Update!! Holy Moly!!

Everything is Bigger in Texas

Lost faith in me updating? I almost did! Okay... well not really. But I have been soooo lazy since I graduated! Yea, I finally finished. Who'da thunk that. I am a horrible blogger since I didn't keep my word and update my blog in regards to my thesis, pretty much the entire semester.

My thesis involved producing 254 ceramic bowls arranged in the shape of the state of Texas. Each bowl was to represent one of the 254 counties in the state. The bowls were colored with four separate glazes used to represent the over-all percentage of poverty per county. White being the lowest then green followed by turquoise and black being the highest percentage. Inside each bowl was placed an amount of rice that was used to represent the actual number of children under 18 who are in poverty, per county. Each grain of rice was to represent one child.


I ended up throwing about 360 bowls total and had about a 10% failure rate ranging from kiln wash flaking into bowls to cracks and broken bowls in transportation. I really was scared of doing that many bowls. I knew I could do it no problem but it was mighty harrowing and I ended up trying to ration myself to 10-15 bowls a day, where I'd work two days, trim one day. I ended up slacking on that and towards the end I did a few days of throwing 40-50 bowls a sitting and it was a breeze. I had this fear of doing it, and pushed it off... but once I sat down and barreled through it, I had no problem. I trimmed them all on bare wheel head without the aid of a grip, something I pride myself on. I still don't have tap-centering down but I did get use to the rings on the wheel head.

I ended up worrying endlessly over my paper when I really shouldn't have. I started out somewhat ahead of the game by turning in a rough draft early, but the rough draft had a lot of revisions. I went from a 24 page page to a 17 page paper and feel confident with what I have produced and feel accomplished with finally getting my BFA in Studio Ceramics. I did a good job on my oral defense also, had no real hiccups in the speech and didn't really have any questions.

Photo by Randy Edwards.  

Now that I graduated, I haven't been doing jack. I have taken my last two weeks as vacation and finally caught up on sleep, video games, and friends. I was interviewed for the local news paper that came out today, has a rather nice article. One correction, I should have stressed but hadn't- It was printed Oak Wind Pottery where I intend it to be two words, Oakwind Pottery. :) Oh well, not a big thing, very grateful to be in the paper and receive the honor of being part of the article. I will try and get a copy of it scanned soon and uploaded.

Oh a side note, I actually went through and cleaned everything in my studio area. I washed all my tools, bats, mopped, etc. I am completely ready to get started, just don't know what to get working on. Christmas was nice and I got a wonderful Giffin Grip from my parents which means I can throw and trim a larger variety of shapes, more easily now.

For Christmas I have participated in this Secret Santa ordeal on Reddit.com. I got the pleasure of sending a gift to someone in Europe so naturally I decided to send them some of my pottery. I sent an extra bowl from my thesis, a CD with some pictures, a copy of my paper, some local issues of The Art Studio, Inc.'s The Issue as well as a t-shirt I made a custom design on. It has officially been 20 days and the package still hasn't arrived as far as I know. USPS won't update my shipping... and he hasn't confirmed the package has arrived. But I keep hoping he likes it, because I was screwed on my end. The person who picked me got me a crappy movie that will cost me a dime more than it cost to return it, just to cover shipping. Lame.

I had been procrastinating for so long on making myself a stamp for my pots but after watching a lovely video from Brookfield Pottery on YouTube about how to make one, I finally decided to do it. I was always weary of carving into clay to make a mark because I knew if I messed up, I'd have to start all over on a new piece and I would get frustrated. Well using his technique, I cleaned off the side of an old plaster mold and carved my stamp into it, several different sized ones at that. I did so to test what I feel would be a good size, since there will be shrinkage in the stamp itself and then once again when it is applied to a pot.

I have plenty more books, videos, etc to share so I hope to be updating more. I have been pushing it off because I felt like I had too much to talk about and once I got started, I wouldn't be able to stop. Well.. this post is getting long :) But I have gotten most of what I wanted to talk about out now so I feel much better. If anyone would like to read my thesis paper, just leave me a comment somewhere and where to send it and I'll be glad to assist.

Time to wrap this thing up. I apologize for my laziness on updating, this is the part where I say I'll update more often. Lets see how well I do that... Till next time!

Update! Woot!

Guess what I'm listening to? The new Guns 'n' Roses. Oddly enough, it's not that bad. Weird, seriously.

Anyway- This isn't about my music tastes. I said I would talk about what I've been up to lately, this past two weeks. A lot! Well, I had a goal of doing 50 bowls and 50 mugs, to start off with. I haven't reached it yet, the total right now is at 13 bowls, 21 mugs. Plus a few minor other things, including my first lidded piece. I watched a video from Simon about throwing a lid for a jam / sugar jar. It worked! Ha!

The first day I sat and decided to get started, I wanted to work on bowls and see how I could play around with 1.5 pounds and see about getting a good shape. I used a bowl from the house as a guide, set up a lump of clay / paintbrush guide and set to work. I didn't get any pictures of them, I was able to bring them up to school before the semester actually ended. The second thing I sat down and worked on was seeing what size I could get with 1.5 pounds of clay in a mug. I wanted to work on pulling, more evenly, and handles. I sat and threw six mugs at that time. So far, after each of these dried and were trimmed, they are right at 1 pound. This is still just bone dry, not bisqued.


Out of those mugs, I was satisfied with really one of the forms, but not fully, I wanted to explore it. It shaped up similar to the one to the left. I am attracted to the wide thick foot and what I've been calling "the fat bottom." I think the curve there is comforting to the hands when held, you can cup it almost. The flared lip also helps in that you can grab the mug without it slipping through your hand. The handles I am getting a lot better at, a lot thinner and and more proportionate. The handles I try to make a pretty decent size, I was aiming for 2-3 of my fingers in each one. I think a small framed person could probably grab the handle with their full hand. We'll see after they're fired and glazed, I'm expecting shrinkage (insert inner child giggle).

I am running out of space in my shop, I need to call a friend of mine who was willing to give me a shelving unit. Industrial aluminum sheet pan shelving, double deep, and on wheels. In the pictures some of the bowls I threw as well as a spread of my mugs. You can also see the lil lidded thing I threw, I think it came out kind of cute. Better then I thought it would at least. I want to keep making these and work on getting pretty big ones, and also work on putting a rimmed lid on the lips. I'd like to be able to make some casserole dishes. I love the idea of making what I use to cook. I also hope to one day make the sinks for my bathroom when I get my own studio. Wouldn't that be awesome?? I like the bowls pictured here, can't really see them, but they stack so well. I think its part of the craftsmanship that they stack and fit so well for being so close to the same size. I threw some bowls after these that didn't fit as well, I ended up crushing one on accident.

I started using a new clay body, Balcones Cone 10 White. It is pretty nice, very fine grog and smooths over very nicely. The drawback I've had lately has to deal as much with the humidity and changing climate as anything else, slow drying. I was worried about drying these out too quick or them drying without me knowing. So it took literally like 3-4 days for these to be ready to trim, in comparison- the mugs above were thrown one day and trimmed the next. A bowl I threw was a happy mistake. The clay I had to reknead and throw a second time because I had messed up on a mug, I think it was telling me it wanted to be a bowl. But after I threw the bowl I did this kind of squared off flower type design, also picked up from SLeach. It's come out pretty nice, isn't perfect but optically it's correct.

A new thing I made with some quick brainstorming is a gauge for repeat throwing. I was using the clay and brush technique but I left some clay out and it dried out over night and I wanted a method that wouldn't let me waste clay. What I came up with is some wood scraps that I sanded down and screwed together. The verticle piece has a scrap flat piece of plywood attached to it and a small C clamp holding it to my wheel body. At the top of the verticle piece, the arm is attached using a pretty long screw, gives it stability. What I did different is leave the screw out about a quarter inch or so allowing me the ability to spin the arm and position it where I please. On the end of the arm is a few short hex screws with hex heads. The problem was the plasticene could be smoothed out but it isn't sticky, so it wouldn't stay on the end of the arm. By placing the screws there, it gives the clay enough room to grab onto something and not slide off. Ta-da! This gauge allows me to remove and replace my splash pan without disrupting its position also. The flexible arm allows me to easily move the arm out of the way in order to use my cut-off wires and then move the arm back in position.

I forgot to mention that I made my own cut-off wire also, I enjoy making my own tools. I had a discussion with a friend about this last night- I am attracted to tradition and some of the ideas around that. I feel that being hands on when building something is special, and I feel that there is a lost gap between what was and what is now. A lot of people lost touch with the craft society and bought into commercialized, industrialized ceramics. Being able to connect with tradition and do it respect by attempting to revive and regain the strength in the average home is something I wish to achieve. I am trying to do this in different ways, making my own tools, throwing useable forms, etc. I also am trying to get some stamps for my initials and something to show my location- I am thinking a lone star. I feel that scribing my name on the bottom is detracting from the form. Who knows, I may be alone in this feeling. I just know my signature is ugly in my opinion, and I don't see myself being satisfied with it anytime soon.

This blogs gotten a bit long, whoops. I'm wasting time at work right now, so I'm enjoying it too much. I was trying to find an example of a stamped rim, but I am having no luck. O well. I'll check in later! I hope the books I ordered arrive soon...