Almost There...

Clay Comics! #2 sketch: 1. When the slip in the throwing bucket eats your tools...
                                      2. When greenware cups break spontaneously on contact...

 It's fun to share the clay comics on here. There are just some things about working with clay that are frustrating at the moment, but they really are funny when you think about it... it sucks to dig through the slip in the bottom of the throwing bucket to make sure there aren't any tools down there, and it REALLY sucks when you work forever on a perfect porcelain mug with a perfect handle just to have it crumble in your hand without warning.
Anyway, I ran my idea past Megan today to see if it would even be logically possible to fire again before the end of the semester. I signed up for the same kiln again because the slightly bigger ones had a full schedule-- and I don't think I would be able to fill it in time anyway. It's okay. Megan thinks that I will be able to fit more than I think I can in the test kiln. I only have nine mugs and two bowls that absolutely have to be fired in cone 10 gas oxidation, and they will most likely fit. The rest of my work will most likely end up in the soda kiln next weekend. Today I made the finishing touches to the fifteen cups that I hand built last night. I also made all of the cone packs for the double wide wood kiln that we are loading tomorrow. I looked at the loading/candling schedule, and we are loading in class on Thursday, but I almost feel obligated to sign up for another shift. I did want to participate in the candling overnight, but I didn't really realize that it was Thursday night/Friday morning (12:00am-6:00am). If it was a Friday/Saturday shift, I would be all for it.
After work I decided to make some more cups and make them more rounded out. I made a little pitcher with the leftover clay. I probably won't be able to work on them again until Thursday night.

This is an idea sketch for the designs that I have been putting on a lot of cups and mugs.

Firing Machine-- Set Free

Here is a quick comic that I came up with while procrastinating a geology assignment:

Normal people probably don't get much of a laugh out of it, but for those of us who work with clay, there are funny things to think about a bag or a chunk of clay saying or doing. I was just thinking about how people use their weight as a conversation topic and decided it would be funny to have a couple of self-conscious bags of clay talking to each other.
Anyway, on to the real stuff...
I had a dilemma today whether or not to go to the studio after work. I knew that Megan was planning on loading a bisque firing, but I already put my stuff on a shelf in the back where she could find it, so I wasn't too worried about it. It took me a lot of arguing back and forth in my mind as to what would be the point of going there. I wasn't in the middle of any projects and it seemed too late to start anything new-- except for the fact that our class is planning on firing the soda kiln at the end of the semester, and I don't have anything to put in it. **(didn't)   I thought about that more, but I knew that I didn't really feel like throwing today. I remembered that I had a lot of paper clay left that isn't any good for throwing, and I also thought about how all of my cups were ruined by the evil glaze. I came up with the most logical decision-- I would make some more hand built cups out of paper clay to satisfy the assignment requirement of making multiples of a form. I really wanted to go to the studio because I didn't want to go from work to my dorm at 5:00pm. I am honestly getting sick of my roommate, and the more time I spend in the studio or with other friends at their places, the less time I spend at the dorm. I didn't really make plans tonight, so I stayed in the studio until about 8:20pm. It was nice because I actually felt like I got a lot done today. Hand building goes pretty fast compared to throwing on some days... I made about 15 or so soft slab cups and was able to add the bottom on each open cylinder in that time frame-- plus I loaded my own work into the bisque kiln since I was there anyway. I hope that my big pot made it into the bisque. There were a lot of big pots to try to fit into the kiln, and I didn't stay to load mine, but I did mention it to Megan. I guess it's not the end of the world if the pot isn't bisqued, but it would give me some peace of mind about it being less likely to crack in the wood kiln.
After I loaded my pots into the kiln I was back to working on my cups again. Megan was walking past, and I asked her if it would be totally crazy if I said I wanted to fire another kiln on my own. She didn't seem surprised or phased at all, which was good. I just have to check the gas kiln schedule... that's the hard part. I forgot to look at it before I left tonight, but I will look at it first thing tomorrow when I get there. I want to fire a slightly bigger kiln if it is open on the schedule. I could probably fit my mugs into a test kiln, but I want to fire a few other things too. Besides, firing a test kiln seems almost too easy to be able to compare it to a normal firing. I just loved how my pots turned out the first time when I fired them, and I want to do it again. Firing my own pots is a satisfying feeling. It's another step to becoming an independent ceramic artist-- and taking advantage of my privilege as a BFA student to be able to fire a kiln without supervision or asking permission (although I will still probably have a few questions here and there). It has been a good semester, but it is going by so fast that I'm not quite ready for it to end yet. I am ready for my other classes to be over, but my mind is running a-mock with new ideas for ceramic work. There are new glazes that I want to try mixing, kilns I want to learn how to run (besides gas), different clay bodies that I want to try, I want to learn how to operate the smaller clay mixer, I want more time. More time would be the best thing. Next semester I guess I will get what I am asking for-- what with three studio classes. I'm already pumped for it ;)

Calendar on Fire

I can't believe how fast this month has gone by. I really can't believe it. I was thinking about it yesterday, and I realized that I have so much work to do in the studio that I need to go back tomorrow-- or I won't be able to put my big pot in the wood firing and I won't finish my mugs in time to fire them in an oxidation gas kiln before the 8th of December. We are loading a bisque firing on Monday for the wood firing, and my big pot has to be dry and ready for it by then. I don't have any time to lose to get back to the studio and uncover it... it will only have a day and a half to dry out. I have no idea when I will be able to fire a kiln of my own, but I made some mugs that need to be fired in cone 10 oxidation, and I would really like to fill up most of kiln #5 to do it, and fire it on my own. Bisque Monday, wood prep Tuesday, LOAD WOOD KILN Wednesday and Thursday, and then FIRE on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I can't wait, but at the same time, I have other obligations getting in the way on Monday and Wednesday that make it so I can't get things done in the studio as fast as I would like to. I am driving back to campus tomorrow to uncover my big jar and trim my mugs and bowls. I also realized that I need to make some pieces to throw in the soda kiln. It's absolute craziness, and I want to be a part of every minute of it. I just want to make everything work out, and that means not waiting until Monday. I have to get back to work. I hope that there will be a kiln open for me to use. I bet the schedule will be crowded with intro class work and BFAs rushing to finish their work for the semester. I just want to use kiln #5 for a day. Oxidation firings can go fairly fast, and I even made my cone boats in advance this time so I can bisque them with the pots beforehand. I am ready for it. I just think I should start the kiln slower than I did the first time...
Photos of the finished mugs (12-7-11)

I can't wait for next semester. I will FLY. I have more understanding of firing and I plan on being as independent as possible with firing next semester-- yes, I will ask for help if I need it, but I will think things through and plan ahead better so I can be totally prepared to be on my own. Maybe I will try using earthenware clay just to see if I like it or not. I'm not too keen on the idea because it would mean firing at a much lower temperature, and possibly in an electric kiln as opposed to gas kilns. It might be easier, but I like the idea of being more involved in the process.
Anyway, the semester is quickly coming to an end... which is why I need to rush my work through bisque kilns so I can fire it all before December 8th. We will have a ceramic holiday sale in the studio on the 9th-11th or so, and we will be firing the soda kiln at about the same time. I guess if things get too crazy I don't have to participate in the soda firing, but I really want to. Maybe I am just a crazed workaholic with a huge agenda... I should down-size. Oh well. Two more weeks, and then I will be bored out of my mind.

Busy Craziness... Fire Fire Fire!!!

Last time I wrote about cups... and before that, I wrote about my successful interview. That was over a week ago. I'm really no good at keeping a diligent blog...
Since then, I started making these industrial dome shapes with bolts and cogs and pipes and smokestacks that don't function in any way. I thought about trying to make the cogs functional, but decided against it. Last Thursday was pretty crazy-- my mom was in town and needed me to drive with her down to an auto shop to get her car fixed before I went to class in the morning. On the way back, we stopped at the bookstore to get a new string for my guitar and she bought me some Christmas music to play. I got back a few minutes last for class, and they were already loading the bisque and Megan suggested that I hurry and reglaze my cups-- we put them in the kiln while they were still goopy wet! I had to load my mushroom head sculpture in the bisque really carefully, then I recycled some clay on the wedging table and finished decorating my last two of five domes. By the time I was done with the domes, it was time to go to the dentist. I was supposed to go to work that day as well, but with all the craziness that didn't happen. Oh well. I will just have to do some sculpting to catch up.
I spent the rest of the day after the dentist with my mom shopping. On Friday, things weren't much less crazy. I went to work for a few hours, then there was a guild meeting I had to go to. It was about the holiday sale. They wanted colorful work to be set out to be photographed for the sale poster, and were talking about how to organize the setup in the wheel room for intermediate and lifespan students. We also appointed a secretary and a treasurer. I went back to work until 5pm, and then there was a gallery reception for the undergrad show. I went mostly for the food and to watch other people admiring my drawing. I looked around at other peoples' work and talked to a few friends. I watched a group of ceramic MFAs gathered around my drawing, and a couple of them looked surprised. I guess they probably expected me to have some ceramic work instead. Also, I guess a couple of them didn't even know that I can draw. Later one of the MFAs came up to me and complimented me on the drawing and told me that she didn't know I could draw. It felt good to get a sincere compliment on it from at least one of them. She asked me if I was ready for wood prep on Sunday, and I told her that I signed up for Saturday. She said that it was going to be really really bad weather and that I should think about doing the Sunday shift-- but I told her that I would be firing my first kiln by myself on Sunday instead. She congratulated me on that. The weather turned out to be fine on Saturday and crappy on Sunday... but I don't know why she was trying to convince me to switch.
After the reception, I had this grand plan to make a really big coil pot, and I didn't care how late I would have to stay to work on it. I worked on it from 6pm to almost 11pm. I almost finished it, but the rim was too soft and I didn't have a torch and I didn't really want to use a torch anyway, so I just covered it over night. Wood prep on Saturday went well-- I think we split and loaded about 6 truck-fulls of wood. I loaded some pieces in a friend's salt kiln after prep and then finally went to finish my coil pot-- at least I finished the size. I waited until Sunday to put the finishing touches on it.

My little test kiln was a good experience. It gave me a lot of confidence, and a new direction to try as far as surfaces in gas kilns go. It fired beautifully, all except for one cup that had an evil glaze on it. I am throwing the glaze out ASAP. Everything else was made with red clay and I left the outside surfaces bare and just glazed the interiors of the pots. I love how they turned out. I insisted on firing oxidation because I wanted the red clay to stay red-- and it did! So I'm glad I did.

Red Clay Wasp mug

Red Clay Jug

Red Clay "Brass Knuckle" Teapot

Red Clay Tree Vase

 I made some big bowls to imitate the domes because I love the idea of eating out of them :)
Oh, and while I was working and firing my kiln, it was snowing on the people who had the Sunday wood prep shift :) it was sunny on Saturday...
Today I have to go grind off kiln shelves from my evil glaze. Hopefully we can unload the salt kiln so I can have something to look forward to.

Ode to the Cup

A cup is an intimate object. You put it to your lips to drink from. You hold it in your hands. Your eyes are only inches away from every surface detail, the perspective of every curve. It comes in many shapes and styles-- and it is a popular ceramic creation. Cups are not just "easy to make"-- to degrade a form that can be so dynamic to the point of calling it simple is disappointing. I regard the cup as a friendly and mystical form. Sure, there are generic factory-made mugs out there at every gift shop and pharmacy you run across, and there are cheap plastic cylinders that are capable of holding liquid that you can buy at any Walmart, but a cup is not so easily defined as a cylinder that holds liquid. A cup is an object of affection. The sweetly animated curve of a loop handle on a mug or the crisp shadow around the rim of a carefully crafted cup is something to be appreciated. The subtle silhouette of a perfect form and the dramatic presence as it sits on the table is what invites me. I want to create cups that form close relationships with people when they see them or hold them in their hands. A cup is never just a cup (except the factory mug or the plastic cylinder). Any hand crafted ceramic cup always has a story. The process, from vision to creation to fire, is what makes every cup different. Ode to the cup.

I made it. Life stepping stone: stepped upon.

The interview went awesome! Both Dan and John interviewed me, but they both had positive input and they really helped me out. Next semester is the beginning of forever! I made it, I'm a BFA candidate! :D No more worries. I will have 9 credits of studio hours next semester. I will have my own space. I will have ground to stand on (metaphorically). I will have a ceramic accomplishment under my belt and a couple of walls to separate me from the intro and lifespan students. It's not that I look down on them... I just hate being mistaken for a really talented intro student. It kind of brings me down... but it won't happen once I have my own space :) Oh, and I might be going abroad next summer!

BFA Review-- The Big Day.

Hey, when is the last time you had a scary interview? Years? Haha, well I have one today. I'm not sure that I'm completely ready... I don't have specific answers to give them-- because I want to study so many different things in ceramics still. Today is the BFA review. I am ready for the title and I am ready for the space, but am I ready for the focus? I have no idea. I know that I want to keep studying functional forms and stretching functionality and artistic appeal to the limit. I know that I want to keep working with slip transfer and celadon glazes... and I know that I love salt firing and I have a deep interest in the wood firing process but I don't know if I am ready to wood fire alone just yet. The cat was a fairly reasonable kiln to fire, but I would have to think about it more before pursuing a solo mission. I know that I want to keep making teapots and cups, and I am interested in bottles and adding sculptural elements to functional pots. I know what I am interested in, but the variety is so vast that I don't know where to start. I am taking teapots and cups and mugs and bottles with me today, and I have some sculptures at the studio that I will use for review. I think it will just be an interview with one person and not both Dan Murphy and John Neely. Now THAT would be intimidating :D They are both nice guys, but an interview with both of them would be intense. Hopefully I can keep it together and not get nervous... but knowing my personality I will probably start shaking or something when I try to explain my vague ideas. Today is a big day. I have to tackle it with pride. Wish me luck ;)

Wow. This is so weird. I got out of sculpture class so early today that I had time to go to the bank, the grocery store, play a few songs on the piano downstairs, make raspberry tea lemonade concentrate, count cash, and eat lunch and dessert-- oh, and blog. Super weird. All of that before I have to be to art history class at 12:30. I still have an hour to spare. I guess I could study for my geology test or see what torture my art history professor might be inflicting upon us today, but I feel like blogging. The more I blog, the more inspired and motivated I become. I get back to where I used to be when I had time to write in a journal. Things have just been so crazy lately that I don't feel connected to my inner deep-thinking self anymore. I got into a deep discussion yesterday, but that was a rare thing.
I have been taking photos of my work... so maybe I will just turn this into a photo blog because everyone loves pictures so much, including myself :)
For work, I have been doing a series of mushroom sculptures-- trying to build up a good collection of them up until the day of Halloween:

Cantharellus cinnabarinus

Cortinarius violaceus

Coprinus atramentarius

Boletus frostii

And here are some other new ceramic photos :)

Flying Hat: hand building class

Cups! This is a small collection of the surfaces and glazes that I have been experimenting with lately. The mug is glazed with White Shino, and the Lily cup is glazed with a clear celadon recipe I found on Ceramic Arts Daily. The rest of the cups are salt fired except for the tall tumbler, which is soda fired.

Tea bowls: Salt, Wood, Salt.

Soda Fired Bottle (from spring semester)

Wood Fired Bottle. I didn't apply anything on top of the clay for the firing-- no slips, no laterite, no glaze. I just had really good kiln karma for this bottle. When they pulled it out of the kiln I saw other people looking at it with envy, and I proudly went up to claim it :) it was a truly happy moment. I think they were surprised that it was mine.

Salt Fired Slip Transferred Portrait-- I mentioned when I was starting on this idea earlier, but this is the actualization. I have moved away from strictly doing faces to experiment with other images, but this is the general idea. I am pretty pleased with how this one turned out. Anyway, I suppose that's all for now... I better get ready to go to art history class. ;)

Don't Doubt My Strength.

Don't make a promise you can't keep,
Don't say you'll stay when you wanna leave.

A couple of lines that I can't follow with more... I guess I had the moment and lost it for writing. Sometimes that's how it goes. Those just popped in my head. Anyway, I know I titled the blog "Ceramics, Tea, and other things"... but I haven't been writing much about tea at all. Honestly I haven't been drinking much tea besides iced black plain tea lately. I have been lazy and busy and the weather isn't quite that cold yet. Yes, it did snow the other day. It didn't stay for long. I have been brewing some delicious rooibos gingerbeer. This last batch I decided to add some kava kava root bark into the rooibos ginger decoction. It changed the flavor... it is a little more robust like rootbeer. I'm not sure if I like it... but it is basically tea with sugar and yeast added to it. That's how it relates to tea. That's the only other tea I have really been drinking besides black. My big bag of herbs is staying full for the meantime.
Apparently people perceive me as somewhat shy and quiet and frail, according to my mom. It comes across as weakness to some. I didn't realize that shyness came across as weakness. It's just my personality... but I am definitely ambitious, strong, and goal-oriented. I do have a few weak points, but I know what I have a passion for and I know what I want and what I don't want. I am still learning about how to get exactly what I want, but I am completely capable. I know that what other people think doesn't really matter in the end as long as I am happy with myself. I know that I have the freedom to make my own decisions, and I can take charge and make resolute decisions as soon as I know what I want. I can't make a decision until I have a goal. I know that I have a passion for functional art and the intimate feel of wet clay running through my fingers. The curve of a silhouette of a perfect bowl or cup makes me happy. The science behind the magic of glaze transformation inside the kiln intrigues me. The wide array of possibility within form and function and artistic approach of a ceramic piece drives me on. I love what I am doing right now with my life. I can't imagine not having clay in my life now that I have had the opportunity. I know what I love. I know what I want. I know that I can get what I want once I define what it is. Other people who perceive me as weak don't know me at all. No, I don't trust easily so it takes some time for me to get to know people and vice-versa, but if they take the time to get to know me, they know that I am driven. I have confidence and purpose, and I just need to surround myself with other people who can see that.
Weekends on campus always feel so long for some reason. Sundays are the longest days. I helped to brick up a small wood kiln on Friday night and put in some time working at the wood lot splitting wood for the big double-wide firing at the end of the month. After that I went to take my shift for the wood firing that I helped load on Friday. When I got there, the kiln was in the cooling process. I down-fired it at 15 degree intervals for about an hour, and then Megan showed up to help me stuff the fire box, pull out the great bars, and stuff the fire box again. I hammered off the great bars until they were comparatively clean, and then she said that we were basically finished. We just had to seal up all of the cracks in the firebox where the removable bricks were. When I went for cleanup today, the kiln was still at around 550 degrees Fahrenheit. We are planning to unload it tomorrow night. I am excited to see the results on the pieces that I was able to put in the kiln-- three mugs and two bigger pieces. Hopefully my pots got some flashing and all of the ash melted so the surfaces are smooth and functional. It was a high temperature wood firing where we held the kiln at cone 10 for about 6 hours (and it got even hotter-- cone 11 was flat as well). I hope it was a successful firing. Oh, I got one very happy mug out of the gas firing on Friday, but the rest of my pieces need to be re-glazed and fired. The glaze was mixed too thin. Anyway, here is a collective photo of cups :)

The mug is glazed with white shino, and the lily cup is glazed with a clear celadon recipe that I found on Ceramic Arts Daily. The rest of the cups are salt and soda fired.

Kept Memories

Time is borrowed, nothing is free

The memories that haunt us are just what we need

Ghosts and copies of what we know

What we live is what we show

Leak the secrets of time stood still

Find what you want when you find your will

Giving yourself to curses unbounded

Nothing is logic when all is confounded

Sleep is waking, haunted by visions

Subconscious words in exact precision

What is velocity without direction?

Persistence is nothing without aggression

Face what you fear, love what you know

Time is a pattern, let people go

Keep the passion alive in your eyes

Hold it hostage in common disguise

See the impact you want to become

Let your lies and weak ties come undone

Slip into the dream desired

Keep reflections alive in fire.