In the Studio: Time for T (Squares)*

Here is the tile for the back splash in our Kitchen, in it's last mold phase e.g.: trying to make it into a functional tile that will work, and not make my Husband crazy when it comes time to put them up. The first mold I made back in November did not turn out great- I used mold soap instead of petroleum jelly to grease the mold- and the tile slid around while I was pouring the plaster in which made it less square and crisp than I needed- luckily I could still press out a couple of tiles- and so I pressed one and then set about fixing it up to re-mold it.

 Mostly I had to smooth out a few spots  and make the Wheat motif a bit thicker- so that it didn't disappear on the edge, and add a ton of clay to make the edges square (ish). You can see in that photo that the bottom of the tile is about a 1/4 inch out at the bottom- which would make it a nightmare to grout- and also not look very good, though I do like the 'not quite perfectness' of the edges and the slight rounding of the corners- It has to be a proper square- otherwise it will bug the shit out of me while I'm cooking, looking up at my mistakes tiled behind the stove. Otherwise the project is moving along- I'm on to trying to figure out the best combo of clay and grog to reduce warping and shrinkage, and perfecting drying methods next... It's starting to get a bit technical- which I love- but which makes things a bit boring for everyone else...like watching clay dry...literally.


* I know it's not actually a T-square in the picture- but for the sake a cute post title- let it go. Oh god now I'm looking at the picture thinking how much better it would be if it were a t-square...so much more balanced...

On my work table

This week: small animal sprig molds (flat backed thin molds for applique onto other pieces), pouring plaster with a new friend, freeing the tiny elephant from his background. Working with kids- nothing is sacred- toys are everywhere, paper is for drawing on- giant heads- simple bodies, large eyes, a smile, always a smile. Tiny hands reach out to 'help' and how can I refuse?

I tried to get N to make a mug with me today- letting her stamp away at the clay, and then rolling it up into a cylinder- I was disappointed because what has so far been really complex, lovely patterning, turned sort of simple- instead of filling in the whole field, she did some small stuff in the center only before proclaiming it 'done'. I worry that she's losing the abandon that she used to create with- and I fear with it her awesome sense of texture, and pattern.  I applauded her ability to colour within the lines but with that fine motor skill comes a self editing that I don't want her to do yet- I worry that she's learning to make things too 'precious', to limit herself, and I don't want that. *sigh* oh the worries of the artist mother...so privileged...

Sketchbook: tiles

Designs for the tiles for the kitchen- plus some extra designs just for fun. I'm having a bit of a hard time deciding what the final tile will be-  I think I'll end up making a few designs and molds and deciding after they get the glaze on. It's a tough thing to mentally translate these designs into the finished product- because the dark lines will, of course, end up just as raised relief, so it's won't look as busy. The sketches are a pretty basic diagram of the finished product, which will be all one colour (probably white- or some pale variation thereof), with the design carved in bas relief.

The larger tracing paper allows me to see the whole pattern together- to make sure that things line up etc. It's also useful for transferring the images- (and for making me reel back in horror when I see how 'seventies' the pattern appears in black and white- not to worry- it's much more classic looking when carved).

posting along with Jane.

Workspace

Well- here it is where the magic happens, I was reading Jane's blog- and she's come up with the idea of showing your workspace and your sketchbook- bi-weekly- I'm not sure that I'm up for that level of posting (or you may see a lot of photos that look awfully similar, as no work progresses), but I do love the idea of sharing our workspaces, and I've been wanting to write more about art in this space, so I'll play along a little bit. Also this week has been uncharacteristically productive so I actually have stuff to share.

 I think that an Artists' workspace is a bit sacred really- I sort of hate sharing works in progress- I cringe when people want to see what I'm working on- because I feel like it's not enough, not clean enough, finished enough, well thought out enough, and I worry that the take away will be of me as a messy, flaky, kind of bad artist, not serious enough, or neat enough or worse- they'll think I'm a wannabe artist. I should know better- I don't know where that idea came from- except that I am a super responsible person- and I know the flaky artist stereotype- and I don't want to fit into it at all. Except that...well...I'm messy, and making art for me does require a little (or a lot) creative mess, I need to get into it and not worry about putting stuff away in the middle- I tend to make a giant mess, especially  now that I have the little ones to help me with the mess making, then I clean it up and start fresh on the new project.

Just lately I've been working on some tile patterns, so I've been doing the drawing and figuring, and brainstorming everywhere in the house- where ever the kids will be still, and I can avoid their 'help' for a few moments. This mostly means mealtimes, I sit and eat and draw, and it's actually been great- I've gotten more done that way than I have in months. I also tidied the table in my studio (not the spinning wheel though- which has been put there to keep it out of the kid's every day reach- but it got festooned with vintage hang tags, and fabric scraps while I was making the Halloween costumes, I asked N if I could tidy it- and she gasped and said "no! it's ready for Christmas!"). I enjoyed the clean table for a day or so and then I promptly covered it up again with prints from a printmaking workshop I attended (which was fantastic- my first time making prints- I think I may be hooked...).

The thing about the workspace as sacred space stream of thought, is that it's not really a productive thought- it ends up being something similar to the 'fear of the blank page', it ends up alienating artists, and allowing us to believe that other artists are better than we are- at everything, real artists have bright, open, airy, clean, absolutley tidy workspaces. When the reality is that most artists work in corners of their homes- with extra dressers, and kids toys, and random shoes (the one in the photo of my studio shelves above, that has me wondering that classic question: is that the lost shoe? or the one I found already?).  I am lucky enough to have a studio space all my own (you can see it in it's bright newly painted form in this post), I like it clean, sort of empty, and full of space- but it's rarely like that- especially if I'm working on something, and I don't think that's a bad thing actually.

I'm linking up with Jane at the Flight Platform, on this and other sketchbook posts.

In the studio

I know I said I would do a weekly post about what is going on in that newly minted studio of mine, but certain events have kept me from it. We were in a car accident a couple of weeks ago, and so I've been taking it a little easy in the studio. (We're all okay, the kids especially are completely fine, K and I are recovering quite well- just the usual sort of stuff, the car however, is not recovering, so that's a real bummer, because we'd only had it 3 months or so).

Anyhow- I've been carving some mugs, making them with a wider base and a straight sided cylinder shape instead of the small base with slanted sides which I was making before. The small based mugs are awfully tippy, there is some sort top to bottom width ratio that I am missing out on there I think, and I don't have the uninterrupted time at the moment to work out a better angle- I may do that in the future. The wider bottom gives the mugs a really stable feel, originally I felt like the straight cylinder was a bit clunky, but it's growing on me now, and I really like it as a shape for carving, it has an appealing straightforwardness. Also it makes the rim quite even, without losing the charm of hand building so I like that.

I've also been carving a few of them too- which is much less time consuming on a small scale, and I really like that, I like the lavishness of a hand carved mug, something a bit extra special for an everyday purpose, I think that's where functional handmade items shine.  I've also been tinting some slip and doing some Sgraffito work, some little tests, which I'm pretty excited about, they don't photograph well at all- because the slip needs a firing to make it darker, but it's basically coloured slip inlaid into the clay body, I'll show some images when/ if ever I get the kiln fired.

For the record this is what the majority of time spent in my studio looks like:

I really love the idea that it takes ten thousand hours of dedicated practice to become masterful at something,  at the rate I'm going, I'm sure I'm mastering something... though it likely isn't ceramics. Whenever I meet up with someone who asks me about what sort of art I've been making lately, I have to resist the urge to point to my kids and call them art.

In the Studio

The major work in the studio is done. I still have a pile of boxes and bags to deliver to the second hand store, a mirror to hang- possibly some magnetic paint to go up on one wall in strips- and a few bags of dried clay to move out to the shop- but basically it's done. The shelves were the finishing touch. K found them on ebrandon for 25 bucks, they're pretty basic veneered particle board- but they will work perfectly in the studio- and give me enough empty space to store greenware. I'm just blown away by the fact that I have empty shelves! it feels so good to have uncluttered this space.

It's pretty sparse in there right now- deliberately so- just a canvas topped table, shelves, and a stool with a plant on it- ( my post-apocalyptic looking peace lily- which was getting burned in the sun, and eaten cats- but is now recovering nicely out of direct light). It's got just enough space left over for some crawling practice, (I think the storing of stuff on my lower shelves will be short lived- once baby A gets going in earnest) and some clay work.

In the Studio

the spectacular mess of removing wallpaper-
but this is the last bedroom with wallpaper upstairs! yay!

I love finding the layers of old paper and paint under wallpaper,
this bright teal blue is really lovely. 

It's that time of year again, time to get working on some art (actually it should be that time of year all year right?). I found that doing a studio related post once a week as I did last year, really held me accountable- I had to get something done if only to post about it, and I felt like I made a lot of progress, even if it was baby steps it was nice to have it all laid out for me, so I'm going to start those posts up again.

In keeping with Emily's making it happen in 2013 challenge at  Bluebirdbaby here are my art related goals for 2013:

• make a more consistent model for mugs- I love hand building but I find it hard to get a really uniform product, and while I like the unique quality they have- there is room there for a little more uniformity- there is a fine line between unique and weird- especially in functional ware.
• get my base glazes set- a good gloss and matte base that can be coloured using both oxides and stains.
• Get my studio set up so that I can easily slip into it for a few minutes and make some work. I find that caring for small children makes it really hard to find any solid chunk of time to make work- so I need to be able to work on something for 10 minutes then put it aside and come back to it later. If I wait until I have an hour to devote to something I think I'd be waiting a few years. 
• Get my little ones into a schedule that includes some devoted studio time for me- even if that time is interrupted by forty thousand requests for milk and pee breaks. 
• Set up a space online where I can start to sell a few pieces at a time, as I make them, I think that craft sales and farmer's markets are a great way to sell product, but it does require a large amount of stock that is constantly updated and ready to move. I have a hard time making that much stuff (because of aforementioned milk and pee breaks). Also by the time I make enough product (sometimes a year or two!), It feels like I want to move onto something else, and the older stuff seems not as good as the new stuff, and that is not the type of sale I want to have.

I think that's all of it. This week I'm doing a bit of a face lift in the studio- taking down wallpaper and ripping up carpet- I'm excited to see what the space looks like when I'm done- hopefully I'll get it done in the next week or two, and then I can get down to work. 

Sewing: Camera Case

Last fall I bought myself a new camera- a Fugi- Finepix S- it's a bit bigger style- and has a neck strap- which I find to be a supreme annoyance, but I thought a wrist strap wouldn't quite do the trick as it's quite a big camera. I pondered over it for a while and then discovered that if I slung it over myself messenger bag style- diagonally that is- it stopped that stupid flopping that happened every time I leaned over- beaning my kid on the head more than once and generally making it awkward and hazardous to be around me, and, it also looked a bit cooler. 

So great- problem solved- but the strap was a bit short- making it sit somewhere closer to armpit height than the true waist hiegt I would like, and I remembered that most of my past cameras have been ruined by the lens getting grains of dirt and stuff in it, and seeing as how I usually take photos in dirty settings like a freshly rototilled garden, maybe it would be good to have some sort of cover for it. I thought and thought and finally decided to make a case that would strap onto the camera, and then hook onto the strap, so that I could let it hang from the strap while I took my pictures, and put it back in the lightly padded case while not in use.

I added a section to the shoulder of the strap, and drafted a case around the camera, it's a bit tough to get a picture of in use, but basically the top flap opens with a button, and the camera is sitting in a fitted pocket. The case is essentially attached to the camera at all times by a loop on the strap so I don't have to take it out and put it back every time I take a picture, and it hangs out of the way while I'm using the camera. I've been loving it so far- and it's reversable, and it's been holding up pretty well. It is by no means a completely safe camera case- I do have one of those, but it's not as convienient for around the house uses- but it does act a second layer of protection while the camera is in use- and it's not so bulky that I couldn't put the whole thing into my other camera bag.



In the Studio

I think I have to face the music and say that the clay work is going to be over until after the baby is born. I kind of hate saying that because I had just looked up a bunch of glaze recipes to try and bought some new stains that I wanted to check out- and I just bought more boxes of clay. But, in all honesty the physical nature of the work is probably too much for me right now. I'll have to save what energy I have for weeding (have you ever stood in your garden that needs weeding, and not been able to do it? It's darn hard to resist the urge to just bend down and pull out some plants).

I may get a couple more firings done before the baby arrives, those luminaries I made are just waiting to be loaded in the kiln and fired to cone 10, and then they'll be done and I'd love to have them finished this summer. But yesterday, when I realised that I would have to actually take it easier, not just think about taking it easier- I dug out the old samsonite cosmetic case I used for drawing and watercolour in university, and we had a little painting session.

I love the way that old case smells- musty and slightly unpleasant thrift store mixed with charcoal dust. It reminds me sharply of the basement drawing classes in university. The night classes, where we would all sit silently and draw in a darkened room, soft music playing whispering if we had to talk at all- our usual relationships and chat non-existent because of the models. I think it was my favorite part of school- the night classes, they were like a time out of time- occupying a space all their own.

I think I'll re-jig this case to allow for some outdoor work this summer- restock it with drawing and watercolour stuff and maybe make a special spot in it for the camera to sit as well. I've been thinking more and more about the camera as a creative tool- really trying to be mindful when I take my photos and edit them, to think of the end result as more than just documentation of my day.  So I'll put more energy into that camera work as well. It'll be nice to get into some paint again though,  a way to get some creative work in, while taking it easy.

In the studio

I'm most charmed by the carving on this piece, and the glaze looks much better in this photo than it does on line.

Mostly sewing this week folks, a bit of jean patching for the Hubby, and some maternity shirts- which I'm working on a tutorial for, also a few alterations on a dress I bought myself a while ago (on sale- beautiful print and fabric, but sort of weird spaghetti straps/ unflattering fit). I'll take some photos of them when the sun comes out again- they're summery tops, and the weather has been a little wintry this week (well- it was 25 at the beginning of the week, and now it's freezing rain on Friday, so who the heck knows what season it is in Manitoba)

I also fired the Kiln and glazed my vases- which I was less than impressed by, perhaps that's why no clay has gone on in the studio this week. I'll re fire them- but all in all the colours were too wishy washy, and the gloss surface that I love on mugs, is just not right for carved pieces, it's looks a bit too, I don't know flashy, and I'm going for classy. So yeah, back to the drawing board.

I'll mix up some satin matte glazes and see if any of them will do better, also I'll try some more intense stain levels, maybe that will be what I'm looking for- they're very pastel right now, and just not jiving with the image I have of them in my head. I'll get there in the end, I know (I'm not garaunteeing how far away 'the end' is, mind you) though it can be so frustrating to have it turn out not quite right. Time to get he sewing stuff cleared away, and get back  on the clay horse I suppose.

In the Studio

Fiddlehead carved boat

My 'helper'- in this case a small plastic farm boy- who was helping me adjust the pot
you'd be suprised at how often this happens.

the pile of beckoning bright fabric

I'm a little picture light this week- but a bisque kiln produces no photos- and I spent the week carving some gravy boats. I also made a cake plate- which was about 60 percent what I wanted it to be, so I recycled it. I could have saved it- the old me would have cried over it a bit (not literally), but I would have spent some time trying to patch it or sand it or just generally make it work. Really it's much better to just scrap it- before you fire it.

I have learned that by working regularly- when I only make a few things a year- whatever they are, they get precious, and I try very hard to save it from it's proper end, but when you work regular hours, and therefore produce lots of work (or more than you are used to producing), it's much easier to let it go. I think that comes from my painting background a bit too, when I painting doesn't go right- we paint over it until it is right- we are in complete control of that medium. But Clay is different- it's a bit wild, it depends on how it dries, and what type of clay you used, and how you attached it, and once it cracks, warps, slumps and then dries- it's usually too late to fix it. That is the correct moment for quality control- not after you fire the darn thing and then decide it's not really good enough- because you see- before you fire the clay you can add it back to water and re use it, but after it's fired you just have to throw it away.

Anyhow- I began writing this because I wanted  to write about my studio hours, I have wanted to set up regular working hours for a while- and only in this past month have I actually been able to manage it. I now work from whenever I get up until lunch time, N keeps herself occupied with snacks and shows right next to me, occasionally 'helping' me, and I get some work done. And I'm surprised at just how much work you can get done, just by putting in actual part time hours, I figure I'm spending 20-25 hours a week on clay right now, and that's ridiculous to me because I 've spent most of the last two years on baby and toddler time, which is like being in a time vacuum. I know I'll have to go through that vacuum again when the next babe comes along- but I'm so happy to have discovered that a couple of years in I'll be able to actually produce work again. It's thrilling.

So I know I wanted to try seasonal studio time, but I think I'm going to keep it up through the summer, maybe cut back to quarter time, do an hour or two of studio work in the morning and then go out to the garden, If I can until the baby comes. Because the one thing that happens when you make work is that you realize how much more stuff you want to make, and how many more hours you need to make the things you want to try (on my list are cake plates, carved canisters, french onion soup bowls, shorter vases, platters, and dinner plates).

Anyhow- after carving three gravy boats this week- and with the Babe getting up earlier and earlier (damn that summer sun),  I was feeling a little clayed out- and I think I'll try to get some sewing done this next week (as well as some more mugs), a couple of cotton maternity shirts, and some jean patching, in some bright colours is just the remedy I think.

In the Studio

the drying luminaries

the three surviving luminaries, and a couple of carved vases.

It was a glaze firing week- so that means *goody*- some colourful photos on the blog- not just drying clay colour (though I snazzed up the sidebars a bit in an effort to give you something colourful or spring like to look at). Mostly mugs in this kiln, and I was really pumped that I love at least some of them. That's the one thing about Clay- you just never really know if the glaze is too thick or too runny or just right until it comes out of the kiln, and by that time it's usually too late to do anything about it. Unless there's not enough glaze which is easy enough to re-fire, if there's too much, or the wrong colour, or you accidentally had a smidgen of black glaze dust on your finger when you put that otherwise perfectly glazed robin's egg blue platter into the kiln, then too bad- that one black spot will just have to stay there (I think, unless anyone has a solution for that one?????)

So mostly a successful kiln, my glazes worked better over texture a bit thinned out, and I also mostly by fluke discovered an effect that I love- a Watercolour-y looking effect, where one colour sort of runs into another and the brush marks stay defined. I usually glaze by painting on- it's just easier for me to control- I get too spastic wild with dipping or pouring, though my official reasons for painting on glaze is as a nod to my painter's heart; I really love when you can tell how an item was made- you can see a seam on a hand built pot, or you can see the brushstrokes on a painting. I want to see the method used in the medium. I've had this brushy effect happen before- but only on flukey pots, that I couldn't recreate, and so I was thrilled when I found a way to do that on these mugs, and I was conscious enough when I glazed them so hopefully I'll be able to do it again.

I think I've also discovered that I love Plainsman's P370 clay- it's the one that I feel most comfortable with- and it's got a great finished colour, very classy looking clay, and it's a bit firmer so I find it easier to hand build with. I just started working with Tucker's cone 10 Porcelain clay too, I made a couple of vases out of it- which was okay, but it's pretty soft, so I had to let them harden up quite a bit. I did however make these luminaries and I'm hoping they will have a bit of transparency when I high fire them. The plan is for them to be transparent in the lace pattern, and if not them to shine out through the holes I drilled. I made about 50 thousand of them- but only 3 have survived so far- they're pretty thin and delicate.

I was hoping for them to be for a sale- but I suddenly got an idea about making lots and lots of them, and having on the floor of an art gallery somewhere. I seem to be drawn to handkerchiefs right now, and I think I may have to put together a body work with that in mind, maybe including my mom's wedding dress? I don't know it's still embryonic, and knowing that the next grant deadline in in September, and the baby is also due in September- makes me a little nervous, though not enough to stop thinking of it. so yeah...

In the studio: March 26-April 6

 

A slightly pale glaze test- things turned out a little less saturated than I'd like-
 but it did give me a testing starting point or two.

Okay so I missed a week last week I actually got a lot done- but I didn't get a post written- also I didn't get much done this week, so it's sort of a catch up post. I did a glaze fire and a Bisque fire since I wrote last- finished a carved platter and a carved vase, and just today loaded another glaze kiln, so I've been keeping up- of course I've also been increasingly filling pots and starting seeds, so that's been keeping me a bit busy.

So yes- on to the pots- I've glazed the birch carved gray boat- and I really love it- I think the size is just right now that it's fired down, a bit big- but also big enough for a turkey gravy, and I love the way that the black glaze rubbed off highlights the carving. I also love the seashell platter- it looks very special in person, though small- it shrunk down to almost dinner plate size- though actually I think I may do more un-carved (with maybe a small pressed in lace embellishment) for a set of oval dinner plates- just clear or white glazed would be nice I think.

I did have a few stinker mugs though, most notably the four diamond impressed ones- which I did in four colours, rubbed off on the outside solid on the inside- I took off too much in some spots- not enough in others- they are going back in the kiln to see if I can improve them- I really loved the pattern. I'll have to make more like that- oh well, c'est la vie, especially in clay.

Also we've been dreaming up a stone patio area with a clay oven outside, and clearing up some rather scraggly trees around the yard, not to mention the super unsightly rock garden. And inside all the early stuff is planted, and the flower seeds are winter sown in milk jugs, things are looking mighty green around here...