Thursday, February 26, 2009

The First of Mom's Trays

Here are the follow up photos of the first two trays that I posted.









Both trays are made with Black Mountain Clay with porcelain slip. This creates the color variations within the glaze. The left photo also has two different glaze on it for further variation. They were fired in a gas kiln (reduction firing) to cone 10 (2300+ degrees Fahrenheit).

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

trial, failure, and the results start coming

Where do I begin? It is so so difficult to get back in the swing of things when you think you already should be in the swing of things. (Reality, check) It is especially daunting when you diverge slightly from your pre-established swing.
I have been trying with all my might to make a piece that continues to fail. Multiple attempts and from different design perspectives (but not different enough)
So I made a compromise with myself... Do 3/4 what you know and 1/4 new...
In reality I am going a bit more in the new direction, because the mold is new too.

The mold is the belly of an orange street cone.

The clay, once again, is mid-range porcelain paper clay.

The Goal: merge my vision of a ladder dress with a ruffled obsession.

The first cone mold had a pesky undercut that got in the way of removing the form. I cut the ladder to give the structure a little more movement, held my breath and pried it off.
I love Paper Clay!
Now that it is off I am fully committed to a successful outcome. And to avoid that problem I found a cone without undercuts.


I got my first round of glazed high- fire pieces out of the kiln. The trays did not make it in that firing, but they come out tomorrow so well see them soon.
I am excited about the results of this batch and can't wait to see the next batch.


I will post those tomorrow.

Monday, February 2, 2009

And we're....

Back in the lab!

Only 12 weeks or so till the back room heads down to Davis for CCACA. I am excited for the opportunity to show with Humboldt State again. It will be an amazing show to participate in. And it is, of course, always a fun weekend!






Mom, your plates are in progress.








I'm sticking with the dresses for a now. This time i'm altering the concept of dress, but sticken with the mid- range porcelain (frost) paper clay.



I wonder how I'll finish this one