Ceramics Class Reprieve!
Bowl on wheel with Pour Spout and the Last Three Glaze Tester Pots in the background
With the Studio Sale now behind me and packing in full swing, the wheel throwing class I’m taking at the Art Students League of Denver is my creative salvation right now! It is crazy how time-consuming packing up a house is! For now, this class is my studio practice. I signed on with a new instructor, Jack Heimerman last month and have really enjoyed his class thus far. My friends Janet and Beth from Dean Goss’ Hand building class also signed up for the June class and it’s been awesome being in class together again! Prior to the Pandemic we have been taking classes together for at least the last six years! Janet is a skilled thrower while Beth is just starting out, I’m somewhere in between.
We started our summer class about two weeks ago. With all the stress of the move etc… I thought for sure my creative mojo would be off but both last week and this week my throwing has been really solid. In the last session, I decided I need to get myself organized a little more and set some creative goals for myself. The first goal was to throw 12 cylinders that I would turn into glaze tester pots. I just finished throwing the last three of this series on Monday. I’ve been told by numerous ceramic colleagues that the more cylinders I throw the better I will get, I’m finally seeing the results of this endeavor. My scale and overall construction of the pots has improved over the last few weeks for sure. Once I trim the pots, I place a small hole on the side of the vessel where I will string a tag noting the type of glaze on the pot. With each glaze I put on, I make a note of it in my sketchbook, drawing a small picture of the pot with the name of the glaze next to it and then I number the image. Once the testers have been fired, I will add the tag. My working theory is that by creating an actual functional pot with a sample glaze I will have a better idea of what the glaze will look like on future ceramic ware. I’m applying my painting strategies regarding working with a limited palette to my glaze palette. This will help me identify which glazes I like and allow me to get good at using a limited glaze palette. My philosophy in this regard is that sometimes less is more. I don’t need to use a million different glazes but rather limit my palette to a few and get really good at using that limited palette! It works for oil painting so why not apply this strategy to glazing.
Once I finish with my glaze testers, the next thing I will focusing on is shape – again the idea is to be more strategic in the creation of my earthenware! Monday, I started on my first shape, with Janet as my inspiration. She was throwing next to me, and she made a bowl that had an interesting finish to the top edge that I really liked. The shape reminds me of the large mixing bowls from Pottery Barn my mom gave me for Christmas. Instead of just a round edge, it has a little bend in it that will allow you to pour from it. So, no more messy pours or spills from my bowls when I cook! I plan to make a set of these bowls that will complement the larger ones my mom gave me.
Those bowls have a white glaze with the lower 1/3 of it unglazed so the natural tones of the clay remain. Two of my glaze testers are glazed in the same manner. One has Ron Roy White Matte with a clear glaze over it and the other one is a single glaze of Ron Roy White Matte; so one has a glossy finish while the other one does not. Once the two glaze testers are complete, I can compare the finishes and decide which one is most complimentary and use it on these new bowls.
From these bowls I’m not sure which direction I will go. I’ve made numerous sketches of different vessel shapes in my sketchbook. In a few weeks Jack is going to do a Raku firing in his other class, but he is offering us in the Monday night class to Raku one piece. I think the next shape idea will focus on creating a piece for the Raku! Until then, I look forward to this class more than I’ve ever done before… having a creative outlet is helping me to stay sane in this otherwise chaotic moving transition! Thank God for the joys of creative endeavors!
