Cocoon Spotlight

I  never shared any detail shots of the singular pieces from Colony, but these are some of my favorites.  They were from the soda kiln fall semester that Kim, Michelle, and I were in charge of.  They are made from Zela, Aurora, and Helios porcelain- fired to cone 10 with flashing slips and such.  My little treasures.  They deserve a shout out.

Big day tomorrow...

HUGE.

 

Thesis (The Final Countdown)

From top to bottom: Plans for a soda fire wall piece. | A very productive night in the studio. | Taking my work home with me for an all nighter. | First time playing with washes. | Beautiful test tiles! | Ordering some postcards for friends and family. | Finished small pieces!

Now to string them up and cover them in hair.  T-minus 8 days until install!

Thesis (in Progress)

From top to bottom: The beginning stages of research in the home studio. | Getting my hands on clay after a long summer - such a wonderful feeling! | A rare, cool September morning in the warehouse. | Plans for installation. | Plans on plans on plans. | Where all my money goes. | A nest is born. | Ready for the first firing! | Ghetto transport between studio and school. | Experimenting with some terra cotta. | A much needed happy hour with my best friend. | The first look at the clay and hair textures together.

First Project of the New Year

Here is the first project I have been working on in Pamela Theis's Advanced Ceramics class.

I am in the process of making 6-7 mouths that will hang in nests and be installed in trees.

A little fun in the BFA warehouse. Old projects meet new projects.

Anyone else hungry?

Just a fun day back in fall waiting around in the MFA warehouse for class to begin.  Planning doily curtains with Michelle.

Nests

Here is something that I am still working out because I am not fully satisfied, but I just needed to share. I just love these teeth so much! Hair and teeth... what's wrong with me? 

Anyway, these were the makeshift "nests" I made to present these porcelain molars on for my BFA review while the real pieces were being fired in the soda kiln.  I suppose the basis of this idea is that teeth, like hair, are found to be precious things, yet take on completely different characteristics when they are not in a person's or animal's mouth.  My mother, AKA the Tooth Fairy, saved my baby teeth when I was young. When she finally showed them to me when I was grown up, these tiny teeth she kept in a box inside of another box seemed to be treasures to be cherished forever.  

With this piece, I wanted to create that odd juxtaposition of a tooth and a nest, something you lose when you are a child kept inside of the home structure of different animals.  A safe haven.  The connection between human and nonhuman, how when it comes down to it, the structure of a home to keep precious things safe is hardly different.  

Each nest is around 2"-3" in diameter and are created with fallen autumn leaves.  Each tooth varies from .5"-.75" in length, and are Helios porcelain slow-fired to cone 06.

Braids

Here is a study that I am in the process of working on.  

Lately I have been extremely fond of braids and the different techniques of braiding.  Hair is something that is appearing in my work often.  There is just something odd about the human race's relationship to hair--whether they see it as an object to lust after or something that traps them.  Also, I have been interested in the reactions of people when they encounter hair that is not attached to a human or animal: curiosity, indifference, disgust. 

I really like drawing these.  The repetitiveness of the locks folding over one another has been really soothing for me during these busy last couple of months.  So, I decided that I am making a hundred of them.

I am very drawn to multiples and the tedious nature of replicating one idea over and over.  I don't have a large body of work or many large pieces at all, so I think that this will be a project that I will continue to do to relieve stress until I become exhausted at the thought of hair braiding, and hopefully by that time this study will have grown to an enormous size.

Each drawing is done on watercolor paper with ebony paper and measures about 6" by 10.75". 

Studio Update

Here's my studio for mandatory review! It went well! Lots of hair and braids to come.

Hoping to upgrade to a bigger space next semester!

Soda Kiln Firing!

So one of my favorite experiences this semester has to be the soda kiln firing that we did in Holly's class.  Everyone got a half bag of free clay (Helios porcelain... holla!) and we were allowed to do whatever we pleased with it! It was a nice little breather from all of the assignments that I have been so caught up with.

The MFA students were primarily in charge of watching the temperature of the kiln, but we BFA students got to be there when they added the soda ash... and to clean up, ha ha. 

The kiln is located in the back of the MFA warehouse.  Plenty of ventilation!

Eduardo, an MFA student, checking the peeps before we added the soda ash.

Here is my finished bowl/cup!  I love it.  I had no idea what the colors would turn out like, so it was a beautiful accident!  This was going to be for my mama for Christmas, but I change my mind. Sorry, Mom!

I also fired little nests for the porcelain teeth that I was making, so I'll save pictures of those for an entry on that installed piece!

Now off to the BFA Graduation exhibit. What a crazy week... TGIF!

On Monday, we loaded the kiln for the soda firing at the MFA warehouse.

Yay for a free half bag of Helios porcelain and little nests and teeth!

Don't understand? You will soon.

Warehouse views!

Sooo this is my studio at the BFA Warehouse while I was doing some painting.  Looks a tad better now... picture to come!

Whatever happens, happens.

Made this for my BFA portfolio.  I have been collecting cutouts of mouths for so long and finally found a way to use them.
Collage, wax, and paint on canvas.
16"x20"

BFA Round Two

Today was BFA review day.  This time around, I didn't make as big of a deal out of it.  But, I am pretty confident in the work that I put up.  The first time I applied was a nice learning experience for me.  Whatever happens, happens. :)

This is my living room this morning at 3:30 am...

The final product!

I got prime real estate.  Drawing room, end of the wall, and table.

Floor is COVERED with wet pieces of paper from doing photo transfers.

So many things happening.

It is already mid-March, yikes! School is already winding down which means, duh duh duh, BFA review in less than a month! Projects in all of my classes are coming together and I am so excited!

We just finished a family-based project in Creative Inquiry, dealing with transfer methods using photocopies.  Pictures shall be up soon.  I suppose I am pleased with them.  Didn't really have any exceptional ideas for this, so it was a struggle to come up with something I liked.

All of my projects are fired in ceramics, yes!  My spoon and spoon rest (netsuki and container project) have gone through both a bisque and glaze fire.  I am pretty pleased with the outcome... the blue underglaze (which you shall see very soon!) is showing through the white slip which is frustrating because I was hoping for a very opaque, bright white.  However the geometric design juxtaposed with the smooth curves is one of my favorite parts.  I hope it isn't too bottom-heavy and will hold up when mounted on the wall. 

Lady Gaga bust is also underway, having just come out of a bisque fire two days ago.  Her antlers broke before firing which is upsetting, but I am hoping some Sculpey magic can fix that!  She is a little paler than I had hoped for— the peach underglaze and white terra sigillata were an experiment.  I absolutely cannot wait to bedazzle her sunglasses and attach the feathers to her hat. Fierce! (I felt silly just saying that.)

I am ahead of the curve on my paired container project and PUMPED.  I looooove the texture of the tree form I have made and the smooth yellow tones of the attached pinch pots.  Already putting on a glaze.  Very excited.

And not to bore you but our contemporary project is what is currently being worked on.  I will have another entry about this one, because my inspiration is just a whole other story.

Anyway, I think I will end it here.  BFA review in 22 days and 11 hours.  Cannot wait to work in Holly's studio tomorrow for some extra moolah, not to mention soak up every inch of that atmosphere!  Then celebrating St. Patty's Day with my friends. XOXO

Fact: Owls have three eyelids.

Another series that was in my BFA portfolio.

After seeing Legend of the Guardians, I became really interested in all the different species of owls.  There are over 150!

These drawings are a play off off their names. Clockwise: Burrowing Owl, Snowy Owl, Barn Owl, Short-eared Owl, Long-eared Owl, Great Horned Owl.  This is a work in progress.  Who knows, maybe someday I will have all 150.

8.5"x4" each

Micron pen and watercolor

“One day if I do go to heaven... I'll look around and say, 'It ain't bad, but it ain't San Francisco.'”

-Herb Caen

I can't wait to get back to that city.

These are two self portraits that I submitted for BFA.  

24"x18" and 24"x15"

 graphite