I met all the goals I set forth for myself last weekend.  Here is an image of my finished monotype I did for printmaking.  All in all, I put about 40 hours of work into it.  I am very pleased with the results.

 

On Monday I made a mold of some more buttons I have been collecting.  I was worried the plaster set too much before it was poured, but it seems to be alright.  On Wednesday Kristy brought me a huge bag of awesome buttons! I am so excited.  There are more button molds to be made.  So exciting.  I want to find a creepy doll face to make a mold of to put on my vessels with my buttons.  And maybe old, ornate keys.

 

I put a few of my thrown pots in the kiln.  I'm looking forward to begin glazing.

  

My bed pan came in and I began my hand-built project.  On Wednesday I began (and re-began) it four times.  I am experiencing far more anxiety over this project than anticipated.  I want to do such a good job because I do not want anyone to regret letting (and helping) me do this ceramics BFA.  Also I am very emotionally attached to this project.  I just do not like to say, "good enough."  I know exactly how I want it to look, and I will not be happy with anything less.  I think I jinxed myself!  I was so frustrated yesterday and tonight with my progress.  It seems like every time I picked up a piece of it to work it or put it together, it just completely fell apart.  I had some bad luck, and I do not know how many times I rebuilt and re-pieced it.  Not to mention, I lost my fettling knife.  I wanted to scream.  

 There is me getting mad!

 Right when I was about to leave and call it a night, the pieces started to fall together.  I am so glad I kept working at it.  It feels so good to have left it at a place that I am happy with.  It does not look exactly like the bed pan I have in my mits, but it is actually a really good representation.  I have the basic shape in a place that I am satisfied.  There is a lot of cleaning up to do, and I need to cut that extra fat rim it's got going on off the bottom.  I am nervous about picking it up to clean up the bottom.  I guess I need to do that tomorrow before I start putting on buttons.

I think I will leave buttons off the flat end as well as the urinal part so it will still be functional.  This thought made me think that I should put some screened images on those parts, as well as on the inside perhaps.  I am super excited about the buttons covering it.  I need to think about the printing some more. 

Dear clay, you make me feel so good...

Friday I helped with the visiting artist’s installation piece.  That was a great experience.  I really enjoyed helping out.  It is great to be exposed to different artists and hear different viewpoints and experiences.  I made slip and got to dip a few of the post-consumer items for the piece.  I learned a lot this weekend in helping get ready for the show.  I am so sorry that the opening had to be postponed due to the snow.

I had a pretty stressful week.  I experience a considerable amount of anxiety when making decisions, and this past weekend I decided to switch my BFA to ceramics.  After things settle a little, I know I will be happier with this decision.  I have battled myself over this for quite a while (even before I took my first college ceramics course).  I feel foolish, for lack of a better word, for switching and being so indecisive (again).  Gees, I have already been in college since 2004.  I really need not worry about what others think of my career as a college student.  This is what I want to be doing.  I do not understand how some people have a “real” job, or at least work a substantial amount of hours a week, and go to school full time.  It is so hard, particularly trying to do studios and upper-level courses.  I am so thankful for my work-study.

This week was all about throwing.  I prefer to throw with the Matt Long Porcelain the Sue and I made the first day of school. I am so pleased with my progress and improvement.  I threw on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday.  I have managed to keep about 29 cylinders that I feel are suitable.  I am going to try to get 40 by Monday.  I won’t have any problems as long as campus isn’t closed this weekend.  I hope this snow doesn’t interfere with my studio plans for the weekend.  I am really feeling for some of classmates who are struggling to get their 20!  This weekend I would like to finish my cylinders and run maybe 2 more layers of color on my printmaking project.  

I am still waiting for the bedpan I ordered on E-bay to come in so I can start working on my hand-built project this coming week.  I should also start researching and testing some more ways to print on clay.  I am decently satisfied with the printing I did last semester, but I would like to tweak and improve.  I also need to remember to bring in the buttons I have been collecting so I can make a mold.  I have an idea for a piece I would like to do that involves some molds of my face.  I was so mentally unprepared this past week.  My brain was just so preoccupied dealing with the stress of the switch and some NCECA mess.  At least I made a lot of progress on the wheel.  Dear clay, you make me feel so good...   

The first week of school

I got off to a rough start on Monday while making clay, first dropping a 50 pound bag of ball clay, then breaking a stack of glass bowls.  In spite of my mishaps, Sue and I made a nice batch of Matt Long Porcelain.  It was a stressful first day, but it is interesting learning to make clay and I am looking forward to working with some porcelain this semester. 

Wednesday's class was a lot better.  I really enjoyed the video on throwing and Brian's lecture was really exciting.  It really made me want to get my hands dirty.  I was afraid I was going to have a mental block with throwing.  I threw a lot of nice pots in high school, but last semester when I got back on the wheel I failed miserably.  I was very discouraged, but last class really ramped me up for it.  The assignment of turning in 20 cylinders is pretty daunting, but I am actually pretty excited.  I need it. 

I would say I made an attempt at seven or eight cylinders during class.  The first ones were quite poor, but I progressed a little further with each try, which was encouraging.  I love the feel of the clay on my hands.  I was very happy with the last pot I threw.  It is no great work of art, but it is a nice little pot.  It is a far jump from where I was.  I am quite pleased with my progress. I am looking forward to going into the studio this weekend to throw some more. 

 

I also made some progress this week in regard to hammering out some concepts for my work.  That feels good.  Now I am just scared I will not be able to do as good a job as I want.  I went over to my mom's house tonight and looked through a bunch of boxes of my grandma's old stuff.  It was awesome.  I found some real gems.  I was not able to find the bed pan I was after though.  I might push that project idea back and do a different project first in order to give me more time to find it.  I am really excited about this idea, but I think I will be happier with the final product if I can get my hands on the actual inspiration.  I need to revisit it and form a new relationship with it. 

I hope to attain a similar surface to the pots I have been making, but I do not want to keep making the same pot over and over again.  I am searching my past for vessels that mean something to me or that have influenced me.  It is crazy to look back on things in my childhood that have influenced my tastes and sensibilities today.

I have collected some more buttons to make molds of.  I have some good ideas, and I'm happy with where I'm going.  I have a lot of work to do!