Finally an update!

Well, I finally got around to updating this thing again. I had quite a bit of stuff to put on here, so I thought now would be a good time. I briefly talked about my committee meeting in my last update, so I will talk about it a little more this time. It went alright, but it did get me thinking about why I am working with clay and if that really makes the most sense. I have been thinking a lot about doing printmaking instead of ceramics, because conceptually, I see some of my ideas making more sense in print. That doesn't necessarily mean I would not be doing ceramics, and as you will see with my images, I have been working to try and get those ideas in there. But, enough of that, I actually went to the Lithphane Museum for a few minutes when I was driving by Toledo. They were actually closed early when I got there, but she showed me around for a few minutes. They were way more amazing than I could have ever imagined from looking at the photos in my book. It was truly remarkable how they created space and light in the imagery. It was definitely a motivational experience but also intimidating at the same time! I put images of the lithophanes I had for midterm and the one I am working on now below. I learned that the lithohphanes are supposed to be viewed from the relief side, otherwise they are blurry. I didn't know that yet when I was making the ones below, so that is why they have strange eyes, dark patches, etc. I've also been having trouble deciding what to work on so I decided to go back to making teapots which is what I really love doing. I have been working very intuitively and paddling hollow forms to make what you will see below. It's been fun and I am pleased with the forms. I think working on all of these multiple projects at once keeps me more productive and focused. I'm looking forward to Monday, because we have Ron Meyers coming as a visiting artist. I have always enjoyed his work and it will be great to see and learn from him! Now onto these images


This is a typical image I have been using. It is an AIG executive that I snagged from a newspaper. This was the first one I made when I got here, but I think it is a huge progression from the last ones I made in undergrad. My professors thought that these looked a little underfired and not quite full vitrified, so they may need to go up to cone 7?

This may be another familiar image to some of you. I made a larger print with this image when I was working with transfers, and the face is supposed to be mine, but my skills have not gotten quite that good. I think the background and the sheep were fairly successful, and as I said before, the eyes are weird because this was intended to be viewed from the other side, but you lose all of the subtle value changes if you don't view it from the relief side.
This is an image of the plaster mold I use to make these in case anyone was wondering how I got to this point. I've just been slip casting with a cone 6 recipe, but am testing some cone 10s, and some other new mid range slips. I would really like to figure out the clay body that was used in some of the ones I saw at the lithophane museum, but those recipes have probably been kept a secret forever!
So this is my new conceptual direction. I really wanted to get more explicit with my disapproval of the financial industry, plus I think my ideas were getting so lost that it didn't even make sense that my art was about business. Anyway, this is supposed to be based on the idea of the "judas goat." That is what they call the goat or sheep that leads the others into the slaughter area. Since sheep blindly follow, I thought this was a good analogy to use. I think the white on that shirt is a little extreme, and for some reason these always look a million times better in the pictures!?
This is a bust of that same goat image that I am working on. It will be a decent sized piece.
So these are the teapots. I basically paddle a hollow form until I get what I want, then I figure out the spout and lid after that. These are pretty small as the picture below shows next to a blue kidney tool. The middle one is my favorite and I think it is the most developed, which makes sense since it is the last one I did. I don't really think this is that out of left field for me especially when looking at the old teapots I was making.
These are paper "models" that I have dipped a few times in my casting slip. I thought since my other things looked kind of like folds it would be interesting to use some paper and control the shapes. I have had interesting results so far, and I hope to either take advantage of the translucent qualities and introduce light, or figure out a way to make some of these into teapots as well. Thank you for looking at my work and please facebook or email me or leave comments if there is something you like or don't like!