Monday, November 28, 2011

Blong.

 I am pretty happy with this piece.  I am excited to hang it on the wall and see it in the space.  It's pretty heavy though.  I will need some help hanging it on a stud.  The hanger I attached to the back claims it can hold up to 200 pounds, so lets hope the wall is nice and sturdy.  I also have another shadowbox I will need to hang on the wall.  I need to go get that either tonight or tomorrow.  I wish it wasn't pouring down rain.  This is so inconvenient for this show we are trying to put together.
 Here is my grandma's old coffee table I still need to take over to Pearl St.  I got most of the furniture moved over today.  I am still freaking out a bit about getting everything done on time.  I still need to move this, my old green chair, and a curio cabinet.  I really wish it wasn't pouring down rain because I would prefer not to get these pieces wet.  I really want to get all the furniture over there and the things hung on the wall before I start unloading ceramics in the room.  I am so stressed about this.
 Here is where all my stuff used to be... my house feels naked!
 Here are boxes of ceramics and things I have packed up for the show.  It's going to be a bear getting it all over there.  But, as long as I can get everything moved in a timely manner it is going to be lots of fun creating my environment.  I am so pissed that it is going to be pouring down rain for the next few days!!!!

I wish I would have taken some photos of the stuff I have done in the room so far.  I hope this turns out well!  I am seriously freaking out due to time constraints and the weather and all the work I have to get done in it!  It is going to take another day to do the rest of the moving, then I need to hang the wall pieces (the tall shelf needs to attached to the wall, two shelf/shadow boxes need hung, and I have a few small shelves, and some ceramic wall decor), and a couple days to unpack and place things.  I have a lot of arranging to do.... and more curtains to hang.  At least Philip and I got the majority of the furniture moved today.  I am soaking wet and feeling overwhelmed... excited, and stressed..... 

Monday, November 21, 2011

 Here are some photos of the rooms I like for my installation at 501 Pearl St.  I am going to go with the white one, although I love the feel of the darker upstairs space.  The lighter downstairs room will be better for a number of reasons.  It will be easier to light and easier to fill and get the tight, jam-packed feeling I am going for.  I will also be able to get it nice and clean, which will look nice with my work.  I am excited to go over tomorrow and start cleaning and get my hands on that cabinet.  I am going to bring it home and clean it up.  It is going to be just about perfect for one of my pieces.  I need to measure the longest wall in the room to find out if the mantle I am planning on building is going to work.




 I got my gold animal tree in the student show.  I am pleased I got a piece in, although I am surprised about the one that was chosen.  I thought for sure my pitcher and one of my prints would get in.  Out of the five I entered I thought this one had the least chance of getting in.  But, I do like it.  I was pretty bummed about most of the pieces I got out of my luster kiln I fired.  This gold isn't quite as nice as the other gold I had, and the colors look pretty weird.  I do really like the mother of pearl (it's on the little sheep in one of the photos below).  The show that is going up in the Barr gallery seems to be a little sparse, and I am not too impressed with some of the work that was chosen.  I liked the last two years a lot better.

 Here are some more pieces I lustered.  I loaded that kiln today.
 Here are some of the pieces I got out this past week.
 And, I purchased some more pieces for my installation, most notably these two tables to use as "pedestals."  I got really good deals on them.  There are also some more little things I have been collecting and working on.  I also got some glass shelves made for one of the curio cabinets I got.  They were way more expensive than I expected.  I do not even want to know how much money I have spent on this show.  I got some lace curtains to hang on the windows in the room.  The shadow boxes need to be finished, I am still undecided about the mantle, I might need to buy a rug, and I have three more kilns I am planning on firing.  Installing is going to be a lot of hard work, but I am in pretty good shape.

Monday, November 14, 2011

This past week I fired a kiln.  It was an 04 glaze.  The pink glaze I mixed up still looks bad, no matter what I try differently.  I've got some different things planned for these guys.
 I also loaded a kiln today.  It's another 04 glaze.  I am going to load an 018 tomorrow.  My new lusters came in, so I am excited to see how they turn out.
 I have been spending a lot of time collecting.  This lamp is a gem, and I got this table to go with it.  I also got some nice doilies for my installation.
 Here is the claw footed cabinet I found.  I stained and polyurethaned it.  It looks really nice now.

 Here is the first of three shadowbox shelves being worked on.  The cedar wood that this is made from is wood that came from my grandma's old house.  It used to be paneling on the wall.  I thought that was a nice touch, which goes well with my theme.  It is going to have a wood backing and glass front with a frame around it.  This is the biggest of the three being made.  I can't decide if I am going to stain this one or not.  The color of this wood is nice, but I guess it depends on the color of the wood used on the backing and frame.  I want it to match.
 And here are some more things I have been collecting and working on.  There is a miniature shadowbox shelf and some more items, some of which I attained from thrift stores and some my mom gave me that belonged to my grandmother.  I also will be getting an antique rocking horse to put in my show.  It's going to be pretty cool.

Monday, November 7, 2011

This week in Clayworld...

 This past week I built a new animal tree.  I made it all white.  It looks pretty classy the way it is, but it is going to be all gold everything.  I put in my order for new lusters, which was pretty expensive.  I am getting more gold, mother of pearl, turquoise, and purple.  I fired this kiln to 04.  The tree turned out pretty nice.  I was a little nervous that the low fire animals might melt again, but it worked out just fine.  I clear glazed a lot of dogs and little animals I had from a long time ago.  Several will be getting lustered.  I really hope the shipment gets here in plenty of time to fire an 018 before the show. 
I have been thinking about some things.  Brian seems pretty intent upon me doing bigger, more free form stacks of animals, which I was totally getting down with.  But, the work I have been making is very site specific and is being made specifically for my installation.  I do not think that a bigger, asymmetrical stack of animals will fit into the room.  The whole reason for the shape I am currently doing is to mimic the fruit tree, which adorned the tables of many a 1970's household.  I think the fruit tree is being overlooked, and the idea is morphing into a different concept.  I will say, I do like the idea, and it is something that I will not discount, but I do not think it fits in with my little granny kitsch room installation I am building.  A little old lady would not put an asymmetrical, free flowing stack of upside down animals on her mantle.  She would want a perfect stack of right-side-up cute little animal tree.  The homage to the fruit tree is getting lost, and I think it needs to be brought back into sight.  I do like the ideas of bigger, weirder stacks, but not for this installation.  I do not think it makes sense with what I am doing.

 Here are just some more shots in the kiln, pre-fire.
 I also made some more lil babes.
 I am really happy with the way our luster kiln came out.  The gold dressed little boy is just the right amount of creepy precious.  And, the duck, well, he speaks for himself.
 I am going to refire a few of these pieces because I think I may have put the glaze a tad too thin in some spots.  And the pink glaze I put on a couple looks horrible, so I am hoping more clear might help it out a little.
 Here is the finished tree and some of the other pieces from that kiln.  A few of the dogs and bunnies will get some gold.
Today I bought an awesome "pedestal" for my installation.  It is an old record cabinet with claw feet.  With some TLC it is going to be pretty nice.
I have been doing some juggling between school, art, work, life, looking through thrift stores for perfect additions to my installation, and working my ass off for art history.  I have been feeling the burn.  This is the first time I have felt so burnt out that I am actually done with school and ready to get the hell out.  I have been running on E in many aspects of my life right now.  But, I am pretty excited about my plans for the show.  It is costing some money, but as Tiffany once told me, "It costs a lot of money to make good art."  That is true.  I hope I have time to finish everything I want to get done.  Welp, I need to study for my Japan art history test.  I am about sick of looking at Japanese words. Haha.