Opening night for "Freedom through Surface"

 I made it to the opening and dropped off the piece that I had forgotten in time for everything to run smoothly.  The artists involved in the exhibition are:  Anne Mormille, Heath Papa, Gratia Brown, Travis Winters, Garrett Loveless, Kevin Rohde, Jason Stockman, Deric Ence, Michelle Ghisson, and myself.  There was plenty of buzz about the variety of work and the different approaches to the surface that is on display.  One of the pictures shows how one piece brought out the sense of smell to determine if it was really candy sprinkles or not.  I know Gratia and Michelle would have enjoyed the comments.  Also I would like to say thank you to Linda Cordell who is our professor this semester in ceramics;   for giving us this "project".  I think it really helped to open up all the eyes of the artists involved about our forms, and the approach to our surfaces, as seen through the eyes of our peers.  I just would like to say thanks to everyone who helped at Art Continuum Gallery in Fort Wayne , Indiana on setting up the show and doing the P.R. for the event, it looked really good!  Thanks as well to all the graduate students getting me the information needed for this whole process to take place.  I posted some pictures here to show some of the work set up in the show.  If you can check it out, "Freedom through Surface", will run from March 25th until April 21st at Art Continuum Gallery, 125 W. Wayne St. Fort Wayne, IN.

Newer work photographed

The first two images are of a new piece that I did last semester.  I know I have posted images of the piece when it was displayed for the candidacy show, but I thought a professional quality image in a controlled setting would be nice to see as well.  The other two pieces are from my first year in graduate school.  I had taken images of them in the past, but I wasn't really happy with the results, so I decided to re-photograph them for my portfolio.  All the work is hand built using slabs and press molds when needed.

Dropping off artwork for "Freedom through Surface"

Here is a quick photo of the artwork that I dropped off Friday for the upcoming show.  Brandon Furniss is pictured with the work and is one of the individuals that will be putting up the show.  I'll post the opening time when I talk to him tomorrow.  The show will be at the Art Continuum Gallery in Fort Wayne, Indiana on Friday the 25th of March.

Upcoming show, "Freedom through Surface"

I know I have talked about the "exchange" with the other grad students in our ceramics class this semester and just wanted to let everyone know that the opening for the show will be Friday March 25, at the Continuum Art Gallery in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  We picked the pieces today that will be in the show and just thought I would put up an image of a piece of my work that Gratia Brown finished the surface of.  I really enjoyed seeing how other artists interpreted my forms and it really has me thinking about my approach to my forms.  I definitely want to explore more than I have, with the surface of my work, and hope to in the near future.  I'll post my explorations on this matter in the future.

Glazing work for the "Exchange"

It's been pretty busy around the studio as usual and with the upcoming show for the "exchange" work, there always seems to be never enough time, but that's grad school.  In my last blog I talked about some glaze tests that I had been working on and committed some of the tests to the work for the "exchange".  I really enjoyed having the freedom to apply glazes to forms I wouldn't make, and thinking about the artists work I did get, and ways to try to push the surface.  I found out a lot about things I haven't had to think about in awhile...like making glazes for functional ware and making sure the glazes weren't poisonous. It seemed like a pretty easy task, but in all reality, it made me realize some problems about temperatures inside of pottery while being fired in the kiln and the importance of how glazes are applied.  If that wasn't bad enough, the value of test tiles with newly developed glazes doesn't always match up to an actual piece that has been glazed and fired.
Well, I took some pictures of the work in progress, and even though I am not happy with all the attempts, I am happy with one of the pieces.  I won't say which one, but I'm sure it won't be too hard to determine.

The first images show the work after the first glaze firing.  I normally like to build up layers with my glazes and have had better results through multiple firings.  I fired cone six first and then work backwards so I don't burn off any lower temperature glazes that may be applied later.  The work shown is that of Jason Stockman, Deric Ence and Garrett Loveless.

New Sculpture in drying stage, March 2011

Here is a new sculpture that I just finished and is in the drying stage.  I realized while creating this piece that things will go a lot faster if I can make a slip-cast form of the larger form instead of piecing together all the parts.  So the last picture is of the "form" I will be making a slip-cast mold from this week, besides all the other work I will be doing.  I will take pictures of the process of making a mold, in hopes to help anyone out there that might be considering trying to slip-cast in the future.

Glaze Tests and a Mold

 I pulled the glaze tests out of the kiln yesterday and as usual I have some I think may have potential and others that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.  I decided to test the glazes and slips on forms that I have used in the past and could potentially use in the future.  Jason Stockman laughed at my "test tiles", because he said he had never seen anyone use such large pieces for glaze tests.  I can understand.  I used to make small test tiles that you see in ceramic books and studios, but felt that I was getting mixed results with just a little area of glaze on a test tile.  So, my solution was to create actual forms I may use within my work and test the glazes on them.  This way I have a better understanding of what I am getting with the glaze and how it flows on vertical surfaces over a larger surface.  I am doing more tests from the results I liked and will post those this week when I put them through the kiln.  The last picture is a gang mold I made in hopes to speed up my production with this particular form.

Creating a Sculpture

Today I worked on loading up the kiln for glaze tests and firing the kiln, I will unload it and post the results tomorrow.  I also worked on building a piece that I will create multiples, in order to create a larger sculpture from.  I'm debating the type of glazes to use on this form and hope the glaze tests will help me narrow down my options.  I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

Using Molds to Create Sculpture/Screen Printing

It's been awhile since I last posted, so let me catch you up on things.  I made some molds to help me create multiple forms from which I can create different sculptural forms from just a few parts.  The other pictures show a sculptural form in which I plan on making multiples from to create a larger sculpture from. This semester I am taking a printmaking class in which I will be learning screen printing.  I hope to bring some of my designs onto my sculptures, by using this method using underglazes, in which I will be able to print onto slabs and then create my sculptural forms.  I guess I'll have to imagine the possibilities until I get to that point.  I'm also creating some cone 6 glazes, which I will be running tests this week.  I'll post the progress each day, since I'll be on spring break next week.