Ceramics 1

Now, I shall exhibit my Ceramics projects.

Pinch pots......
We have learned how to wedge clay--or as I call- smashing out all the bubbles!

The requirement for our first assignment was a pinch pot at least 6 inches in one direction.  I have a little bear pot and a large vase or wine cooler.

They have improved- but I did not take photos.  the cooler is not quite as peanutty looking!  The bears have more detail and a little tray under them.  I am planning to use the bear pot to put a small plant in, maybe babies tears!  I put in a drainage hole.  I should check them in the morning to be sure that they are not drying too fast.  I have a fear of being the student who did not expel all the bubbles out of the clay.  Do you know what happens??!  The piece explodes and breaks other peoples pots in the kiln during firing. :-(

The wine pot is inspired by my white pine in my back yard.  I even took "inspirational" photos.  The photos guided me in the pine needle inscribing.

The next piece will be coil.  I am excited because I have a great idea....viking ship..I shall share....

These are the evolutionary sketches as my idea comes together!

Into the First Few Weeks of the Fall 12 Semester!

I have a heavy load this fall.  I am taking more credits than I have ever taken at once before!  The grand total is 16.  I have four studio classes. ( I started my college career at Ithaca college- then William Smith- then Flcc nursing..)

Figure Drawing:  She is a great teacher.  She is organized and she really cares.  She photo catalogs all of our work.  I have Sarah for 3 of the 4 classes.  We are learning the body and have a weekly assignment to draw muscles and bones.  So far I have tackled the clavicle, scapula, and shoulder muscles.  I copied Michelangelo's back muscles last night.  We are learning gesture drawings.  I am very happy to have her as my teacher.

this was timed- can't recall- from now on I am going to mark with time. I think it was 20 minutes.

Above- I need to fix his chin a bit- she recommends less outlining.(30 min)

30 min

I was planning on doing a blog entry about all the classes --but it would make for to long of a blog..will have to do an entry for each!

The Mask Project Sculpting I--2011

Last fall in Sculpting 1 one of the assignments was a mask project.  The professor offered to let me be one of the people to cast their own face.  I accepted the offer.  The process of having your face molded is scary.  Straws are left poking out of your nose- to allow you to breath.  Meanwhile, sloppy goop is plastered all over your face--sloppy goop which must stay out of the nose holes.  While assisting another student with her face casting- some liquid entered one of her straws.  The professor insisted that she still had the other straw to breath through.  One nostril does not equal two nostril air intake.  He and I had a little heated disagreement after, as she panicked during the procedure and it was nearly a failure.

I had my bare face casting and had to think of something creative.  I eventually decided on a take on the Egyptian death mask.  I had soft wooly balls of various sizes and colors.  Prof wanted symmetry of size and color and placement of the balls.  This was nearly impossible, due to the selection I had.

This is prior to placement of goop.  The goop used is dental form material..used when crafting dentures and partials. It is molded to face, allow to set, then used as a form for plaster.

This was a first attempt at ball placement- but it developed into something else. I sort of disagree with the professor- I think that symmetry in design is boring.  The head dress was my first attempt at paper mache.  I made a flour and water mixture,soaked newspaper and placed it over a plastic bag scrunched into a form.  It worked but it is not really good quality.

The master who inspired me with the colors was Kandinsky:

I picked up this poster at a garage sale for a dollar.

This was changed a little later--I made the eyes different- pupils horizontal, like a goat's!  The color is off in this picture.

I thought I had achieved the symmetry he wanted, but his final comment on the project was that the balls were not symmetrical enough.

And You Thought a Murmuration Was Beautiful!!!!

I was thinking about the most challenging piece an artist can undertake.  The self portrait.

 A question arose in my mind, "Are humans the only species capable of self portraits?"

 Here we have Rembrandt, famous for doing the self, holding a dead bird.  WHAT ABOUT THE BIRD?   Does the bird have the mental capability to desire to preserve its own image?  And if it does, what medium would it choose?  Does it have a choice?  I think that there is only one choice for the bird, sadly.  We need only to look to the Dada Scatological  Avian Interpretive Movement to make the lowly bird's dream a reality.

You might not realize that the piece below is avian stool, applied loosely to auto window glass, then dried in the sun to a matt glaze.  Who knows what forces were at work combined with innate depository skill to create such a "chance?" happening, .

In this background we can see the image of an owl, turning its head, as if to say, "remember me, I exist."

Accepted into Windows!

A few blogs back, I whined about not winning an award at the Student Art Show.It was an honor to even get into the show.  My petulance was pure silliness.  I have not taken many art classes.  The few I have taken prior to my experience at FLCC lasted an afternoon or two.  My mother was an artist, so anything I might know is from having been exposed to her.  One of my major  flaws in my execution and technique is the failure to have enough contrast in my work.  I am always being told to add value to my projects.  I find it interesting, when I looked through my mother's work, that she was also very light on the use of contrast.  I don't know if it is a hesitancy to commit that might be circling in my (our) minds?  I know that prior to final submission of my charcoal project I darkened the darker values in a big way.  I did get an A- in my Foundation II class, which I am quite happy with.  Oh, yes, I would like an A, but only if my work is A quality.  It is not there yet. Hopefully next semester.  I did get an A in design!!!

FLCC has an annual publication called Windows.  It is a collection of work that is chosen to be put in a soft cover book.  This was the first year it was published in color.  I submitted a few things.  I was aware that my fellow students were very impressed with my Mother Teresa rendition, so I submitted it.  It is a collage from newspaper and magazine snippets.  When making this type of project you match a photo with the paper, section by section.  I was guided by the contrast already present on the photo.  The Mother Teresa was a design project from last fall.

Foundation II Self Portrait

This was my final project for Foundation II Drawing.  I was hoping it would resemble me, but my grandson Lucas, (2 years old) said "no,"  when I asked him, "Is this Nana?" I drew this portrait while holding a mirror-looking into it,  this method is more challenging, than to draw from a photo.  It is water color with pen and ink.  The assignment was to have at least two medium.  I sketched first in pencil in, then I applied ink over the pencil lines- The ink was allowed to dry.  Next I painted with water color paints.  A challenge encountered was the that the hot press illustration board would pill when worked too much.

My professor Barron gave me a run down of what was a wrong.  (my professors are outright honest, no silly ego stroking)  The eye on the left of the face, as you face it- It's inner canthus is too stretched-and the eye needs to be over more, toward the nose.  The other eye, does not have enough of the upper lid..  There also could have been more values to the blue sweater.  I fixed a major flaw, which was the jaw line.  The jaw line had a notch, (in the area where the chin blends to the jaw).  On first submission Barron directed me with authority(see other blog)- on how to create a leading line with shadow to direct the viewer to me, the subject.  The shadows are incorporated into the rose bush to create this line.

Many have told me that  in real life I am much better looking than this portrait.  My daughter-in-law (Pratt Art Grad) comforted me with the agreement of how difficult self portraits are.

Someone said the expression looked suspicious.  I am not feeling suspicious!

This is a second attempt of this same pose and background scene. Here is the first attempt:

I might just work on it some more!

Buzzed!

This is a design assignment that was finished a few weeks ago.  I went to the Art department at FLCC and my instructor, Mr Fox, encouraged me to re-enrole in classes after being sick (in the head!).  I had withdrawn from class during my episode of mania.  I came into class during a different section, to make up for lost time, and I was back in business!  This is my little guy who experiences something unexpected while being pestered by a flying insect.