Housing Plate

I know that it's on the minds of everyone these days, but I can't seem to take my thoughts off of our faltering economy and plummeting housing market. My "housing bubble" plate below is a continuation of my politically-themed work and an exploration of our current crisis. I'd love to turn these into a dinner set, but I'm torn as to how the decoration between the pieces should relate. I feel like if all of the components were this detailed, the dinner table would feel cluttered and busy! I think I need to work on ways to balance the detailed with the more simple, but I just love filling up all of the space...

We managed to load a glaze kiln in the glaze chemistry class I'm taking at NCC. I've got about 25 clear bases in the kiln. I can't WAIT to see the results so that I can start playing with some color. I'm thinking that the white block with the vulture and the area with the oil rig on the plate below will get a colored transparent glaze and the rest of the piece will be clear. I also need to start playing with coloring the slip - I think it could really warm up these pots a bit if I had a less stark white slip base. Yea experiements!

Next Round

To continue on my camera-happy phone adventure, here is a look at my latest plate. These past two plates are pretty directly from my sketchbook (see this post), and I need to devote some sketchbook time to developing some new image combinations. I'm building up a healthy collection of imagery for stencils and line drawings, so I should have plenty of inspiration. I have yet to use a number of the drawings - I'm pretty excited about the powerlines I recently drew. And with the current state of affairs in the world there is certainly plenty to talk and think about. I've been pondering a series of "presidential cups" with the faces of all the US presidents. And the cows, I've got to get back to the cows!! Lots to work on... I'll get back with some follow-up posts as soon as some of these plates are glaze fired.

The plate ready for bisque...

A close up of the farm field texture with slip slightly sanded away.

Detail of the off shore oil rig stencil

My sister is my hero!

So I've been moaning and groaning about not having a camera to document my new work in progress for my blog. I realized while working the other afternoon that I DO in fact have a camera and it's almost always with me. My phone! I was momentarily elated until I realized I had no way to get the photos from the camera to my blog... boo. Enter my brilliant, techno-savvy sister who talked me through how to e-mail the photos to myself. yea! Now I can keep everyone updated on my progress and not worry about bringing a camera along to the studio... Here is a peek at some of my latest low fire work.

The start of a "history of energy" plate

A finished version...

Another variation on the same theme (I think I like the trees better in this one, but the whale better in the first...)

Oil and commodity cookie plates

I'd still like to figure out a "real" camera at some point soon, but for now, this is a fantastic solution. Back to blogging regularly!! Thanks, Maddie

And so it begins...

My class at Northern Clay finally started last week! Hurray! I've been in the studio a fair bit taking advantage of the open work times. I'm ready to be learning more about glazes, that's for sure... For some reason, I've had the urge to handbuild rather than work on the wheel this past week, so I've embraced the feeling and am building away. It's funny to think that as a college student I *thought* I had no interest in handbuilding. I still love the wheel, don't get me wrong, but I'm enjoying the looseness of working by hand. Although, I spent the weekend between the two World Ceramics: Transforming Women's Traditions exhibits and I can't believe the skill of some of those women handbuilders. While I completely appreciate (and am in awe of) the possibiltiy for handbuilding to be this exact, for me it encourages a more organic and relaxed approach. We'll see how long it is before I'm pulling my hair out because I just can't get something round... I'm currently working on a series of small plates to test out some ideas with underglazes and paper resist. Still no camera yet, but I'll post pictures as soon as I have a way to take some! For now you'll have to settle for one of the exquisit (handbulit!) pieces from the NCC women in clay exhibition:

Writing Continued...

To continue on my writing theme, Mel loaned me an excellent book called Writing the Artist Statement. I burned through the first section and have just come up against my first timed writing assignment... I'm looking forward to working through these exercises and the process of thinking carefully about what I create and why - who knows what will surface!

And a little non-ceramic related side note: Aaron teaches his first Intro to Microeconomics course at Carleton today - go Aaron, go!!

Thoughts on Writing

One of the many long-term benefits I can see to keeping a regular blog is the frequent opportunity to practice writing. I spend a great deal of time expressing myself visually but I know written words can play a powerful role for me, my peers and my customers, if used effectively. I immediately think of my artist statement (which I sorely need to update), but also the world of magazine articles. I'm slowly developing an understanding that success in the arts hinges largely on promotion - an article is a great way to explain to the community what inspires you, where you've come from and where you're going.

I found a thoughtful post (and blog in general called Two For Joy) focused on choosing and using words. I certainly rely on a safe cache of language and could benefit from critically thinking about how I express myself verbally. I think in the end taking time and care in writing (and making it a regular habit) will solidify my ideas about my work and help to spur new directions.

New Camera?

A few weeks ago my trusty cannon point and shoot digital camera finally decided to die. I've had it for five years now, so I knew the end was coming, but I was hoping it could hang in there for a little longer... Over the past few weeks Aaron and I have tried to flesh out exactly what we want to use our camera for, and how we would improve on our last one. Given that I purchased an ez cube earlier this year, I certainly want to be taking digital images of my work. I'm hearing more and more about how shooting in raw format is helpful for digital slides, and I'd also like a decent macro feature. On the fun side of things, we're both suckers for the video function, and would love playing with a bigger zoom. So, after some poking around and reading lots of reviews, we're down to two cameras: the Cannon Powershot S5 IS and the Olympus SP-560. I'm leaning toward the Olympus, given the ability of that model to shoot in raw format (and that out-of-control 18x zoom!), but the Cannon has a larger sensor size and faster shutter speed. Hmmm.... hard to decide! I think we just need to find a store where we can go try them both out and see what we like up close and personal.

And when it comes to actually getting good shots of my work, I've found a few great sources of information recently. One being Fresh Plums by John Glick and the other a post on a blog I read called the Mudpot. Both have some good info and a few book suggestions which I will definitely have to check out as I have more work to photograph!