The Return to School

   
     The dawning of the fall semester is always an awkward time for me in the clay studio. From having the studio all to myself for three months, I must rapidly readjust to having other people and classes in the studio all the time. Luckily, with my graduation in December, this is the last time for that.

What every good studio space needs

   
     The last week or so has been pretty scattered for me. Along with going back to school and pushing out 35 plates, I have also fired 2 soda kilns over the past 10 days. Not bad if you ask me. I fell in love with soda firing while I was still in high school. Our ceramics class was lucky enough to travel to the Mary Anderson Center for the Arts in Southern Indiana to fire their soda kiln. I was hooked after the first firing and over time became very close to the studio director, Norman Silva. Norman is one of my greatest ceramic influences and probably the main reason I still make pots today. When I graduated from high school and was left with nowhere to work, Norman created a job for me at Mount Saint Francis. I got to do all the cleaning work he hated, and in turn, I got to make work up there for free.

Norm, me, and my mop!

      Through working with him at The Mount, I fired more than forty soda kilns over the next two years. After awhile, dividing myself between The Mount Studio and the studio at UofL became impractical, and I began working solely at UofL. Luckily for me, there was a nearly new soda kiln here as well. Unfortunately, there was also a BRAND NEW wood kiln. Needless to say, I have focused pretty heavily on wood firing over the past few years while soda firing has fallen by the wayside. After taking the soda firing workshop at the Archie Bray Foundation with Matt Long and Brad Schweiger this summer, my soda firing interest was sparked again. Why not soda fire some of my plates? The atmospheric surface of soda firing is both similar and just as beautiful as that of wood firing.

Soda Kiln @ The Meadows Pottery

   
     The first soda kiln I fired is located at Matt Gaddie's studio in Bardstown, KY. I have worked closely with Matt for the past few years, and this soda kiln is something I have pushed him to build for some time now.  We started the build in late spring of this year, and with gas lines run and burners built, we were finally ready to fire.  For a first firing, the kiln came out great, and I even got a few finished plates to move my tally up to 8. Sadly I left my camera down at his studio, so no photos of pots for now. I also fired a soda kiln here at UofL with a buddy of mine from the studio. This kiln also came out really well and gave me further hope about incorporating soda fired plates into my plate wall. I promise I'll post photos as soon as I get my camera back!

A full space..and my "borrowed" cart

    
     One major downside to the semester starting (in my opinion) is the need for my space to appear "cleaner than usual". I would not consider myself messy; however, pushing so many pots through a small area can create quite a bit of clutter. This is especially true with all the plates I will be making. They do not take terribly long to throw, but drying and trimming can easily take a week. With limited space to store a large number of drying-sensitive plates, I was left scratching my head for a few days. Luckily, there is a super nice cart that I have "borrowed" to store trimmed plates on. I may not be able to walk into my space, but who cares!











...and always.. the random of the day

I have a twin somewhere! (this isnt actually me believe it or not) 

No Plate Tuesday

     Having thrown 10 plates on Monday, I was not left with much space on my table to throw plates yesterday. Have no fear, I plan to make more today! Rather than try and talk about plates everyday, I thought it would be interesting to talk about a different aspect of my process each day for the next week or so.

My best buddy

     A major part of the ceramic process is mixing my own clay. While saying I mix my own clay may be a stretch for the standard definition, I do make it all by hand. Although boxed clay is quick and avoids making a major mess, making my own clay provides me the ability to make it however I want it and tweak small elements from one batch to the next. For example, if I plan on throwing 30 lb. bowls in the coming weeks, I'll mix the clay much softer than if I am making a lot of plates. Nothing is more frustrating than opening a box of pre-mixed clay that you payed a pretty penny for, only to find out that you got the product of a bad batch. Rather than scientifically calculating each ingredient down to the tenth of a percent, I make a rather rough mix that falls in line with Brad Schewiger's "fireclay and water" mix. Starting with reclaim from our studio

I sure love trimming lines

stoneware ( 70% Hawthorn Bond Fireclay, 15% Kentucky OM4, 15% Custer Feldspar, and 5% Silica) in a Soldner Mixer, I mix in additional Hawthorn Bond until the consistency is right. While it is not the most plastic clay I've ever used, I am particularly attracted to the properties of a fireclay heavy clay body. I may not win the tallest cylinder with 1 lb. of clay contest, but this clay body allows me to manipulate forms in ways that most clays would not.
     Another huge plus for this clay is the physical surface it creates. When done correctly, I am a huge fan of marks on pots that reveal elements of the process. For me personally, I try to record part of the process through trimming marks. Like with the throwing slip, these "magical marks" cannot be forced. Rather than setting out trying to create interesting trimming lines, I simply trim and allow the marks to create themselves. Forcing process marks onto pots is always distinguishable from marks that came naturally.
     Lucky for you all, I'll be shutting up for the next few days, as I will be firing a soda kiln down at The Meadows Pottery. However, when I get back, be ready to hear all about mixing throwing slip and see all kinds of soda fired pots.
      Rather than posting a random picture today, I want to spread the word about another blog that I enjoy very much. Brody Leven is a dude, and a very cool one at that. His blog is even more random than mine; however it's incredibly well written and extremely entertaining. It's the kind of stuff you couldn't make up if you
tried, and I catch myself laughing out loud constantly. On that note, if I could ever ask you to do anything, go check out homie Brody's blog (brodyleven.com) and if nothing else, be sure to read the series about the Craigslist creep (http://brodyleven.com/2011/04/05/craigslist creep-part-1-the-saga-of-getting-around/). You have to do it now... I gave you the link! Do it!

Doing it right!

       I lied about not posting a random picture. Do you really think I could pass up the opportunity? For all you know, I've already scrolled for hours, picking a long line of random photos-to-be.

From one of my first firings at UofL..Taken by the one and only Ali Greenwell

They Say Magicians Never Reveal Their Secrets..

First successful plate firing @ The Meadows Pottery

      However, I'm no magician.. Although I would love to say otherwise, "slippin" my plates came about because I could not throw good plates to begin with. Always plagued by interior ridges between the foot to wall transition, I yearned for ways to hide these marks. As an avid fan of both Matt Long and Chris Staley, I immediately fell in love with the use of throwing slip as a way to create gestural lines throughout my work.  From the start, I looked for ways to make the slip "my own" in order to avoid looking derivative of those who came before me. Coating the plates in slip both hid the ridges and created an interactive surface for the wood kiln.

First successful plate firing @ UofL

        After wood firing a few rounds of these plates I knew the slip was here to stay. I also knew I HAD to get better at throwing plates. Rather than letting the slip act as a crutch for the lacking formal element, I wanted both the slip and the plate form to develop individual strengths as well as communal strengths that made them inseparable. Those who know me know that when I find something I like, I tend to like it a bit too much. The gears were turning in my head, and my studio space became "slipped plate city". 

        From the start, one of my core interests with the plates was the potential for differing surface development. In my opinion, most wood fired plates need a little something extra to make the surface worth focusing on. Rather than turning to glazing, I wanted to use the natural kiln environment to "paint" my work. In a sense, the slip ridges and cups stacked (the 3 dots you see on the plates are from cups wadded and stacked on top of the plates during the wood firing) on top of the plates act as miniature roadblocks for the flame and ash. Instead of allowing the fire to pass right by, these small additions force the flame to take an alternate path, leaving beautiful flashing marks on the surface. In the same way, ash is encouraged to settle around the cup or on low points in the ridges, leaving behind beautiful ash pools.

       

Look at that flashing!

         Would you believe that all of these plates are fired without the use of glazes or flashing slips? Unfortunately, nobody believes me unless they see the plates going in as bare clay during the loading. While I wouldn't say I have ZERO interest in glazing, my interest is minimal. So is my attention span. Rather, I am far more fascinated with the color, texture, and variety created by the firing process. While there is an exact science that explains all the organic minerals in wood and their effect when burned at a high temperature, there is still something magical about opening up each kiln and seeing all the variety in color and texture. Even identical pieces fired side by side can have completely different results. Whats not to be "fired" up about?

      Back to the whole two plates a day topic. "Office Space" is one of my favorite movies, and I am proud to say that yesterday I debunked the "case of the Mondays" theory. I finished up the day with 10 new plates, and with my tabletop full, I look forward to getting them trimmed up and throwing more.  If you could sit behind the scenes and watch me struggle to fill the pages, you would see that I have far too many images to go with as few words as I can come up with on a daily basis. Luckily, I see this blog as a chance to strengthen my ability to speak coherently about my work. However, for now I'll just stick to posting too many photos to go along with the words.

10 on a Monday

Random of the day...Angry Bird wood kiln!

Getting "Web-ucated"

Already proving that my title is a lie...

 I have my B.F.A. Senior Exhibition coming up in December of 2012 and who knows..maybe my graduating from college is the reason for the end of the world drama. Armageddon or not, I plan on making my Exhibition Show one to remember for many years to come. While spending large amounts of time in the studio is honestly a gift in my opinion, the mathematical side of my brain has been breaking down the "hard numbers" for some time now. The biggest project for this show will be my plate wall; I plan on making 250 wood fired plates to cover an entire wall in the gallery. For those of you that know my ability to procrastinate, yes I do honestly to make at least 250 finished plates by late November. Given that I officially started this "plate project" on August 1st, I have to throw two of these plates EVERY SINGLE DAY until the final wet-work day before my show. And now everyone knows the deeply guarded secret as to where the title inspiration came from!

Slippin!

On the surface, two plates a day doesn't seem that bad at all. If Michael Kline can make "Twelve Before Twelve", (a term made famous..in the ceramics community..for his daily production of at least twelve pieces before noon) surely I can make two plates a day. Even though it seems like a simple task when taken at face value, I am trying to remain realistic and prepared for issues like cracking, bad firings, etc. In fact, since making just two plates a day is quite impractical, I am easily coerced into making more than the title advertises. It's still early in the afternoon on Monday and I have already thrown and slipped four plates. I think I'll push for eight to start the week off right. Check back often for plate and not-plate updates as well as to laugh at my ability to butcher even the simplest of "pre-made" blog templates! Back to wedging... but first..as promised.. a totally unrelated picture from my road-trip to Montana.

Good Morning World!