Success and Inspiration

The tape is off!  I'm no longer adorned with flourescent-colored therapy tape.  I even threw for the first time in a long time on Wednesday without wearing gloves.  (The jury is still out on whether I like using bare hands or gloved hands better, though.)  Physical therapy is helping, and I think I'm starting to heal.  Of course, my first impulse is to abuse the wrist enough to determine if I'm really 100% or if it's weak, so I'm trying to still be ginger. 

I spent most of Wednesday night trimming the bowls that I threw last weekend.  I got a little refresher lesson in how to place a foot and how to even it out to be level.  The act of trimming is so fun for me.  Take a leather-hard pot, apply a sharp tool, and see trimming fly around as you spin the wheel.  Something about making a big pile of clay bits makes me feel productive.

When I made these platters, I tried a technique Cary had demonstrated:  throwing a cylinder and then pulling the walls down to make a "bowl"/platter.  (Plate or platter is probably more accurate than bowl, since the bottom is flat and not round it isn't REALLY a bowl...but it's a 'bowl' class, so we'll stretch the definition a bit.)

This platter is the largest thing I've thrown this year so far.  As I made it I already decided how I'd be glazing it, an unusually prepared thing for me to do.  It's white stoneware with blue slip painted along the flat bottom with a bit of texture which will catch the glaze.  I also indented all along the rim to make a bunch of little grooves; those will also catch the glaze to settle thickly.  This will be what's quickly becoming my 'signature' glaze - Ben's Amber.  It's usually used as an oxidation glaze, but in the standard reduction kiln, it is a neutral tan/brown that's a bit translucent, allowing design and texture to show through.  In areas where it's thicker it has a blue tone or hue, so I think the slip at the bottom of the platter will compliment it really well. 

On another note, I got a Groupon email today with a side-offer of discounted admission to CraftBoston Spring the weekend of March 25th-27th.  It's a show at the convention center in Boston, and there will be over 200 craftspeople showing and selling their work.  There will be folks who work in various media, not just clay, but I'm tickled to go; I really think I could get a lot of ideas on how to alter and decorate my pots. 

Now that I'm getting a bit more confident in my throwing abilities, I really need to start considering how to 'make them mine'.  I emailed a few friends to see if folks would be interested in attending (if you're reading and would like to go, let me know!)

The next semester will start at Mudflat in April, so I've been looking at class schedules to decide which one I want to take.  I wanted to take another class with Cary, but he's only going to be teaching one class during mornings on a work day, so that's probably not going to happen.  I am considering the "Altering Thrown Forms" class with Wayne.  I've been amazed to watch folks take something round and end up with an oval casserole...and I have a feeling that's just the beginning.  I tell you, the more pottery I do, the more I realize there is yet to learn. 

I'm planning a marathon pottery day this Saturday.  I can't wait to glaze some bisqued pots, clear off my shelf, and make way for some more!

September Artist of the Month: Howard Gerstein

As informed last week through Mudflat's September newsletter, one of my past instructors, Howard Gerstein, is the Mudflat Gallery's artist of the month.  Woo hoo!

Besides my early clay education long ago, Howard was my first (recent) pottery instructor.  I actually took his class two semesters in a row (because I enjoyed it, not because I failed).  Howard's been working with clay so long that he sometimes makes it look intimidatingly easy.  That said, he's superbly patient and can explain skills in exquisite detail.  He's fun to have a conversation with, too.  If you're thinking about taking a clay class, I recommend asking for him by name!



"Now you see, if you just do it this way..."

 Here's Howard hard at work last year teaching my friend, Amanda.

Since I found myself in Porter Square last weekend getting a pedicure, I stopped at the gallery, even though it was closed, and tried to get a gander at Howard's display.  I got a few pics peering through the window that leave a little something to be desired, but thought I'd share, anyway.

There is a yellow mud on the second "shelf" of this display that is very similar in style to one of Howard's that I bought myself as a 'Christmas' gift in 2009. It's probably my favorite mug at home.  It's reached that special status where I don't like to use it because it's so special, but it's 'meaty', with a shape good for wrapping your hands around it, and a great handle big enough even to fit a guy's hand.  Howard uses lots of 'earthy' colors in his work, and I'm a big fan.  The mug of his I have is blue and white, but look at all of the yellow and green tones.  (I'll bet you'd never guess that I like yellow and green, based on the font colors I use on this site.) Mmm.  Tree colors.



So, for those of you who are local:  check out Howard's work all this month at the gallery.  He's just one of the 47 Mudflat artists, faculty and students whose work is showcased there. It's located at the Porter Square Shopping Center, Cambridge and is located in the glass arcade of the CVS/Healthworks building.

The hours are:  Monday through Saturday, 10 am to 7 pm, and Sundays 12 to 5 pm. Should you need it, the phone number is:  617-491-7976.

Bigger Finished Things

I've told you all about the "grand platter fiasco".  I did actually finish some other things since March, too, though.  Since I know you've all been waiting with thick anticipation for some finished results:  here you go.
 

Le faux Creuset complet


Until this piece, I had either glazed everything a similar color inside or out, or had progressively added darker and darker glazes on sequential applications such that I didn't have to work hard to keep different colors 'crisp'.  (It's sort of like painting your walls.  If you always choose a darker color than is already there, you don't need as many 'primer' coats to get good coverage.)

Bright white within bright, Crayola(R) green is a bit trickier, however.  This pot took me longer to glaze than it took me to throw.  That was quite a milestone.  It's starting to legitimize me as something more than just a form-thrower.  When I decided to use them I didn't really think I'd enjoy the colors, but the effect on the finished piece meets my approval.  Dude, I made that.


Back in 2009 I visited my paternal grandmother, Nan, and showed her some pics of my pottery-to-date.  At the time I was just throwing...whatever the clay turned into.  I noticed that in her small apartment she was using a large, clear, plastic cylinder 'bucket' to hold her cooking spoons, ladels, spatulas, etc.  After I asked Nan what she'd like me to make and I subsequently gave up after minutes of "I'd love anything you'd make for me," I decided that making a ceramic spoonholder would be a great challenge for me.  It would force me to "go big" (more clay on a wheel requires more arm strength to control), I could glaze it blue to match her favorite color and her kitchen, and I knew she'd actually use it.

I photographed her existing spoonholder as a reference.  I drew a diagram and added it to my "list of projects" to tackle.  In February 2010 Mudflat (the studio where I work) had an all night clay event for the second year in a row.  I'd gone to it in 2009 and felt wildly productive, so I decided to do it again.  (I'm sure that it'll probably happen again in 2011.  I'm already making a list of what I will do that night.)  Surrounded by artisans far more talented and experienced than I, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to start the project.  I began with the "spoon" part...not the "holder" part.

Throwing the cylinder was the easy part.  I spent the better part of 3 hours tracing spoons I'd collected from all over the studio to applique to the exterior.  The spoon-crafting continued into the weeks ahead.  Pre-kiln, it looked like this. 

After a bisque-firing, glaze application (which, again, took weeks between 'dips', drying, and fixing) and a glaze firing, it looked like this.

It now lives happily on Nan's countertop, after a padded FedEx trip in a box big enough to fit a large, cathode-ray-tube television.  I haven't seen it "in person" yet since, but I imagine that it must look on her counter much like it did on mine before I packed it up to go.

My favorite part is that it bears my name and the date on the bottom.  From one Granberg to another, with more love and pride sent than with anything else I've made.  What is it about making things for grandma that you never seem to outgrow?

Introduction

I started my pottery hobby about a year and a half ago with a friend. It was meant to just be something we could do while enjoying each other's company, but the hobby outlasted the friendship, and I've become quite obsessed with it.

I go to a pottery studio called Mudflat where I take classes and can take advantage of open studio hours to 'hone my skills'. I started out making things at about the level of a 3rd-grader, but lately I've even made a few pieces I like. I'm learning, though, that as my confidence and skills improve, my expectations increase proportionally whereby I now feel just as much stress to 'do better' as I did at the beginning.

It's meant to be relaxing - and it is, don't get me wrong. There's something wonderful about leaving your 'desk job' and spending the evening manipulating mud with your bare hands. Instead of producing intellectual property, I can produce something tangible and practical...and maybe even a bit pretty.

So I'll be posting some pictures, videos and descriptions of my experiences. If you're an experienced clay craftsman, perhaps this blog will remind you of when you were a beginner and you can look back with fondness and pity. If you've never sat at a wheel to throw a mound of clay, perhaps I'll be able to convince you that it's actually not like Ghost would have you believe at all.

Cheers,

Alethea