Mean Muggin

Unfortunately, I am feeling a little down on myself because I don't feel I had a very accomplished week in the ceramics studio.  Last weekend I threw 23 mugs, which I am happy with the outcome.  I think I was putting off this project so long because I was a little intimidated by handles.  However, I made most of my handles a more round shape, which I find more aesthetically pleasing than the flat handles.  So, all in all, I am pretty satisfied with my mug experience.  I do agree with your (Brian) comment during the critique regarding my twisted handle.  That is something I would like to work on in the future.

I got 15 of my cylinders out of the kiln this week.  That was exciting.  Lesson learned: I use too much glaze.  That is something I need to work on.  Perhaps spraying my pieces could help in this area.  However, I am very happy with some of the surfaces I achieved.  I got some really nice texture and color on a few of the pieces.  I was very disappointed because I ended up breaking the bottoms off a few of the cylinders I really liked in the process of trying to remove the patty.  This seemed to happen only either on the Matt Long Porcelain or the equal parts.  I'm not really sure which it was.  This is quite upsetting because I really like throwing with the porcelain, however the stoneware is obviously stronger. 

 

I did spend a lot more time in the print shop this week.  Here are some images I have been working on.  They are running along the same vein as some of the ceramics I have been doing as far as the theme of nostalgia and sentiment goes.  The pictures of the baby dolls are actual dolls my mother and grandmother owned as children.  So, this is fun for me to bring that element into my prints as well.  None of these projects are finished yet, but I am pleased with the progress thus far. 

For this piece I am working with the same kitsch figurines as my first printmaking project.  It is a combination monotype and screen print.  I am currently working on getting the screen exposed with the key image, but it did not expose properly the first time I did it.  This is kind of an experiment because my screen is too big to fit in the light table so I am exposing it with lamps.  I can't decide if this key image will complete the work or if I want to add more layers.  So far it has more than 20 layers and I'm pretty pleased with the effect.