Seven Pots

Today was the last day of my ceramics class, and the day I finally got to see how six of the seven pieces I made turned out.

One piece had already been fired, on the day we did a raku firing. I selected my coil pot to fire that day, and used white crackle glaze. It didn't crack as much as I would have liked, but it did crack some.

For my pinch pot, I used a glaze called Vegas red. I really like the way the color turned out!

The third method of handbuilding we learned was slab building. I made two pieces using this method. My first attempt cracked a little in the bisque firing, and cracked even more in the glaze firing. Oh well.

 

My second slab pot fared better. I added a lid to this one. One of the class requirements was to include a lid or a handle on one piece (I did one of each). After the bisque firing, the lid fit best in one specific orientation. To help distinguish the correct placement, I added some decorative detail to the top and sides.

The piece I added a handle to (turning it into a mug) was the piece the instructor and I threw together to introduce me to the wheel. (In actuality, he did most of the work.) This was the last piece I glazed, and I got a little experimental, dipping one half in bamboo glaze and the other into a glaze called Hank's shino. The instructor said I should have done the shino first and then the bamboo. That would have prevented the strange bubbling that occurred where the two overlapped.

The last two pieces were also thrown. The smaller one is 100 percent my effort. While I was working on the taller one, another student helped some, demonstrating how to pull the clay up from the bottom.

Earlier in the quarter, I decided to take the class Pass/Fail to relieve myself of any "grade pressure" I might experience. Today, I told the instructor that I had enjoyed the class and gotten out of it what I had hoped to. 

Beginning Ceramics

So, even though I earned my AA degree in Graphic Design last month, I registered for one class this summer. Mostly for personal interest and recreational purposes. And to get me out of the house a couple times each week.

I decided I wanted to do sometime completely non-computer-related. The choices for summer quarter are somewhat limited, but I settled on Ceramics I.

The summer quarter is only 8 weeks long, as compared to the usual 11 weeks during the regular school year. Today is the beginning of the fourth week — already nearly halfway through the quarter.

Beginning today, we will learn about throwing on the wheel. But first, we learned about three other ways to make pottery — pinching (more can be done to refine the piece than is shown at this link, but this shows the basic method), coiling (you can smooth the outside of the pot to hide the coils, as well as the inside), and slab construction.

Here is a picture of my pinched bowl on the shelf, waiting for its first (bisque) firing.

I also have a two coil pots and two slab pots underway, but they are not ready for bisque firing yet.

Cardboard Art

It's always fun to see what the students in 3-D Design do, especially when the end-of-quarter, recycled-cardboard projects start popping up around campus.

This spring, I got to see . . .

Rapunzel's braid

Girl reading in the library

Matrushka dolls

Spawning salmon

and high-jumping bugs (I think).

Midway Through the Quarter

This week, I turned in my first project for Graphic Design 4 (Packaging Design). The assignment was to design three labels for a new line of herbal tea, and incorporate the names of three rivers.

In the course of developing the design, I purchased three bottles (different flavors) of GTS Kombucha. (The bottles above are from a different brand of beverage — the Tao of Tea.) Out of curiosity, I tried one of them. I think it was Guava Goddess, and it was pretty tasty. Slightly effervescent, more tart than sweet, but not bad. The other flavors were Cosmic Cranberry and Multi-Green. I would say the Multi-Green is more of an acquired taste.

On Tuesday, we photographed my labels; yesterday, I dropped out the background, edited out some extra reflection, and added a slight tabletop reflection in Photoshop.

Once again, I started out the quarter being kind of freaked out about doing something so new and completely different, and ending up pretty pleased with the result.

Now, I'm back to being freaked out. Next assignment: packaging design for three chocolate products for a fictional chocolate company called Mr. Brown's Chocolate.

Art Gallery Brochure

For the final project in my InDesign II class this last quarter, our assignment was to design the brochure listing the shows for next year in the campus art gallery. The bonus was that one or two of the designs (cover and/or interior) would be selected AND we would receive a small monetary compensation.

We did have the opportunity to submit our work to the gallery coordinator and get some feedback before the final submission.

Anyway, when I went by the instructor's office to pick up my brochure and the previous project, I learned that my design for the interior and mailing panel had been chosen, and another student's cover had been selected.

I had been under the impression that we wouldn't hear back for a week or two, so it took a couple minutes for this news to register.

I don't have Bethann's cover, but hers features the image from the Graphic Novel Northwest show. The gallery coordinator requested some tweaks on my design. Primarily, she asked that I add a little bit of air between the text and the edge of the tinted box behind. 

One More Student Art Project

I was headed over to the library the other morning, when this caught my eye.

I think it is utterly charming.

 

 

Student Sculpture

The 3-D Design students are at it again.

Yesterday, as I was leaving the library, I overhead a group of students say something about “penguins.” Curious, I followed them to find out more. They turned out to be touring the campus to look at their fellow classmates’ projects. This was their next stop.

There is a fountain next to a patio/walkway near the student union building, and a family of pink penguins had taken up residence. Mama Penguin and 3 little ones.

Later on, I saw one of the girls in the class. She told me that her project was downstairs in the student union.

Then, this morning as I was driving through the parking lot, I saw this fellow.

Earlier in the quarter, there were a number of wire sculptures in the upstairs hallway of the Visual Communications building.

 

The last is supposed to be a tornado. I wasn't really clear on that until I overhead someone talking about it.

While I'm at it, there are also a couple of projects that I took pictures of last quarter, but never got around to posting until now.

This last one I saw not at school but one day when I was walking around Green Lake. But it fits it with the other projects shown here.

Winter Quarter

I try to post at least once a week, but sometimes there's just a little too much going on to squeeze it in.

Since classes started up again four weeks ago, I've been pretty busy keeping up with studying and projects. Part of it is my own fault for registering for four classes this quarter, instead of the usual three. Oh well.

Two classes — Graphic Design III and Page Layout II — are studio classes where the work consists primarily of completing projects, as opposed to reading and studying (like in my Art History class).

In GD3, the first project consists of designing a restaurant logo and menu. The instructor assigned groups and presented several types of restaurants and names to pick from, and my group selected the Thai restaurant. The logo is done, and the menu is still in process.

The first assignment in Page Layout was to design an invitation to an event of our choosing (real or imagined) and an ancillary piece, such as a map or RSVP card. I made up a baby shower invitation.

Campus Art

I've noticed during previous quarters at school that, toward the end of the term, interesting things may suddenly appear around campus. Often, these are in the vicinity of the Art building, either inside or out.

A couple of weeks ago, this little fellow appeared on the halfway landing of the stairs between the first and second floors.

Then, earlier today, I had occasion to go to the bookstore, where I happened upon this sculpture.

It appears that the 3-D Design class has been busy.

After leaving the bookstore, I was heading back to the Art building. Outside the theater building, I saw this, somewhat disturbing, critter.

Eep!