Hi everyone! I hope you’re all doing well! To kick off the semester, I’ve been having an absolute blast in the Ceramics studio and loving my other studio classes, too. This semester I’m taking Mixed Media, which is relatively similar to other studios I’ve taken, but I’m also taking Printmaking (Etching), which has been completely different than what I’m used to. So, let me tell you all what I’ve been up to for the past couple of weeks!
Firstly, in ceramics, we have a bunch of new projects to complete this semester, which is really exciting. I love repeating projects because they let me evaluate my process and improve, but I also love the inspiration new prompts offer. For example, one of our new projects challenges us to use a form of ceramics we’re not comfortable with; e.g., since I mainly throw on the wheel, I could challenge myself to use coils to build. There are a couple of others, but I’ll talk about those another time. Anyway, a majority of the past weeks have been spent getting back in the groove of throwing, but most of all, glazing the many, many, MANY pieces I didn’t get to last semester. I left about 20 pieces unfinished because I ran out of time to glaze. I completed the project list, but all the extra pieces I made had to be set aside until I came back from break. To be completely honest, I was absolutely dreading it because glazing is so stressful, but I actually knocked it out in a couple of days. I came prepared this time with colored sketches of each piece and a note of the glaze I wanted to use. Surprisingly, I was able to get all but one piece glazed in a single class period. Then, over the next couple of days in between classes, I came in to clean up the feet of each piece and make sure it was prepared for the kiln. So, other than the couple of pieces that I have to underglaze, it’s out with the old from last semester and in with the new for this semester! I’ll show you a couple of my favorites and what my planning page looked like. I loved the planning page and will definitely do it again. Even though I didn’t completely stick to my plans, it definitely helps me push through and get it done.
Next, my printmaking class has been a blast. Our first project was drypoint etching, where we etched into acrylic panels. I had no clue what to expect, but I was excited to learn. I chose to make something with a sand dollar because I’m comfortable with them in my ceramics pieces and thought it would be a good place to start. The process of using the panel to make a print is lengthy and specific, but I really enjoyed it. I liked that there were step by step instructions and that I could use the same panel but get such different results depending on how I applied the ink. I love how they turned out! I think I’m going to have a great time experimenting throughout the semester. I’ll show you my prints below! They’re definitely not perfect, but I have to start somewhere!
Lastly, in my mixed media class, we’ve been making relief tiles inspired by a 20th-century artist that we relate to or enjoy. For some reason, I was having a really hard time with my concept because I already had a kind of idea of what I wanted to do, but I couldn’t find an artist who fit the inspiration. I wanted to create a pointillist painting vibe, but instead of the dots being perfect, they would be smeared on top of each other. Hard to picture, but I thought the texture would be great. Then, when I couldn’t figure that out, I thought about trying to make something Jackson Pollock inspired, but after a class period of carving out splatter shapes, I decided I hated it. So, I chose to restart and try something else. I began researching impasto painters like Van Gogh, saw his sunflower painting, and knew what I wanted to do. I know Van Gogh isn’t 20th century, but I got away with it because I loved my new idea. Since I love ceramics, I thought it would be fitting to sculpt the top of a vase with a few flowers, like in Van Gogh’s painting. I thought the textured nature of impasto and the extreme relief on the tile made sense, but also, when I add color after the tiles are complete, I can use an impasto style to pull it all together. Honestly, a lot of my work in the 3D studio comes from happy accidents and experimentation, so I’m just going with the flow. Here’s a sneak peek of the tile so far.
Well, that’s all I have for now! We’re only two weeks into the semester, so I’ll have a lot more updates soon. I can’t wait to document all of the new ceramics projects I get to work on and share my ideas with you all. This semester is going to be full of successful pieces, I can feel it. If you got this far, thanks for listening to my rambling! Stay creative, everyone!
-Jenna 🙂