Pots pots pots pots pots... and more pots. (Semester Finale fall 2011)

It doesn't feel like Christmas yet. It felt like Christmas a few weeks ago, but it feels less so now. There is no logic to it, but I don't feel any holiday cheer right now. Maybe it's because I don't seem to have time to think about holiday stuff. It is finals week, after all. I had a final critique last Wednesday, a final presentation on Monday, another critique and kiln-unloading yesterday, and a geology final tonight. I am done, finally. I still have to go pick up my work from the studio. I have no idea where I will put it all. Hopefully my parents will like it enough to decorate with it... I bet the mushroom head will get stored away somewhere. Oh, and I have an ugly "hairy" vase that might even end up outside eventually. I don't know what I was thinking when I made it. Oh well.
I will leave to go home for the holidays tomorrow afternoon. I'm not packed yet. Mainly I am just trying to get my pots organized. I have sooooo many... my dorm room is overflowing with pots, and there are plenty more still at the studio.
I took photos yesterday, but a lot of them turned out really blurry so I will probably end up retaking them anyway. I will post some of the better pictures:

 Project #2: Realistic Object- Favorite Hat

 Hat view 2

 Proj. #2 part 2: Abstract the same realistic object- Flying Hat

 Figurative Proj: Base it off of the same object (the hat): Decomposition (from summer sketches)

Decomposition view 2

 Proj. #1: Ancient Forms- Korean Vase

 Proj. #5: 5 parts, 5 feet. -Industrial Wood-fired Domes

 Proj. #1: Ancient Forms: Korean Vase form, "Hairy Vase", or "Wild Thing", as a friend called it.

 Coil Vase-- not class-related. 19" tall.

Soda Fired Hand-built cups (Proj. 4: repeated forms)

 Ergonomic Mugs (the handles are really comfortable)

 POW!

 Small Soda-Fired Pitcher

More Fire, Less Time

It's almost time. For what? For everything. Final projects and papers, the ceramic holiday sale, and first of all-- my shifts at the wood firing. It's going to be a long day. I am going to the studio tonight an hour or two before my shift because I have some pots to glaze and I should make a cone pack for my Tuesday firing. I have so much to do that I feel a little overwhelmed. I should go work on my sculpture project, but I don't really know when I would do it. I still have to make the pizza sauce for tomorrow, and I should make it today in preparation because I won't feel like making it when I wake up tomorrow. Also, I need to find a time at night when I can photograph any work that I plan on putting in the sale. I might try to do that tonight before I leave for the studio since it gets dark at half past five. That gives me plenty of time to do it. I will leave for the studio at around nine p.m. If I have time before Tuesday, I want to try and make some porcelain pieces for the soda kiln that we are firing next weekend. Like I said, there is too much to do... and I don't exactly feel motivated to make the sauce or even think about my sculpture project. I have some other ideas for the meantime-- watching Christmas movies with a friend and maybe shopping for a new pair of shoes and going to a cafe for a treat... and maybe drawing something because I am in the mood. Oh, and I should play guitar because I haven't played all week. I just need to find some motivation :)
The wood firing shifts will be super cold... I will be firing from midnight tonight until 6:00am tomorrow morning, and then the pizza party thing is at noon... and then I have another shift from 6:00pm to midnight. I wish I could sleep during the day. I would take a nap before I go tonight, but I know it won't happen.
Here are some photos of work that I should have photographed a long time ago... a salt fired bowl and a high temperature wood fired mug:

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.