Time to Coast!

Wow, after all of that stress, i finally completed a some what decent portfolio! Now time to do some relaxing projects and coast. Im excited for our guest artist and whatever class project we do. Im down for some sort of totem or sculpture. So, word.

Glazing time!

Well, I have completed all that is possible for me to complete. Thank you all for the support. I didnt achieve nearly what I wanted to this year, but still had alot of fun trying new things and still bettered myself artistically. I am now in the process with glazing. There are alot of cool electric glazes in studio now to work with. I also submitted a few things into the raku. These pieces all turned out well and I am excited to compile them with all of my work from last year. Hey, its been a hell of a ride, and I wouldnt trade it for the world. Now, I just need to glaze everything, bring everything from home, fill out the paperwork, and get ready to rock the showcase!

Crunch Time

So in order to strengthen the pieces that I have for my portfolio, I have decided to take some risks and try working with some new shapes and ideas. I have recently decided to start making lidded vessels on the wheel. Right now, I am in the process of making a teapot as well as a lidded jar. These pieces will hopefully be fine tuned enough to dazzle the viewer of a photograph. After this, I need to glaze like crazy as well as make two to three more pieces. As long as I keep putting in the time, I should be able to get all of my stuff completed in time for the showcase. Aside from all of the deadlines, expanding my skills on the wheel basically on my own has been relaxing, fun, and encourages me to strive for more.

Time to work hard

Basically, for the next month, I am going to be trucking to get all of my pieces done. My emphasis is to make singluar vessels that look uniform and are glazed well enough for the AP comittee and Whitney to consider them decent projects. While I know time is not on my side, the best thing I can do now is to sketch away and make as many designs for types of vessels I can make as possible. This will help give me direction and goals for the last month of project creating. Woot.

Exploration of Vessels!

So after all this time, I did some thinking and figured out how I can best word the collection of work I have been making. I decided to call my concentration the exploration of vessels, because while throwing and designing different stuff, I have truly explored how to make fun, interesting, and artistic vessels. I know the topic is extremely broad, but at this point it is all I can really do at this point. Time to strive for greatness, go team go!

Damn, Lakeridge is sick

So basically, Lakeridge did really well at the Scholastic Art Awards ceremony. Congrats to all those who won scholarships, including our very own Matty, Anton, and Michael from the Oregon Potters Association as well as Jack winning another big award. It basically proves that were super sick. Im excited to see how our work compares to the rest of the country. It would be nice to bring home some national gold keys. People seem to be a fan of the doughnut, so it would be nice if I could get a national gold key for it and wave it in Amy's face. Maybe she will believe in me next time -___- Nice to see her and blake today though!

Hmm

So I've been throwing this week, not sure what direction I'm headed. I need to tie it all together but I also need to figure out what types of things I like throwing. In the end, I have figured that I should be able to put it all together into my current concentration. Whatever man, I just like throwing some stuff and I feel like I'm getting better so that's what matters now. But soon, I should probably figure this whole "concentration" and "projects" thing out...

Back to Throwing!

So I cant for the living life of me figure out how to turn this picture, so your just gonna have to turn your heads. I began throwing again because I felt at a loss with ideas for handbuilt vessels and thought that throwing provided me with more interesting shapes I can work with. I decided to make some functional pieces, like this cup, pitcher, and what will be a lidded jar. I just want to see what I like making, make it, and then figure out how to word my concentration. While I know this is risky, I'm just hoping that it pays off. So yeah.

Scholatics and Stuff

Well for myself, the story of the week was the results from Scholastics. My famous doughnut recieved a gold key and will be on display at the show. This was a pleasant surprise to my week and has caused me to think about a bunch of different things. I have realized that I miss my wheel throwing days and I would like to return to them soon. The challenge in that is deviating from my original concentration and ideas in order to do so. Therefore, my latest project is to sketch some projects that I could make on the wheel that could fit right into my concentration. This would include wheel thrown shapes to be included as pieces or entire projects. I am not extremely good at throwing things that are large enough for me to consider them projects, but I'm sure some of my wonderful (and more talented) classmates will be there to support me in this!

1st Semester: DONEZO

Well, here is one of my three projects for the semester. I decided to use molds to make some dishes to go along with my shape thing. Im not sure if these can be described as vessels, so I might have to reword my concentration a bit. Now, its all about getting ready for the critique and finishing first semester strong!

Oh, and congrats Amy on the birth of Blake Michael Burnham!

Down to the wire

With all of my classes coming to a close, time to work on art is growing slim. I have one of four projects nearly completed and have been underway with my second project. This is a plate made on a ceramic mold that will have some sort of elaborate design on it. It is in the shape of a square, making it fit into my shape concentration. One completed, my third project will most likely be something quickly handbuilt or wheel thrown, as time is of the essence. The picture above is of a glaze pattern that i like that i would like to put on my platter as well as other pieces. Boom-Town.

Reality Sets In

Last night, I had no access to the internet because I was out with my family, then at the pacer games, then fell asleep. So this post is a little late, but im hoping i get some slack cut for me :). I have just made a sort of abstract vase that explores the abstract concept of shapes. While I am a little concerned that it wont fit in with the fairly direct shapes I have already made. If not, it could be a nice addition to my bredth. Next, I thikn im going to experienment with the concept of making shapes on clay molds. This is a rather efficent method of creating pieces and I am excited to try it. I am also really sad about my favorite teacher ever Amy leaving us, but I'm excited to work with Whitney and know that it will be a great educational experience...and fun too i hope!

What to do, what to do...

Well since I have been horrible at providing real pictures for my blog, I took the liberty of putting this one up for you guys. This was the pyramid shaped vessell that I had fired and wanted to take a picture of it. Now the tough part is figuring out what to do for my three projects due at the end of the month. I think im going to make a slab vase or two, but due to lack of time, I plan to work on the wheel as well. Its also important that I begin to think about how I wish to glaze all of my pieces, since I have yet to really glaze anything. This will be a busy month, but I'm hoping I'll have some great work at the end to show for all of the stress :)

Winter Break

Unfortunately, I recently broke my phone which was my only camera that I would have used to take pictures of me posting my empty bowls sign and unfortunately I keep forgetting to grab a poster to give to Grimms. I will do this tomorrow and give it to them over winter break, but I'm not sure how I'll get a picture. Maybe you can just take my word for the empty bowls sign, amy? Or just see my creation of bowls and overall un asked for volunteer hours as my contribution to the event? :)

For my last two projects, I stayed on the theme of geometric shapes. I threw seven bell shaped cups. These were fun to throw, although i struggled making four that were exactly the same size. I guess ill have to use some fun photo taking tecniques or try to throw one or two more that I can use for my concentration. I also threw three jar shaped vessels that had a disk ribbed in the middle. I then stacked these on top of each other to create a form that would be my third project. While creating these projects while balancing other college apps and other things was difficult, I am glad that I have it done and can somewhat enjoy my winter break! The picture above somewhat represents the concept of my third project, except more symmetrical!

Time is running out

So I am about one and a half projects done still, as I am not liking any of my designs for lids of my little jar type things. I need to throw one more of these forms and make two lids and then call it good for that project. For my third one, I think ill make another slab built form that represents some sort of geometric shape and will fit in nicely with the rest of my pieces. This one is not going to be as direct though, and im thinking of making a diamond shape or possibly something with multiple shapes. Tomorrow and friday, I need to complete my second project and do some sketches for my third one. I also need to go take pictures of myself doing all sorts of crazy stuff for my next blog post. Word.

1 down, 2 to go

So basically, I am not exactly sure what I am going to do for my last two projects before Winter Break. I thought I was going to stack some different pot shapes, but I haven't really thrown anything I want to stack. However, I got bored and made a cookie jar type of thing and I have thought about making a few lidded vessels to go with that theme. I really haven't made anything lidded, so it would be a challenge. I threw the basic shapes for a few small ones today, and maybe I will go with that for one of them. Over the next few days, I'll have to sketch some other ideas for my third project. Time to just focus on cranking out some quality work before winter break!

Truckin Along...

So this week my main focus was to get one project hand built and nearly completed so that it could start drying in time for the upcoming deadline. I also wanted to get settled on what I am going to do for my next project and get started on that as well. I just completed making the form for a three sided pyramid vase/bottle thing, and now I just have to let it dry and decide what else I want to do to it before it gets fired. I have just the form made, and am trying to decide what type of lid and design to put on it. The next project I want to work on is a vase with multiple spherical forms stacked on top of each other. I plan on throwing tomorrow after school, and with what I hope is a work day coming up on Friday, I should be able to get everything thrown and put together by the weekend. If I could get the forms for my two projects done before Thanksgiving break, I know it would make my life alot easier. 

Concentration

I believe that I have settled on some sort of a geometric shaped containers/vases idea for my concentration. I like to build with slabs, but this description gives me the freedom to wheel throw pieces as well as handbuild. I am also able to use other forms of media if I please. Now, I am just going to start to make things and see what other characteristics I can come up with so that my pieces will all tie together and flow smoothly. Gotta make up for lost time though, as two projects are due by the end of the month. Woot!

Empty Bowls and Concentrations



Today was the Empty Bowls event "Throw-a-thon". All of the schools best wheel throwers got together and threw lots of bowls. Our goal was three hundred, and based on my guess, we were somewhat close to that goal. This is always my favorite service event of the year, and I had fun on the wheel.

Now, I am forced to figure out what I am doing for my concentration. I am mainly a handbuilder, but I want to do something that includes the option to work on the wheel. Working on the wheel is much faster, so I want to have that option. For those who have seen my prior clay work, what do you think I should focus on for my concentration? Any suggestions will be deeply considered.

Oh, and we have 4 projects due in a month in a half. FML.

Almost done!

As the greenware stage for my family project is coming to a close, I am now left with a few uncertainties and questions. I cut my vase like form into five pieces in a sort of unsemetrical pattern. This worked out well, excpet the slurry created from the vinager and wetting of each piece caused the cracks I was trying to create to fill in. I dug them out with a needle tool to make them a bit more visible, and now I am just hoping that they will become more prominent once it is fired. This is my main uncertainty. The question I have now is what glaze/firing tecnique should I use in order to make the cracks convey the message I want. The picture above is a bowl created by Jeff Campana, the artist whose idea I am trying to emulate. This project was fun to create because it allowed me to portray a message about family while also finally being able to use clay, which is my preferred material. I look forward to seeing how it turns out.