Nesting...

Ceramic Sculpture: Project Three: "Persona" November 2010

       For our third and final project, we were to reflect in upon ourselves. Thinking along the lines of what makes you, you- the last assignment was a type of self portrait. It took me a long time to get started on this one. I went through many ideas- even settling on a few but I could not bring myself to make any of them. Finally, one night it just clicked and I knew exactly what I had to do.

I had to nest. 

I decided to use Paper Clay for this assignment- something I've never worked with. The Paper clay recipe I used was essentially a cone ten porcelain with ripped up toilet paper pulp. The addition of paper to clay can be beneficial in many ways, including the ability to go thinner and more delicate- a property I definitely needed for this body of work. The paper also burns out in the firing - making the finished object much lighter. 

I started my process by rolling out many skinny irregular coils.

I tried to keep each coil as organically formed as I could.

My next step was to take a bunch of plaster hump molds and 

drape, arrange, and weave the coils together, as organically as I could, 

to form a stylized bird's nest.
I was even fortunate enough to have a bunch of real nests
in front of my as I worked, courtesy of a nice friend! 

I also created a bunch of "stones" to fill my nests. 

Representing nothing in particular but everything at once, these stones were great fun to make. I just rolled small balls of clay and threw them on the table to get some interesting angles. I then waited for them to set up a bit more before I spent some quality time smoothing the sides out with my thumb.

Here's a look at my ten finished nests ready for bisque! 

Putting the pieces together...

 Out of the glaze firing and ready to get on that wall!

The way I was to attach each piece to the wall was extremely

important and really had to be considered.

My plan was to assemble the pieces together across the space 

so you felt a sense of organic movement and flow.

If I was to use nails or something similar to hang them on, 

I was afraid it wouldn't develop naturally- and instead look stiff and constructed. 

Another problem with a nail-like situation would be that each piece would then be governed by gravity, 

and therefore would not be able to keep particular angles.

Solution: Thumb Tacks!!

With a giant pair of wire cutters, I successfully
snipped off the end bit of each tack. 

I then hot glued each half tack into the back of each piece!

Creating over 200 push-pin-able pieces!

Now comes the tricky part...

assembling!

Going into installation was a bit nerve racking. 

Out of every part of the process that got me this far

this was the most frustrating yet most fun and rewarding.

I worked naturally and organically. 

I had a general sense of what I wanted it to end up like 

but I mostly relied on my feelings as I went along. 

Working on the bulletin board to the right of my chosen wall,

I created there and then transferred sections over one at a time. 

It took a good long while,

many breaks where I just sat across from my progress and stared, 

as well as some of my favorite songs on repeat...

but here it is!

Let's get down to business..

to glaze!

Once out of bisque I divided them into respective sizes

and then again into buckets of almost equal groupings for my three variations.

Talk about a difficult form to glaze!

 I ended up rigging this fork to stick into the back hole 

of each form so I could then dip them completely-

It ended up being a really great system! 

ready for the glaze firing!

Tests!

Time to glaze! 

but first you must test! and test again! and test againnnnn!!! 

For this project I knew right off the bat what kind of surface treatment I wanted: a soft pallet of matte tan/yellows or dark greens that had a small, gentle gradient. I started my research in Val Cushing's Handbook with three cone six matte/satin-matte base glazes: VC "71", VC " 72" and ND V. WIth those bases, I then developed a system for adding colorants at increasing percentages. The colorants I used were Nickle Oxide, Chrome, and Rutile. At the same time, for my materials class I was testing Albany Slip in a line blend with Talc! 

here's a photo of my sketchbook with all my recipes and percentages!

and here's a photograph of my results for the VC bases! 

and for my Albany Slip/Talc line blend!

I decided to go with the middle of the line blend

because it was perfect!!

exactly what I was looking for: a gentle gradient of earthy warm yellow/tans! 

My next step was to test this glaze on the clay body

I was using for my final project to make sure it fit well

and it did!

next up..glaze everything!

Oh hi!

welcome to my new ceramic sculpture blog!
        I'd like to keep you updated on my work.. from my working processes and habits all the way through my final installation!Right now I am enrolled in three ceramic studio classes as a BFA at SUNY New Paltz: Ceramic Sculpture, the Glazed Surface, and Materials. 


Ceramic Sculpture: Project One: Details of Darwin September 2010
       For this project, the assignment was to select a random object and evolve it as to be unrecognizable to the original. Designed to be more of a jumping off point than a basis for conceptional thought, this project was open to pretty much anything you wanted to do! As I looked around for things to begin sketching, I started to think about what objects I come into contact with daily that capture my interest. Almost instantly my mind went straight to the acorn. Everyday on the walk from my car to the studio I notice them under my feet. The sidewalk is lined with oaks on this small stretch of campus and I very much enjoyed seeing this new indicator of seasonal change. As I started to sketch, I also began to really examine the acorn and understand it completely. I most enjoyed the top or cap of the acorn and decided to focus on this part for my project. The acorn cap consists completely of these tiny, pointed, scale like petals that overlap and increase in size from where it meets the seed part to where it would connect to the branch. Each one is independent from the others and can actually be pulled up from the tip. For my project I wanted to focus in on this ability for the scale to pull up, but change and exaggerate them so they would curl instead of break.

 The Plan: To make a 10 inch by 30 inch tile (divided into three small tiles) that is completely covered in scale-like curly petals. The scales will increase in size from bottom to top while deceasing in the amount they curl.

After make small attempts to figure out how to go out constructing this I decided to go ahead and start building!


First I rolled out one very large slab and cut into a 10 inch by 30 inch rectangle. I decided to leave the slab whole and cut it when needed so it would fit together seamlessly later. My general working process consisted of rolling out more thin slabs, cutting them into one inch by two or three inch pieces, beveling the edges of these pieces, using water to pull each piece into a curl, puzzling them together on the large slab and attaching!

Ready for Bisque!

So: sometimes things blow up in the kiln. And this time it did! Because of a number of factors- including moisture and fast firing every inch of my giant tile was blown to bits! 

And you know you're either crazy or really in love with clay when you can open the kiln and see this and think

 "what a beautiful mess!" 

Time to rebuild! 

This time I've decided to use one of my favorite clays- a very dark chocolate colored cone 6 stoneware. 

Also since this is my second time building I can fix all those little problems 

and really get my working process down!

Meanwhile...

Ceramic Sculpture: Project Two: Connectivity October 2010

   For our second project, we were to look at  all the different connections that exist within the world, from physical to imagined. Through my sketches I decided to work will grass seed and the way they connect to the grass itself, and how when that connection is broken there is little to no evidence of that connection whatsoever yet when they are all on the stem, they work so well together that you can't even see the stem at all!

The Plan: to make a wall piece made up of these stylized seed forms to create the presence and feeling of a field of grass with a focus on the connection between the many that make up the whole! 

The Process: Since I knew I both needed and wanted tons of forms to work with I decided to use slip casting as my way of making. Slip Casting involves making a plaster mold of your object and then pouring liquid clay or slip into it. After a few minutes the plaster absorbs the water from the slip creating a solidified clay shell on the walls of the mold. After you pour out the excess slip and let it set up a bit more you can then pull your positive clay object out of the mold!  

 So: first I had to make my objects! I decided to make 30 objects to cast, all of different sizes and shapes and cast them in 13 two part plaster gang molds! The first thing you do when making a mold is to figure out how many parts you're going to need.. (mine were two!). Once you figure that out you bury your object in clay up to that parting line and make a spout so you can pour the slip into it! Then you secure wooden boards around it and mix and pour plaster on top!

 13 finished molds!

 

 My slip casting table! I used that blue pitcher and a very small funnel to pour slip into all my molds bar tender style- right down the line! the white bucket on the floor holds the slip while the greenish plastic bin is a "wet box" or "humidity box" ( a seal-able box with plaster in the bottom you keep wet so you can put clay objects into it and keep them wet so you can finish them on your own time!) where I stored all my casts! 

 First cast!

 more!

 and more!

 and so many more!

The next step was to patch up those holes and clean them up!

 To have them able to attach to the wall I created a hole in one of the sides!

 Bisqued!

Next up...

Surface and Glazing!

Test! Test! Test!