Week 9 Research, Reflection and Goals
Notes: Last week my goal was to throw pieces that were thinner and lighter than I typically do, because I feel like my pieces are pretty chunky. I think this is always going to be a struggle that I face because when I am throwing, I have a hard time keeping the piece centered and the walls going straight up instead of flaring out as I continue to pull up. When I'm trimming, I always have difficulty gauging how thick my piece is and how much I have trimmed away, so I usually stop too early because I am afraid of trimming through. When I take the piece off the wheel, it seems significantly lighter than when I started, so I feel like I can stop. I think what I need to do in the future is to take the piece off the wheel, set it down and walk away from it for a while before picking it up again and seeing how it feels; I can't leave it for too long though because then it will get too dry to trim (and I already have a bad habit of waiting until my pieces are erring on the side of bone dry to trim, which makes it a lot more difficult!)
Research: This week I spent a lot of time reading blogs by other ceramic artists. One of my favorites that I found is The Object Enthusiast, Emily Reinhardt. I was lucky enough to have the pleasure of listening to Emily give a talk when she came to DAAP last year and fell in love with her work and her aesthetic. While I have looked at her work before, I never really sat down and took the time to go through her blog, so I sat for about two hours one day this week and read just about every blog post she has on her website. Another ceramic artist that I spent a lot of time exploring their website is Meredith Host; I just love how she incorporates color and pattern into her work and her pieces are a huge inspiration for me. Goals for the upcoming week: Try to marble clay, possible with cobalt. |