Keep a wet wipe in case a bum try to touch me. Eww.

My spacelab show opening was Wednesday.  The opening went alright.  I just wasn't too excited about the show.  I did like it better once it was ready and I got the lights on it.  The prints looked pretty cool with the ceramics paired with them.  I got some good feedback at the opening.  Natalie and Donna seemed to really like it.  They said it worked a lot better set up like this than at the BFA crit.  And that it was nice to see together.  Adrienne was super pumped about my work, which was very exciting.  I really respect her.  She loved my animal tree and said she would like to attain one.  I guess I have arrived.
The class crit on Thursday was quite a shock.  I was kind of blind-sided.  I do really appreciate the suggestions I get from Brian.  I really respect him as a thinker and an artist.  He has made my work grow so much since I have been working under him.  I do think that IUS needs to get a class on proper etiquette for critiques.  It was my understanding that critiques are to talk about the work in a constructive way in order to help the artist grow and improve their work.  I did not know it was appropriate to personally criticize a person.  I am seriously sick of some of the snooty attitudes in the ceramics department that act like there is some sort of competition going on.  We all pay tuition to be here and we all have the same rights to the studio, materials, and so on.  Brian has the attitude and philosophy that ceramics is a community and that we should all work together to grow as artists.  I really wish it was like that.  I am appalled by some of the things that are said and attitudes that are expressed at critiques (BFA, classroom, and senior seminar alike).  We are adults and this is college.  This problem should have been resolved a long time ago... and never should have happened.  I know I am griping again, but I was seriously shocked by the audacity of some of the things said at this last crit.  Criticisms regarding my work are of course expected, and I would hope that any one of my classmates who critiques me would want to help me as an artist.  That is certainly the attitude I have when I participate in the critiques of others.  I would never dream of making attacks or "critiquing" someone's life.... if that was what was being attempted?  I am so confused by what was said.  Not only was it false, but it was out of line.  I would love to listen to helpful crits and tips from people I respect as artists and thinkers, but some of the bullshit I hear is outrageous.  I can not believe that some things are allowed to be said, and it is allowed to continue.  I was under the impression that the spacelab was a fun place to experiment with ideas, which was what I was doing.  I have my idea of what I think is "good art" and what I do not think is "good art," as I'm sure everyone does.  But just because someone might not like, or even agree, with the type of art I make does not mean I should come personally under attack. But, what am I even talking about?  I haven't made anything in the last 6 months.  Unbelievable.  But, this does go way deeper than that.  There was a lot of psychology going on.  Snake in the grass. 
I guess it is going to be personal and cut throat from now on? There is definitely something in the air... and it stinks.

 I made some more animals for my gold tree.  It's going to be tight.  I have a kiln reserved for this week.  I can't decide if I want to fire another tree or play around with some of the new toys I got.

I bought this new curio cabinet for my show.  It is nice, and such a good deal!!  I found some new critters that make nice additions to my collection.  I am really thinking about the comment from Brian about thinking of myself as a sculptor for a while.  It is a very interesting idea.  I need to roll around with that for a while.  Perhaps another conversation with Mr. Harper would be helpful.  I am going to fire some of the new figurines with luster... like the creepy crawling babies dress, and the duck and bunny in the bottom picture.  They spoke to me and said they wanted to be gold.  It is going to be fun putting this together.

Here we are.

     I played around with some lusters last week.  Actually, I fired the kiln to 018 three times, trying to get it right.  The babes went through all tree firings.  So, I know it is not detrimental to refire luster, and it is definitely helpful to apply a 20 minute hold to the firing process.  I have watched Ashley apply luster, so I was a little familiar with gold application.  I did, however, have some unattractive brush strokes in thin areas.  I applied a super thin coat over these areas and refired (with the hold).  After the gold babe came out of the kiln the second time it was much improved.  There were minimal visible brush strokes.  But, I was going for perfection, and repeated the steps.  I should have left it the way it was, but I had to try.  After it came out of the third firing, some more of the brush strokes were visible and some areas are a little tarnished looking.  It's not bad, but not perfect.  I just had to do it, though.  If not, I would have wondered.
      The owl was fired once.  I used the same gold luster on a few areas (above the beak, on the talons, and the stripe on the base) but most of the work on this piece was done using a gold luster pen.  I am very pleased with these results.  I did some patterning on the body of the owl.  The pen gives a nice application and I can get little details.  There are little to no flaws in the gold using the pen.  It is a nice way to add embellishments.  I am excited with the results.  It really adds that something that this owl needed to satisfy me.  I can really see myself pushing this technique.

     I also played around with pink luster.  I am underwhelmed with these results.  I do like the color, but it is not what I was hoping for as a luster.  The baby went through all three firings.  It showed brush marks very bad.  I think the main problem was that I was applying it like a gold.  It obviously needs to be much thicker.  It looked much nicer after the third fire, but it is still not quite what I expected or wanted.  It does make a nice overglaze for putting over colors.  I put it on a few areas of the african lady.  It adds a nice surface to those areas.  It is on her eyelids, hair, lips, and nipples.  It adds a shiny pink quality to the color that was already there, which I like.  Again, not what I expected in a "luster" but I think I can work with it to get some colors I am excited about.  It might be nice to glaze the babes with either a glaze or underglaze with the shiny clear coat, then put the color luster overglaze on top to get a nice color.  Also, it seems that putting it over glaze greatly minimizes the brush marks, which was a problem on the pink babe.

    Now, I am trying to decide if I want to go ahead and order the other colors I have in my basket.  I am fairly certain I will get the mother of pearl.  I like the effect Ashley got on her skull.  It would probably be nice over colored glaze or underglaze as well.  I am considering the turquoise and purple color lusters.  These two are from a different website, and a different brand, so they may be completely different.  It would be nice if they are more of what I think of as "luster."  I know I will need more gold.  I am planning on doing an animal tree completely in gold.  That will be nice.  I also need to consider purchasing a refillable gold luster pen for detail work.  I am just concerned it might not have as good an application as the felt tip pen.  It was really nice to draw with.  I seriously have my doubts about how long the felt tipped pen will last though.  It does not appear to have much luster in it.

My BFA crit was Tuesday.  I have included a photo of my spread.  A big portion (and energy) of my week was spent in preparation of the critique.  I really value so much of the feedback I got.  The new professors, in particular Emily and Natalie, had some great comments.  I am very pleased with the constructive tips/positive response I got from mostly all of the professors. It is really refreshing to hear professors speak well of my work and show me that they really like it.  Emily and Deb (as well as some others) came up to me after the crit to tell me how impressed they were and that they really enjoy my work.  That was an awesome feeling.  Countless others approached me to tell me how well I handled myself in the face of blatantly biased, hateful bashes from a bully.  Ashley and I both got this unwarranted treatment unjustly (as always).  Seriously, I would love to listen to constructive criticisms, but if personal feelings can't be left at the door and hate is going to come spewing out of one's mouth, it is just a waste of everyone's time. And one makes oneself look like an ass.  In front of everyone.  I thought it was kind of funny.  Haters, they gonn' hate.  Overall, it was a smashing success.

Finally...

I had my kiln reserved for Thursday through Monday, 1st for a bisque, then a cone 7.  So, I worked all day Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday to make as many little animals as I could and to make a mold for a base.  I went with the mold because of my back situation (even though I do not think it was necessarily easier on my back) and I like the decorative aspects of the base I chose to mold.  It was quite a challenge making the mold because the base got stuck in the mold, and it is pretty heavy.  I broke my fruit tree in the process.  Poor Lucile.  But, I got my mold done on Wednesday and poured two bases on Thursday.  The mold was still fairly wet, so that presented it's own challenges.  I loaded them into my bisque on Thursday night, pretty much soaking wet.  I was skeptical if they would make it.  I used a 20 hour pre-heat, and they made it alright, although they do have some cracks in them unfortunately.  I am not really surprised.  I'm glad they are at least in one piece.  I really just needed to have it done so I could show an animal tree at my BFA critique.

I also got some babies in the bisque and used some clear glaze on them.  I plan on using a different color luster on each.  I know I will do one gold and one pink.  I found some nice colors that I am pretty excited about.  I got the gold and pink.  I am going to test those out before I order the other colors I want.  I am thinking turquoise, purple, and mother of pearl.  I spent some time this week looking at different lusters and researching on it.  If I get all the colors I want it is going to be pretty pricey!! But, I think it will be worth it.  My works needs a little luster.

I glazed an African lady for my spacelab show.  I am planning on putting her on a pedestal in front of my racial artifact monotype.  The main focus of my show is going to be prints with corresponding ceramic pieces with them.

Here is a shot of my animal tree before I placed it in the kiln.

Precarious!

Some finished pieces:

The colors on the lady do not look quite as nice in the photo, but I got some cool effects on her.

Finally! My animal tree worked (for the most part).  The larger one is a little lopsided.  It leaned in the kiln, but for the most part it is a success.  Also, a larger crack appeared in the base after this firing.  But, it was a technical win.  For my next one, I know to spend a little more time on the base, like let it dry slowly instead of forcing it.  Hopefully that will remedy some of the problems.

The baby tree is nice.  It has some really nice areas where the glazes ran together and mixed.

Here are the clear glazed babes.  I plan on loading a luster kiln tomorrow night.

My BFA crit is tomorrow.  I am feeling quite a bit better since I will have this work to show and talk about.  I am pleased with the other work I have, but these are more in the area I plan on working for this semester.  Hopefully tomorrow will go as good as my first critique.  I was really pissed and frightened on Saturday when I went in and my kiln that I reserved for my cone 7 had been taken.  I had a note on it and everything saying I would be in Saturday to unload, and I had it in my name until Monday.  But I went in and it was already unloaded and firing up.  I was seriously livid.  I was already pissed because my back hurt.... but I called Ashley and fortunately she was cool with me loading in the front kiln even though she had it reserved for one of the days.  I realize it probably was not malicious, but it was negligent and today when I approached the person about it they were pretty rude to me and did not seem at all apologetic about the mix up.  So, that was pretty rude.  It really wouldn't have rubbed me so wrong if I wasn't in such a pinch to have this done by tomorrow.  But, it worked out and my stuff came out pretty successfully. 

I also spent some time looking through my prints and picking out some I wish to show at my crit, and matting and framing some for my spacelab show next week.  After I finish with this blog I need to pack up my ceramics and put the prints in my portfolio.  I also need to go to the library tomorrow and borrow one of my pitchers back for the crit.  Did I mention I have three pieces in the library art show?  A baby face pitcher, a monotype, and my bed pan. I hope I will be able to set up tomorrow during class.  I need to hang and use a table or two for my ceramics.

I have also been experimenting with some acrylic mediums on ceramics as a way to better incorporate decoration.  It is going ok.  I am optimistic with the results.  Not overwhelmed, not underwhelmed.  Just whelmed, I suppose. 

 I decided I wanted to have an animal tree done for my BFA crit, so I spent a lot of time glazing little creatures.  I did a lot of detail, so glazing took a long time.  Luckily it did not take as many animals to construct the tree as I had anticipated, so I have enough left to do another one.  I find glazing very therapeutic, so, honestly, time flies by, particularly when glazing things as cute as these.

I have some shots of it stacked in the kiln.  It was about 18 inches tall when all said and done.  There were a few animals that seemed a little precarious, so I was very worried about them sliding off.  However, my test run did not waver, so I had high hopes.  I built some slanted walls out of kiln shelves and stacked around bricks and a lot of patties just in case.

And, this is what I saw when I opened the kiln.  Apparently, the bisque animals I had collected were not a high fire porcelain and it seems they melted and turned into some sort of glaze material.  Awesome.  The melting and deforming of the dogs and elephant resulted in the vast majority of the animals sliding and falling onto the floor of the kiln.  I kind of anticipated the squirrel and an elephant to slide and fall when the glaze melted, but I honestly never even considered that some of the pieces might literally melt.  I did test fire some of the little animals I found, but not the bisque ware.  That was a fatal error. 

I was really disappointed in all the time that was seemingly wasted getting this ready that I felt I had to try to make something of it.  I spent hours on Saturday piecing the shards of animals back together.  There are parts of it that make something of an interesting sculpture, but I am afraid I could not show it at a crit.  I did learn some things that I like.  I actually like some of the animals at the bottom as if they fell off.  I wish it had worked.  I am going to apply some mediums I purchased to see how they react to ceramic.  Perhaps I will be able to use them for applying rhinestones, or in some instance when I need some more integration with the piece.

Now I am super bummed because I wanted to have something of my new direction to show at my crit.  I poured some more animals today and reserved a kiln so that I might have a chance to make another one before hand.  I am afraid it won't be possible though.  If I load a bisque Wednesday, then a cone 7 on Saturday I could have it out Monday, in time for my crit on Tuesday, which I decided I was going to do.  Unfortunately I am having some really bad back problems right now.  It flares up from time to time.  It has been hurting since Thursday night.  I was going to throw a base tonight, but there is no way I can throw right now with the pain in my back.  I am having trouble moving around and it hurts to even just sit still.  I am really disappointed.  If my back feels better tomorrow I might be able to pull it off.  But, I have my outline for art history due Wednesday morning, which throws another wrench in the plan.  I have it most of the way done, but it needs some more work.  A few hours at least.  I feel foolish because I am working so hard in there.  It doesn't really matter because nothing is ever good enough.  It is rather disheartening.  It makes me feel inadequate.  In any other class I would have had a perfect score on everything, but my grade is not reflecting that.  I have been doing well, but I have to work at least twice as hard to get not quite as good grades as usual, and it is taking away time I need to spend in the studio.  I am a really hard worker and I take pride in my good grades.  But, this class really makes me feel not so good about it because I am working so hard, and I do not feel my grades are rewarding my hard work.  And all I want to do is ceramics, and think about senior seminar.  It sucks.  But, I have to do it.  And I will just feel worse if I do not give it my best.  I wish I could work some more on my outline tonight but I think my pain pill for my back is starting to kick in and I don't think I would do the best job in that case.......  I hope my back feels better tomorrow.
I might make a mold of a base since I can't really throw with my back.  Perhaps that will work.......  But, in time?

 I made some more casts this past week and fired a bisque kiln.  I unloaded it yesterday.  A few of my pieces were in the kiln broken.  I was told when Dan opened the kiln they were like that.  I am a little confused how it may have happened.  I know the pieces were dry when I loaded it, not to mention I put on a pre-heat and vented the kiln for a few hours.  I wonder why they broke.  Two are shattered as if something was dropped on them, and two chipped as if bumped together.  Weird.  I was disappointed, but I can always make more.  It just sucks.  At least it was casts that were broken and not my hand built piece that was in there. 

I glazed these owls and got them in the cone 10.  I really like the way they turned out.  I think I am going to cone 10 more of my pieces than I planned on.  I am still going to do most of my animal trees in the cone 7 with the stain colors, but the cone 10 owl has a really nice look.  I think I like this look better for the single pieces (as compared to the tall owl form the last entry).

I spent a lot of time at St. James this weekend talking to potters.  I asked all of the ones I like about their process and colors.  I bought a great tumbler that is fired to cone 01! I adore the colors.  Perhaps I should do some research on this.  I also bought a mug with crystalline glazes.  Very fancy.  They seem finicky and complicated, but a man I spoke with said there are some nice cone 6 crystalline glazes.  This might be something I would enjoy in the future.  I don't know if it necessarily fits with what I am doing now, but it might be nice on a chamber pot?  They are pretty.

I took an oral test today for art of Japan, which I have been studying hard for.  I did very well, but this class is really sucking all the fun out of this semester for me.  It is seriously soooo much work, and no matter how hard I work, nothing is good enough.  I am busting my ass in this class, when I want (and need) to be working in the studio and thinking more about senior seminar.  This is a tough semester.  I wish all I had was ceramics and senior sem.  Japan is killing it for me.  I know I have to do it, but there are so many awesome things happening this semester and I just can't enjoy them as much as I should.

I have been making some time to knit my scarf.  It is going pretty well now.  Knitting is a lot harder that I expected.  I really have to think a lot... about every stitch.

Senior seminar was interesting today (although I was very preoccupied with my nerves for my Jap test).  I got some pretty good ideas for my artist statement.  Brian's talk about artist statements was very eye opening.  It is nice to think of it as an extension of my work... which made me think about stories, and the stories I want to tell... and the stories I want to hear.

Every night I play with kittens on my porch.  It makes me happy to give them companionship and feed them, but at the same time I am completely torn up about what to do with them.  I love them and want to keep them, but that is not very practical with my Ambrose (who hates other cats).  Do I take them to the shelter, where they might get put to sleep?  It is going to get cold soon, and I am afraid they might freeze.  Lord!!!! I wish Ambrose liked other cats so I could keep Lil baby Tunechi (yes, I named them) and perhaps catch the others and find homes for them?? Their mother is just going to stay around here because I feed them, and keep having kittens.  I wish I could catch her and have her spayed.  Gees.  I love cats too much.