Delayed
Bags-o-clay
I swung by the guild on Monday to clean. It is a bit cruel that I haven’t been taking advantage of the guild’s studio space, yet since we’re a co-op, I’m still required to clean about every 4 months or so. I know – who’s fault is that? No need to rub it in. Anyway…while I was there, another member was using the electric slab roller (what a luxury) to create slabs to take home where she is going to work at her leisure. She had quite the system in place, boards, plastic wrap, etc. etc. and it got me thinking about whether I might like to do the same. I love hand building, and have hand rolled my slabs in the past – something I actually enjoy doing. At any rate, I decided not to use the electric slab roller, but I did bring home yet another 25# bag of clay – this time a white ^10 stoneware called “Dover” which is now sitting unopened next to the bag of ^6 porcelain. I might as well start working at ^10 for some work since the guild has 2 large gas car kilns.
I do have a plan. It’s just taken me awhile to arrive at a course of action. Making a decision is probably my weakest skill – I tend to deliberate and then deliberate my deliberations before I can move forward. Once I make a decision, I rarely look back. So here’s my dilemma – I need a fairly unobtrusive, comfortable and convenient place to work. Last weekend, my husband asked me when I was finally going to open the clay I brought home a couple of weeks ago, and I mentioned using the laundry room in the basement as a quasi temporary/permanent space where I can leave work in progress out and to work during the winter months. It’s warm, has running water, has shelving, counter space and it’s not precious, so it won’t matter if I get clay on the floor/walls etc. I think I might even bring my wheel inside which is going to require a little extra muscle power.
The laundry room isn’t exactly ideal, but it’s a start. I had planned to get it all set up yesterday and then…I got a small job offer that I couldn’t refuse. I’m updating/adding content to a WordPress website this week. Who would have thought that by teaching myself how to use and customize WordPress for my website out of financial necessity a few years ago, that I could actually earn a little extra income on the side? So, clay is going to have to wait for the weekend. But, I had better not wait too long – my last semester of school starts on Tuesday.
Happy New Year!
Happy 2011!
Hello everyone – long time no talk…unless of course you’re on Facebook and then you’ve been subjected to snippets & nonsense that pertains to my life all along. I’ll get to the point of this post:
I’ve been ruminating how best to return to clay while still attending school full time. It’s something that nags at me…but don’t get me wrong – I’m really happy to be in school studying landscape architecture. It feels right and there’s so much potential. Guess what? I’m halfway through the program and have only 3 semesters left until May 2012 – my expected graduation date. Given the current economy, however, I may very well end up toiling (happily) back in the pottery studio upon graduation with a few extra letters behind my name. Let’s face it – I’ve lost momentum in the clay studio after returning to school and now it seems right to start thinking about pottery again since I’m getting better at juggling multiple activities every day. It could also be that I’m currently on winter break and am starting to get bored with 3 weeks remaining till the start of the semester. ;D
The Essential Guide to Mold Making & Slip Casting by Andrew Martin
A couple of days ago, Andrew Martin, author of Mold Making and Slip Casting, “friended” me on Facebook with a note that he had read a past post where I mentioned his book. Nothing really note worthy of clay people befriending clay people – I think 1/2 my friends on FB are fellow potters. But, I had forgotten about the book until the request and have been thinking about the possibility of molds in the past couple of days and how it coincides with a lot of the technology & software applications I’ve been using/learning in school.
Also related – my past hand built work was jumpstarted after taking a workshop with Annie Chrietzberg a couple of summers ago. Annie teaches the use of paper templates to make hand built work – not to mention that her work is fantastic! Lightbulb – ding dong – I have decided to explore the use of technology to try to advance some new work in the clay studio combining molds and templates as the facilitator.
AutoCAD or any cad (computer aided design) software for that matter, is a tool used by those in the architecture/engineer/industrial design field (and more) to “draw” precisely using real time dimensions that can be scaled in paper space. Some days, it’s the bane of my existence in school – it’s dry and unforgiving. But, the software has its place in the world so that people know how to build something – be it a building, a park or a toilet. Potters build stuff too – I’m sure this insight in using a software like AutoCAD in art isn’t revolutionary by any means, but I have never thought about using it as a tool in pottery before.
So…I design something in AutoCAD – then what? I can print out the design on a large format printer (or size appropriate) and then either cut out a template old school using scissors, or could take the design to the laser printer at school and make the template in a more durable material such as chipboard, wood, plastic, etc. Templates are fantastic for making multiples. AutoCAD renders in 2d or 3d making it really valuable to making a 3 dimensional mold. Which leads me to another wonderful opportunity that I have at school – access to the wood working shop for those tasks that a laser printer can’t handle. Though I confess that I’m still skittish around power tools. 
I’m excited about the possibility of combining newer technology with clay, which is such an ancient art, as a means to get back in the studio.
This seems like a bit of kismet in making this revelation the eve before New Year’s Eve – opportunity, possibility, and it feels good! So much better than the doom and gloom in the news every day about the economy, politics, etc. I’m going to forgo a resolution this year in favor of thinking forward instead of something that I need to change about myself.
Hope you do too – Happy New Year everyone!
Cynthia
P.S. Andrew is teaching a workshop at Anderson Ranch this summer if you’re interested in mold making.
Clay, clay and more clay…
I must have 30-40 bags of old clay in my studio
Morning everyone! I don’t know about you, but the time change really kicked my behind this morning. I had a hard time waking up and felt a bit hung over, even though I had no reason to be. In an effort to blaze into the day, I tuned into some vintage Madonna on my iPod, to which my daughter said, “I don’t ever want to hear that woman again so early in the morning!” lol – now she knows how I feel about all her teeny bop music.
Anyway, I had a pretty productive weekend in the studio – did a bisque fire, glaze fire and today will do a decal fire. I also assessed the condition of my studio. Not good. It’s a mess! I need to get into production mode if I hope to have any work for the Spring Potters Guild Sale and instead of buying fresh clay, I’m going to do some reclaiming/recycling. I’ve already started the process but have a long way to go as you can see from this photo.
Meanwhile, I’m recovered from my last week of subbing and I’m looking forward to this next week.
Happy Monday,
Cynthia
Pinch Pots
Terracotta pinch pot cold finished with paint and beeswax
No decals to share today – maybe next post…. This pinch pot is a sample project that I made for my after school kid’s clay class and was inspired by the book Finding One’s Way With Clay: Creating Pinched Pottery and Working With Colored Clayswritten by Paulus Berensohn. I thought it would be a great project for my students whose ages range from 2nd – 5th grade. I tried to make it a fun project by instructing the kids to animate their pots by adding noses and in some cases full blown faces on their pinch pots.
Terracotta nose pinch pot cold finished – my daughter's nose pot
I normally use low fire white earthenware for my kids classes and decided to mix it up and bring in a terracotta. You should have seen the kids reactions! Their whole clay knowledge base was turned upside down – they had no idea that clay comes in colors and of course I had lots of potty talk happening. “Ewwww - this clay looks like poop!” etc. etc. 
During our last class, we used acrylic paints to finish the pots and then sealed the exteriors with beeswax as an alternative to glazing since I won’t see the kids till mid January. We planted grass seed in the pots – which should be fun if it grows. The grass in my daughter’s pot is just now starting to sprout – I’ll post a follow up photo if it turns out. I think I’m going to make some more pinch pots – it was pretty satisfying.
Meanwhile, I added a WordPress Plugin that allows user to edit their own comments now for a set period of time in the event of typos etc. – if you have any problems with it, let me know. I also recently upgraded to WP 2.7 which allows nested comments, but it’s not functional on my blog yet because I need to update my theme to be compatible with 2.7. I just haven’t had the motivation to update it yet.
I have some errands to run right now so until later,
~Cynthia
