all the ink cartridges so it’s not low ink levels. This printer has lasted 2 1/2 years and I’m convinced that unfortunately they’re made to be disposable! Off to Costco this afternoon to replace it with another. Sigh…
Have a good week everyone!
