Thursday, February 26, 2009

Fired and Photographed...

I've finally gotten some of my work through the kilns and even managed to take some photos! I had a serious motivator for the photography part though - an application for a Jerome Project Grant through NCC. It was a difficult process, but I'm so glad I went ahead and applied. It's amazing how sitting down to write helps to clarify ideas and to work through some of the kinks in your thought process. Even if the grant doesn't work out, I'm confident that my next round of work will be stronger just from what I gained out of applying.

I also applied for a workshop this summer at Penland with Ayumi Horie. I've never been to Penland (although I feel like I have with all the NC clay bloggers out there), and would love to spend a few weeks in such a ceramic haven. I should be hearing about both of these applications by the end of this month, so keep your fingers crossed!






Have a great weekend!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Eureka!!

My friend Mark left me a fantastic present in my studio the other day:

Why, you may ask, would a girl be so excited about a plastic table cover (besides the fact that they are breezeproof, of course)? Here's one reason:

And the best part is - they're reusable!! The plastic is thin enough that it adheres to the surface of the clay with a little water but then washes up to be used again (and again, and again!). I have six of the trucks cut out and need to invest some time transferring my other shapes into star covered plastic stencils. Here's a truck bowl using the above truck:

It still required a little clean up after the stencil was removed, but all in all, it worked pretty darn well. Certainly better than paper, that's for sure!

Here are a few follow up photos of my work in progress a little further through the process:

Decoed butter dish

Interior of banana split dish

Outside o' split dish

I've got all this work loaded up in the kiln for a bisque firing tomorrow and then hopefully a glaze firing early next week. I am seriously looking forward to having some finished work...

Thursday, February 5, 2009

New Work...

Wow, so much for posting once a week! While I may not have been posting, I have been making work. I'm hoping to do a bisque firing next week and then glaze soon after that, which means I may actually have some finished pots to share. For now, work in progress will have to do...

Slipped butter dish (this guy is gonna get some cows...)

And underneath the cover

Truck bowls!

Power bowls

Outside o' power bowls

Banana split dish waiting to be decorated (and filled with dessert!!)