Sunday, March 28, 2010

tacky @ 400 degrees

So I am in the kitchen this morning SCRUBBING and SCRUBBING and SCRUBBING that roasting pan from yesterday's pork smoking. What I have noticed is that the ash deposits that are on the pan are really tacky and really stuck on. I just read Tim Roan's article "Matter" in the latest Log Book (Issue 41, 2010) about natural clays. The first sentence "Clay is ubiquitous" has me thinking that this is true with wood ash too. The compositional make-up of ash in this smoking was mostly birch, with a bit of maple mixed in and just like clay, its make-up will determine its glaze properties. This is not just determined by the "trees" but also the minerals that are found in the earth that the trees live in. In this case there is probably a high copper and iron content in the make-up of the ash as the water source (artesian well) for our house is just below those trees and our water has this make-up.
So where is this post leading? I am planning on some reconnaissance. I will be testing the fired quality of this ash at LOW temps (cone 04 or about 1900 degrees). I want to know if ash sprinkled into the glazes on my earthenware pots will cause any changes to that glaze. I am hoping to have a few students join me in the testing and recording of the results (maybe even ask one of the Chem teachers to join us in the fun).

Saturday, March 27, 2010

studio day today

I spent my day slow cooking pork ribs and collards over a wood fire and longing to do a wood firing. I spent time creating in between stoking the smoker. I listened to the Greatful Dead outside, and the podcast "Stuff You Should Know" while in the studio. I spent time thinking tremendously about the shapes and forms I might include in my plates, the next form I will explore and I managed to get a few prototypes together for flatware handles. The whole endeavor, a service for 12, will hopefully be fired next fall in the anagama. Plates stacked 6 high (waded on scallop shells). I think about the beginning of this journey with this series, every idea began with coincidental and torturous tugs of spiritual guilt. Scallop shells, the sign of a pilgrim, seem so fitting a mark to leave on a form that will offer sustenance. The flatware handles will eventually hold silver that was forged with the hammer my uncle gave me the week before he died. The goblets intricately mimick the architecture of the cathedrals and churches of London and the dragon that was eventually slain by George. St George incidentally is the moniker that my godmother carries. The fact that I included the dragon, was also purely coincidental.

Interesting note, as I write this Angels and Demons is on STARZ and my family is watching.

My work today has me dreaming of the possibilities of Spain, my next trip to Europe.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

iconic ideas? Finally, something to do with my used bike tires!

I have spent years trying to figure out how to get a tight fit on jar lids. My friend Venessa from For the Love of Bikes posted this eons ago, how did I miss it? A links to explore that shows some innovative ceramics http://www.cassiusclay.dk/

I'm reading and envious!

I am reading all the entries posted about exploring problems in a variety of books. I am hearing how excited you are to be exploring in this manner, especially now that you know a scanned sketchbook page counts as a post. I am finding that many of you still elaborate on even that information. I am very envious of your progress and I may just do the same at some point. I take in all of this and long for long periods of time in my studio where I can explore uninterrupted. It truly is like cooking one's way through a bunch of recipes!

Friday, March 19, 2010

Assignment- my blog roll is growing!

So I saw the movie "Julie and Julia" (Ephron 2009) and had decided that it would be interesting to try that from an art perspective. As I observed one of my Ceramics students work her way through Surface Design for Ceramics(Mills, 2008)and making notes in her sketchbook I decided to have my Advanced Studio explore books that interested them as well and blog about it. In the case of Maureen's book, I can't wait to get the blog link to her. Wounldn't it be interesting to have her follow along as a regular reader?
What I hope to achieve with this assignment is to open a door to a technique or series of techniques that these upper level students may not have thought to use. The culminating experience is to create a piece that uses what they have learned. I am sure the journey will be interesting for all of them.