What I Want.

There are several things, but mainly, I want more time.

I want to be in the studio regularly, more than six or seven hours a week. I want my studio time to be a full-time job. Even more than three hours at a time would be amazing, because maybe I could do more than one thing while I'm there. Like, I could throw and then glaze. Or trim and then throw.

I want my own studio.

I want to get my MFA in ceramics so I can learn how to build and fire my own kilns.

I want to open a therapeutic ceramics studio, where clients/artists learn to make glazes, make their own clay, stack and fire kilns, etc.

I want to be able to live off of my art.

It's really hard to write these things. Writing them makes them more real, and some how more unattainable.

Levels of Satisfaction

I find trimming immensely satisfying, really I do. You start with a plain form and end up with something unique and individual. But, shit damn, it takes forever. It can take me upwards of an hour to go from leather-hard piece to full-trimmed vase.

Well, tonight I threw, which is kind of instant gratification and meditation and perfection all wrapped into one.



All while listening to a. lot. of Okkervil River, a band that I love more each time I listen.

(Those little things to the left are chopstick rests - four of them - to go with the four tiny soy-sauce dishes that were thrown)

I took a lot of pictures of those thrown pieces because a) I wanted to document the process, b) I tend to forget what I throw, as I've been throwing so much lately, and c) I'm really kind of proud of how far I've come. I do think I'm better at this than I've ever been; a product of sheer time spent at the wheel. Those vase shapes (though they may be giant mugs to satisfy my parents, I don't know) are bigger than I would have been able to throw a year ago. The walls are thinner, they need a bit less trimming, and they're all together more graceful than in the past. Centering is one of the hardest things to learn and master when getting into potter/ceramics, and I haven't necessarily mastered the technique, but I have gotten so much better at throwing with slightly-off-center clay. Ha.
I'm no longer worried about messing up glazing (because even if I do, it doesn't effect me like it used to), and I'm just excited.

We'll see where this all goes.

Every day is a new busy whirl of activity.

Here are the mugs that are slowly going up on my Etsy!


Sorry for the blurryness.

The one that isn't pictured is the mug that I've claimed as my new morning coffee mug. It's lovely blue-green and fits wonderfully in my hands.

Yesterday was a great day at the studio.
First, a ton of glazing -


You can see my ipod tucked into a bisqued mug, and my notebook and favorite kind of pen nearby, to keep track of my glazes. Only six of those pieces made it up to the glaze kiln shelves, though. Since my studio is in the basement of the building, it stays quite damp and warm, so a few of my pieces didn't set before getting accientally nudged by me or someone else.

After glazing I had time to trim three pieces. One new mug, one new noodle bowl for S, and one new house vessle. Take a look:
Pre-trimming


Post-trimming


Exciting. I can't wait to see how the glazing comes out next Monday!

Good time at the studio tonight. Not as much time there as I would have liked, but productive none the less. I was able to trim three pieces, and gather several for my next glazing adventure.

Trimming takes a very long time for me. It's no longer a matter of removing excess clay from around where the foot ring will be, but also altering the shape of the piece, adding ledges and indentations, and constructing little villages. Then the most recent addition, slip decoration. My likes for slip keep changing, but my love for its tactility reigns above all.

Here's a picture of my shelf from when I left tonight:



On the left, ready to glaze. On the far right (looks like a mess of plastic), too wet to trim. In the middle, freshly trimmed and altered.

See the slip dots on the ledges? I like how they look like little green hedges.

I'm so excited by where this stuff is going.