Handbuilding and painting

Don't I write the most exciting blog titles?

Here are some of the results of my hand building efforts. A long time back I started making a rocketship jar, but the fins kept breaking and I scrapped it. I've got three of these in progress now. I will have to do some major clean up in the interior if I want these to be jars, and walls are super thick and heavy. I can't seem to allow myself to make a sculpture just to be a sculpture. I guess I just love containers, and all I can think of is all the cool things that could be hidden inside that space! A place to hide secrets and treasures... Maybe one can be a jar with a doll inside, and one could be a kind of nichos or shadow box with a hole in the side, maybe with a little space drama going on inside? I feel like I could play around a bit with three of these at my disposal. Depending on how my demo progresses today, I may have four. But four is no good, because I hate odd numbers, so maybe I'll build 2 more.

I started painting my bear mask that I made back in my Christmas kids class. My plan is to go over the top girly with it. I wanted to have it ready for my gallery show so I could wear it all night. It probably wouldn't be very comfortable though, and it is heavy. It will probably end up on the wall.

Hand building workshop

Stephen gave a workshop on Sunday to demonstrate some of his hand building techniques. It was incredibly helpful, and I learned a lot. His handbuilding method is pretty fast and efficient, and seems to make a really strong build. Of course, he stressed slow and controlled drying, and not rushing the piece as it gets too large to support itself. Definitely a slower process than throwing, but not as tedious as slipping and scoring a lot of perfectly rolled coils!

Showing us some of his favorite tools.

He showed us a lot of his favorite tools, many of which are hand made. I love seeing new and creative pottery tools. One was a large trimming tool made from a sharpened metal band attached to a dowel. Another good one was a long stick with a semi-circle shape routed out the end, used for shaping nice, round ring foots.

Shaping tool, being used here  to make a texture design in a small slab.

One of his new press molds, part of a new process he's just trying out.

Showing us a more efficient coiling shape - tapering the top of each coil so you get a larger amount of clay surface connection when you smooth them into each other.

A base slab for a coil sculpture. The shape was made by tracing the green rib tool twice.

Starting the build.

Inner column in the base to support the balloon form.

Stephen showing how he sketches to plan his sculptures.

A press mold base for a second sculpture.

Coil building a balloon on the press mold base.

Talking about the proportion limitations for building a balanced piece.

Two small sculptures half finished by the end of the workshop.

I had planned to cover coil building in class this week, so I was able to intergrate some of his tips into my demo Monday night. I started two small sculptures of rocket ships as a demonstration. I forgot to take pics, but I'll be working on them some more tonight, so I'll share my progress.

Hope you enjoyed seeing these pics as much as I enjoyed the demo!

What's the haps in the studio?

This session at Beech Grove Clay Works is drawing to a close - this is the last week. It's been a fun session, and with the majority of my students being interested in wheel throwing, I've been really pushing myself to try wheel thrown forms that are out of my comfort zone. I've spent hours trawling the Internet for ideas, videos, and how-tos. Pinterest and YouTube have been invaluable resources,  (not to mention majorly addictive!), as well as Ceramic Arts Daily's archives. Most recently, I've demoed throwing a citrus juicer, tall bottle forms, and a combination chip and dip bowl and cake stand (the idea is it will flip over to function as both - haven't quite worked out the logistics of how I'll fire it, but it's an experiment!)

I've also been trying to do more handbuilding, which I'm really enjoying. I love the soft, pillowy effect you get from building with soft slabs! I think it's a direction I'd like to explore further. I shied away from handbuilding for the longest time, so it's been really liberating.

All in all, a very rewarding session. I love how teaching has made me stretch myself. I hope my enthusiasm shows in my classes! Definitely looking forward to the new session, and continueing to find new things to share with my students.