rebeccmeister (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rebeccmeister) wrote2023-02-17 09:13 am
rebeccmeister) wrote2023-02-17 09:13 am
Pottery [art]
I am going to be pretty bummed when this class ends, but life will go on. And I do think I've at least demonstrated to myself that it's theoretically possible to shoehorn pottery into my ridiculous schedule. In the long term I will be more strategic about how I do this. Maybe just not during the spring semester.
I wish I had more process photos to share, but when I'm at the studio, my hands are usually covered inmud clay and I am really busy running around doing all kinds of things, trying to make the most of the time available. So you'll just have to use your imagination.
I really enjoy pottery/ceramics in part because it's generally a community endeavor. It's just too involved to assemble a home setup, and there are some major compromises to a home studio. For example, yesterday as part of our class we got an orientation to the glazing setup at this studio. I really should have taken a photo of the test tile board, but hopefully I'll remember to do so next Thursday. The glaze setup is a good example of what I mean about home setups: it would be really hard to get the same sort of setup going at home, because for dipped glazes, every glaze needs to be in its own 5-gallon bucket, at a minimum. At this studio, some of the more popular glazes are kept in trash cans, to give you a sense of scale. So it's possible to offer a wide and versatile range of glazes and underglazes and stains at this studio, and that would be way less feasible and way more expensive to try and do at home.
I also liked learning even more about this studio's recycling efforts. The studio offers two clay bodies, Bmix with sand, and a red clay. To keep clay out of the sewer system, they have trash cans set up to collect all of the slip and water that get produced over the course of a throwing session. They also have buckets set up to collect leatherhard/bone dry clay fragments, and so eventually all of the clay winds up getting recycled and used, and almost nothing goes down the drain or into the trash. I did like that, in Tempe, I could experiment with different types of clay and find my favorites (porcelain!!). But clearly, there are tradeoffs, and we produced much more waste in Tempe.
For glaze cleanup, we learned there's a glaze rinse bucket, to once again minimize how much glaze winds up in the sewer. Everything that winds up in the glaze rinse bucket winds up getting used to make a "compost" glaze, which is actually quite pretty. So that's fun.
I am going to be really busy with trying to get all of my pieces glazed next week - to the extent that I already know I'll need to sign up for an extra Open Studio session. All that I got done last night was some trimming of some mugs and a bowl, and handle application to the mugs.
I did also manage to squeeze in a small surface decoration experiment. After my previous post about the "potters pads," I brought in some rubber stamps, and a piece of some foamy/spongy material. I then had some success with using the rubber stamps to apply stamp designs to a couple of pieces using a black underglaze that I'd applied to the foam/sponge. So maybe I don't need to shell out extra $$ for this specialized supply. There's no telling how everything will look in the end, until after it all comes out of the kiln from the glaze firing, but I'm very pleased to at least have managed this experiment, because it's in line with my longer-term interests. And if it doesn't work, I'll know that the Potters Pads might be worth trying.
That's another thing about a pottery studio. Ceramics are a highly versatile medium, so it's entirely possible for two different people to head off in completely different directions in what they do. We only get to appreciate that if there are occasions to observe other peoples' work, both the finished work and the process. Our instructor here, for example, likes to apply underglazes and then do carved surface work to create patterns and color contrasts. That's in contrast to what I just did, where I'm treating the clay more like a surface to paint on. Bridget, my ceramics instructor in Arizona, worked with porcelain and used China painting to add exquisite surface decorations to her sculptural forms. At this studio, I've also enjoyed seeing the types of work that people have contributed to the Art's Center's kiln fundraiser; there's a diversity of shapes, sizes, textures, and colors on display.
And maybe next week I'll even remember to take a photo of some of these things. Next week.
I wish I had more process photos to share, but when I'm at the studio, my hands are usually covered in
I really enjoy pottery/ceramics in part because it's generally a community endeavor. It's just too involved to assemble a home setup, and there are some major compromises to a home studio. For example, yesterday as part of our class we got an orientation to the glazing setup at this studio. I really should have taken a photo of the test tile board, but hopefully I'll remember to do so next Thursday. The glaze setup is a good example of what I mean about home setups: it would be really hard to get the same sort of setup going at home, because for dipped glazes, every glaze needs to be in its own 5-gallon bucket, at a minimum. At this studio, some of the more popular glazes are kept in trash cans, to give you a sense of scale. So it's possible to offer a wide and versatile range of glazes and underglazes and stains at this studio, and that would be way less feasible and way more expensive to try and do at home.
I also liked learning even more about this studio's recycling efforts. The studio offers two clay bodies, Bmix with sand, and a red clay. To keep clay out of the sewer system, they have trash cans set up to collect all of the slip and water that get produced over the course of a throwing session. They also have buckets set up to collect leatherhard/bone dry clay fragments, and so eventually all of the clay winds up getting recycled and used, and almost nothing goes down the drain or into the trash. I did like that, in Tempe, I could experiment with different types of clay and find my favorites (porcelain!!). But clearly, there are tradeoffs, and we produced much more waste in Tempe.
For glaze cleanup, we learned there's a glaze rinse bucket, to once again minimize how much glaze winds up in the sewer. Everything that winds up in the glaze rinse bucket winds up getting used to make a "compost" glaze, which is actually quite pretty. So that's fun.
I am going to be really busy with trying to get all of my pieces glazed next week - to the extent that I already know I'll need to sign up for an extra Open Studio session. All that I got done last night was some trimming of some mugs and a bowl, and handle application to the mugs.
I did also manage to squeeze in a small surface decoration experiment. After my previous post about the "potters pads," I brought in some rubber stamps, and a piece of some foamy/spongy material. I then had some success with using the rubber stamps to apply stamp designs to a couple of pieces using a black underglaze that I'd applied to the foam/sponge. So maybe I don't need to shell out extra $$ for this specialized supply. There's no telling how everything will look in the end, until after it all comes out of the kiln from the glaze firing, but I'm very pleased to at least have managed this experiment, because it's in line with my longer-term interests. And if it doesn't work, I'll know that the Potters Pads might be worth trying.
That's another thing about a pottery studio. Ceramics are a highly versatile medium, so it's entirely possible for two different people to head off in completely different directions in what they do. We only get to appreciate that if there are occasions to observe other peoples' work, both the finished work and the process. Our instructor here, for example, likes to apply underglazes and then do carved surface work to create patterns and color contrasts. That's in contrast to what I just did, where I'm treating the clay more like a surface to paint on. Bridget, my ceramics instructor in Arizona, worked with porcelain and used China painting to add exquisite surface decorations to her sculptural forms. At this studio, I've also enjoyed seeing the types of work that people have contributed to the Art's Center's kiln fundraiser; there's a diversity of shapes, sizes, textures, and colors on display.
And maybe next week I'll even remember to take a photo of some of these things. Next week.
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