Painting 1 -- Color: Abstract

For our final painting, we tried abstraction. The process was interesting. We chose an object and wrote down things that described it. We then did word association with those things. We found common themes and connected them together. From these we came up with images to represent those connections. We developed our compositions from these. It was a very interesting process and I 'm glad we tried it. I'm left wondering how to evaluate abstract paintings. Perhaps we'll get more of this next semester.

Painting 1 -- Color: Self Portrait

It is a funny kind of experience to try to paint yourself. You have to be sure that you are wearing the same clothes, have the same expression, are sitting in the same spot and have the exact same background. In this painting I finally felt that I got fabric that looked real. I liked the geometrical nature of the background. It contrasted well with my image of myself. I'm not sure where that fierce look came from. Normally I'm really happy and smiling in class. Perhaps it is a look of intense concentration. The painting did end up looking like me except that I could not get my nose right. During critique one student suggested that I change the pose to have more of an angle; it would be easier that way. Next time, I am going to try that.

Painting 1 -- Plein Air: Friendship Bridge

We went out painting in the early morning on a very cold fall day. The sun was out and leaves were falling everywhere. I painted friendship bridge with leaves and walkways all around. It was my first experience painting on masonite. The surface is quite slippery and paint has a tendency not to stick very well. My hands were so cold that I could not make very good marks, but I liked some things about this painting. I especially liked the top part and the leaves toward the bottom where I was in such a rush to get finished before my palette froze. I think those marks were more accidental. Next time, I am going to wear gloves.

Painting 1 -- Color: Orchid and Shadow

I loved this composition. I like the idea that the background is as interesting as the foreground. I loved the sweep of the shadow and how it lead the eye around the picture plane. I liked the little hints of objects here and there. I like an open composition that gives you the impression that there is more than just what you can see in the painting. I still struggled with the fabric and making the glass appear solid, but this is my favorite painting from the class.

Painting 1 -- Color: Bread Basket

After two monochrome paintings, we were introduced to color. Color is hard. Some of the things that make it hard are that our palette was quite limited. We started with just eight basic colors and mixed everything from them. In doing that, one of the problems I had was not being able to mix exactly the right shade that I wanted. Second, I often did not mix enough of the color so that when I ran out, I'd have to mix again and quite often have trouble mixing exactly the same shade that I just mixed. The mixing did improve over time.

Painting 1 -- Grisaile: Fabric and Cylinders

This was my second painting. It was again limited to monochrome paint in black, white and shades of gray. The composition included gray fabric and objects in various shades of white and gray. This painting was a little easier than the last one, but still very difficult. During the class critique of all of our paintings one student commented, "You get extra credit for at least trying the gravy boat!" That made me feel better about it.

Painting 1 -- Grisaille: Fabric and Objects

This was my first oil painting. At the end of the first day of class I thought, "I am going to fail this class!" I could not make oil paint do anything I wanted. I did keep working at it and eventually got something that looked like a painting. It was not a good painting, but it was a painting. The composition included very dark red fabric, white fabric, and white, black, gray and orange objects. We could paint in black, white and shades of gray and had to finish in two class sessions. I was glad when it was done.

Ceramics 1 -- Garden Teabowl

This was my final project in Ceramics 1. It is a small teacup with a strawberry glaze. For some reason, this is the cup that I like and use the most. The glaze is a little thin but doesn't seem to detract from it too much. I'll use this glaze again. Here are the details:

Project: Garden teabowl
Method: Wheel thrown
Clay: Recycled
Glaze: Strawberry

Size: 4 inches (H)

Ceramics 1 -- Ancient Chinese Teacup

For this teacup I chose an ancient Chinese glaze and design. I especially like the fuzzy image and will use this combination of glaze and copper again in my next ceramics class. Here are the details:

Project: Ancient Chinese teacup
Method: Wheel thrown
Clay: Recycled
Glaze: Chun with copper carbonate design of flowers

Size: 4 inches (H)

Ceramics 1 -- Sen no Rikyu Teacup

This is a simple teacup inspired by a 16th century Japanese teabowl called "Kogan". It was the kind of teabowl that Sen no Rikyu, the great master of the tea ceremony recommended. I used the same glaze and a similar design to Kogan. Here are the details:

Project: Sen no Rikyu teacup
Method: Wheel thrown
Clay: Recycled
Glaze: Shino with red iron oxide design of grasses

Size: 4 inches (H)

Ceramics 1 -- Abstract Landscape

Our assignment was to do an abstract work. I chose an abstract landscape. To get all of the different clays I went to the recycle barrel, pulled out handfulls of different colored and different textured clays, put them on plaster slabs, dried them out and wedged them into workable balls. I then used these in the construction. Notice that the work did break in the kiln. I made it too thin. I am mounting it on plywood so it can be used. Here are the details:

Project: Abstract/enigmatic landscape
Method: Coil/pinched construction
Clay: Various clays of all colors and textures
Slip: Chrome and red iron oxide slips applied and scaped away
Glaze: Applied with brush: Lefever Black, Zeller White, Utah Red, Golden Yellow, Shino, Salt Lake Blue

Size: 17 inches x 17 inches

Ceramics 1 -- Narrative

Our assignment was to do a narrative. I chose "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" and represented three scenes. It was a lot of fun. Some other students had no idea what I was doing, but others picked it up right away. I'll do more of this. In the kiln the three pieces were side by side on the same shelf. Notice how differently they came out. This is one of the interesting and wonderful (and frustrating) things about ceramics. Here are the details:

Project: Narrative – Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Method: Slab construction with relief
Clay: Soldate 60
Glaze: Zeller White
Colorants: Red iron oxide, cobalt carbonate, copper carbonate, yellow ochre, rutile, manganese dioxide, black iron oxide

Size: 8 inches x 6 inches

Ceramics 1 -- Ikebana vase

Our assignment was to do a form that emphasized interior and exterior shape. I created this Ikebana (Japanese flower arrangement) vase for that purpose. This glaze is the same combination (blue over white) as was done for the tall teapot. Notice the difference. It is very interesting. Here are the details:

Project: Interior/exterior ikebana vase
Method: Slab construction
Clay: Soldate 60
Glaze: Salt Lake Blue / Zeller White

Size: 8 inches x 8 inches

Ceramics 1 -- Ancient Japanese Teabowl

About half way through the class I started using the wheel to throw pots. This is the first one. I also was studying ancient Japanese art history so I tried my hand at an ancient Japanese teabowl. I think this glaze worked very well. Here are the details:

Project: Ancient Japanese teabowl
Method: Wheel thrown
Clay: Recycled
Glaze: Tenmoku / Golden Yellow

Size: 5 inches (H)

Ceramics 1 -- Positive/Negative Raku Vessel

We all wanted to experiment with Raku and I also needed to create a "positive/negative" construction so I combined them into this vessel. It probably would have been better if I had left more clay unglazed as this would have turned black during firing, but it turned out pretty well. I use this with a candle to throw shadows on the wall. Here are the details:

Project: Positive/negative raku vessel
Method: Slab construction
Clay: Soldate 60
Glaze: Hines Patina Raku

Size: 6 inches (D)

Ceramics 1 -- Figurative Sculpture

This is a garden sculpture of a man. It shows some Asian influence as I have been studying East Asian Art History. The photograph isn't quite as good as I would have liked but you can get the idea of what it looks like. I enjoyed this a lot and plan to do some more figures. Here are the details:

Project: Figuritive sculpture
Method: Coil and slab construction
Clay: Soldate 60
Glaze: Utah Red

Size: 18 inches (H)

Ceramics 1 -- Tall Teapot

This is my second project for Ceramics 1. It is a slab-constructed teapot. I use it everyday. I especially like the green glaze which is a combination of white underneath and blue on top. Here are the details:

Project: Tall teapot
Method: Slab construction
Clay: Soldate 60
Glaze: Salt Lake Blue / Zeller White

Size: 8 inches (H)

Ceramics 1 -- Coil Vase

This was my first project for Ceramics 1. It is a hand-made coil vessel. I think it came out really well. I like the drip a lot. Here are the details:

Project: Vase
Method: Coil construction
Clay: Soldate 60
Glaze: Golden Yellow / Utah Red

Size: 9 inches (H)