I should never, EVER, be allowed in the art books section
I'm doing 'research', theoretically. For three purposes, actually: I have to teach a lesson to my Arts Ed class on Monday, and I'm not sure what I want to do (though I'm pretty sure I want to do a 'coil something' project, I haven't narrowed that down at all), I have to do a research paper for Renaissance Rome (though the stereotypical ceramics seem to be painted majolica ware, which is more about analyzing the pictures than checking out different forms. I may do something with woodcarving or goldsmith work instead. We'll see), and I'm trying to figure out what to do next for my next project in Ceramics (thus, idea-stealing)
From the page of notes I've taken (to note: this is the first time I've done notes on readings ALL YEAR) I have 3 major categories of form and a bunch of different finishes that I want to play with.
1) I'm realizing that I absolutely love forms that are eminently practical but have one element that's ridiculously emphasized (like this or this, the first being contemporary and the second being Ancient Minoan)
2) I like forms that were super-duper practical at one time but are considered curiosities now, in modern American life (like oil lamps or goblets or ewers)
3) I like whimsy. I suppose that encapsulates both 1 & 2, but here I'm talking about forms like this, where the movement of whatever's in the vessel actually contributes to its form: as water moves around, it forces air out, and the thing makes noise. I also just like the idea of whistles. I have a clay otter whistle that I got at a craft fair when I was 10, maybe, that I still bring out. It's adorable, and has a purpose (I wouldn't say that I would use it to replace my Swat rape whistle, but it is pretty obnoxious if I want it to be.) I guess this also gets thrown in here - but some of the awesome ancient Chinese vessels have dragons for handles. I like the idea of sculpting handles as well as pulling them.
As far as finishes go: I want to do more raku [see western raku techniques], and there's theoretically a place in the Ville where I could, or I could wait to go crash the EHS raku day. I want to figure out what a saggar firing entails, and whether I could get results like this using the kilns that are here at school. I want to play with slip techniques: slip trailing, sgraffito, feathered slip trails. I am going to re-obsess over burnishing (hence the obsession with spoons). And I love the simple (and more complicated) Islamic decoration systems: either detail to the point of insanity, or a sparse, beautifully compositioned piece.
So if you made it through all that: what in the world should I work on next?
(And if you didn't, don't worry. Should I just go make a gazillion mugs?)
T-2 til Conferences...
From the page of notes I've taken (to note: this is the first time I've done notes on readings ALL YEAR) I have 3 major categories of form and a bunch of different finishes that I want to play with.
1) I'm realizing that I absolutely love forms that are eminently practical but have one element that's ridiculously emphasized (like this or this, the first being contemporary and the second being Ancient Minoan)
2) I like forms that were super-duper practical at one time but are considered curiosities now, in modern American life (like oil lamps or goblets or ewers)
3) I like whimsy. I suppose that encapsulates both 1 & 2, but here I'm talking about forms like this, where the movement of whatever's in the vessel actually contributes to its form: as water moves around, it forces air out, and the thing makes noise. I also just like the idea of whistles. I have a clay otter whistle that I got at a craft fair when I was 10, maybe, that I still bring out. It's adorable, and has a purpose (I wouldn't say that I would use it to replace my Swat rape whistle, but it is pretty obnoxious if I want it to be.) I guess this also gets thrown in here - but some of the awesome ancient Chinese vessels have dragons for handles. I like the idea of sculpting handles as well as pulling them.
As far as finishes go: I want to do more raku [see western raku techniques], and there's theoretically a place in the Ville where I could, or I could wait to go crash the EHS raku day. I want to figure out what a saggar firing entails, and whether I could get results like this using the kilns that are here at school. I want to play with slip techniques: slip trailing, sgraffito, feathered slip trails. I am going to re-obsess over burnishing (hence the obsession with spoons). And I love the simple (and more complicated) Islamic decoration systems: either detail to the point of insanity, or a sparse, beautifully compositioned piece.
So if you made it through all that: what in the world should I work on next?
(And if you didn't, don't worry. Should I just go make a gazillion mugs?)
T-2 til Conferences...