Long overdue post...

Wow. This is terrible.

10 months without a post and I've only written two.

Who would have imagined that in less than a year so much can happen?

My life plans have shifted with quite a bit of sadness mixed in, but I suppose that without change we become stale.

On a lighter note, teaching the kids pottery at the Gretsch Institute's art camp hosted by the obnoxiously well-funded Savannah Country Day School was completely awesome--thanks Christi for dropping my name!

S.P.A.C.E.'s summer art Camp was a blast as usual. Gretsch, however, was my first crack at teaching kids completely on my own-- a fantastic learning experience before stepping back into S.P.A.C.E.'s fast-paced all-day camp.

no, it isn't easy

BUT I did score extra extra points by learning to play the ukulele. At the beginning of summer, I picked up a $25 dollar uke at Portman's...learned a few songs and had fun. Then I traded my crazy awesome mountain bike(that I never rode by the way) for a Greg Bennet uke. Then, as a birthday present for myself, I bought a solid mahogany Bushman Jenny--and the thing just sings. Anyway, I learned all sorts of songs(well, with the memory of squirrel i read along with the music) and kids songs...playing open mic every once in a while and just having a blast. Okay, I should stop with the uke stuff...I'll write forever about it.

So now I have a different job, it's part-time...because the normal ceramics instructor just had hip surgery... but she was probably one of the younger people there because it's senior center in a podunk town an hour away, BUT it is in my medium of choice--ceramics. It isn't, however, my normal style. I basically make slip casts for the seniors to dry-brush with acrylic or paint with underglaze/glaze. I've never casted before so it's a good thing...and of course, older women just seem to eat me up.

I've also been invited again to teach a workshop on alternative firing techniques so I suppose I should start making work again. I haven't produced any clay work in forever--which is another reason to be happy I found a part-time job in my field. I was also asked to teach one or two, depending on registration, once-a-week classes at S.P.A.C.E. One is a Beginning Wheel-Throwing and another is Raku/Wheel-Throwing.

So that's a taste of what's new...and it's pretty exciting. I promise everyone I'll be making new work soon--i have to.

toodles.

Latest Naked Raku Work

For the pieces below, I applied a slip resist to the bisque-fired porcelain bottles. On top of the slip resist, I put a thick coat of crackle glaze. The crackle glaze shrinks over the piece and in the cracks carbon from the reduced atmosphere impregnates the clay. Then, I scraped off all the glaze and slip resist revealing the surfaces...no glaze remains...hence, naked raku.

91% Alcohol Reduction

So here's what's happening....

I fire the piece to around 1750 degrees Farenheit in a raku kiln...remove it (Katie's being awesome and giving me a hand in the first video) ...place it on a banding wheel and spray the still red hot piece with 91% alchohol on it. This does a few things.... creates variations of pattern and serves as a combustible.... displacing the amount of oxygen present.

Once I finish spraying it with alcohol I move it to a clear chamber... this lets me view what's happening inside so I can manipulate the colors with slightly more control.





Results....