Multiple ceramic molds

 I've been busy working with slip-casting and making the necessary molds I need for this project I'm working on for a wall piece.  I've been really busy as usual and started working on a hand built sculpture as well.  I luckily had a chance to squeeze one of my bisque pieces into a kiln Deric Ence was firing to cone 10, so I could see if the casting slip I made up would make it to that temperature, and lucky for me it did.  I would like to cast some things for the wood firing coming up in November here at Edinboro University, so I guess I'll have to hurry up and cast some work for it; now that I know it will survive.  Here are some pictures of some of some of the new molds and some cast pieces as well. 

New work under progress Fall 2011

This week has been a busy week for me with mid-term critiques and committee critiques this Friday, so I've been trying to get everything ready to present.  I have been working on a new piece for my thesis work and thought I would post the progress up to this point.  The piece pictured is terra cotta clay.  I hand built this piece using slabs and some carving techniques to create the teeth on the gears and on the "tool".  I bisque fired the clay to cone 05, and then applied a cone 6 glaze and glaze fired the pieces to start with a base to work from.  I have thought about taking my work to the next level by paying attention to the minute details, that I think helps with the overall feel of the work, and the tromp l'oeil effect that I am pursuing.  There is still some minor issues I am still working through with the piece, but I feel the end is near.  I'll post pictures of the final piece when I am done with it, hopefully in a couple of weeks.

Triaxial Blend for Glaze development

This semester I am taking a glaze calculation and materials class in ceramics.  I'm hoping to learn a lot more about the materials I use within ceramics and possibly develop some new glazes for my own work.  I'll post a picture of some of my favorite glazes from the test I'm running.  I'll be exploring low-fire glazes within my research and hope to find some really cool glazes.  Posted is a picture of my dry materials in their designated cups, so I don't get them mixed up. 

KACA Material Mastery and Members Exhibition 2011

"Precious", Terra Cotta, 2011 (KACA Material Mastery)

"Fossil Fuel", Earthenware, 2010 (Members Exhibition)

I found out recently that I will have two pieces in two different exhibitions coming this October sponsored by the Kansas Artist Craftsmen Association.  The first one is titled "Material Mastery", which will run from October 17-November 5, 2011(Exhibition reception is November 4, 2011), at the Norman R. Eppink Gallery, Emporia State University, 1200 Commercial St., Emporia, KS.  The National Juried exhibition was juried by Elaine O. Henry, who is the editor of Ceramics Art and Perception and Ceramics TECHNICAL magazines.  The Members Exhibition will take place from October 25-November 5, 2011, at the Emporia Arts Council, 815 Commercial St., Emporia, KS.  The exhibition reception will take place on November 4, 2011.  Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend the exhibitions due to the fact that I am still finishing up my last year in graduate school at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.  If you are able to attend the shows I would recommend it...it looks like there will be a lot of great art from the list of those showing in the show this year!  The works pictured, are the pieces that will be in the upcoming exhibitions.

Clay Club Sale 2011

On October 6th and 7th the Clay Club had it's annual sale.  Everyone did a really great job producing the work for the sale, and we were fortunate to have really nice weather.  I thought I would post a picture of Gratia Brown(2nd year graduate) and myself working our shift at the sale.

Screen Printed Ceramic Tiles

Last semester I took a screen printing class with Franz Spohn who is one of the print making professors here at Edinboro University.  I had never tried screen printing and really wanted to learn how to screen print underglazes onto ceramic work.  As with any new process an artist is learning, mistakes happen and though it may be slow going at first, the time put into the process will eventually pay off.  In times of frustration, I always like to remind myself that I had to learn to walk first, before I could run.  It's exactly the same with art, when learning new techniques and processes.  I really would like to explore more of this approach within my work, but for now I need to just make work for my thesis exhibition and explore more of this surface treatment after graduate school.  Pictured are the tiles that I screen printed with underglazes and made up a cone 04 clear glaze that I sprayed on top of the underglazes.  I used commercial bisqued tiles to save time, rather than making my own tiles.