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Scenes from the studio. Routine.
On April 4, 2012
In Art making, Life in North Dakota, Living with Greyhounds
With 2 Comments
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Adding a new process or three.
I wanted to write a bit about a few new processes that I am working on in the studio. I loved the look of the boxes, but am always trying to find new and interesting ways to push my work. All of these are surface treatments for clay and some are more about the surface than others.
I started by making these three wall boxes. They can either sit flat like they are shown or be hung on a wall. The largest box measures about 10×10 inches. The two smaller boxes are around 7×7″ inches give or take. I enjoy working with the square composition and wanted a larger flat surface on which to work.
The drawings from the previous posts have been turned into a series of stamps. I’ve been making these stamps for years and now have rich image library of carved blocks in many shapes and sizes. They are carved from linoleum printmaking material. I’ve used them in two ways: pressed into the clay (as I’ve done for years) or “inked” and pressed onto the surface of the clay. This time I’m inking and printing on the clay rather than embossing the clay. This is pretty new for me.
Three techniques here: stamping, mishima and sgraffito. Wha? Let me explain.
This wall box is almost entirely decorated with my new stamp designs. The blue bunny and reclining Greyhound illustrate the “inking” process as does the three standing Greyhounds in the top left box. The dotted lines were pressed into the clay. The purple dots were added with a small brush.
I guess I should mention that nothing will be these colors when fired. The bunny/large Greyhound will be a medium blue. The dots will be purple. The standing Greyhounds across the bottom black. The clay- left to it’s own devices- will be a cream color, unless I glaze it with a overlapping color.
I should also mention that if I haven’t solved my cracking box problem, these will probably crack too. Such as it is…
See how this box has the marks from the drawing incised into the clay? Here’s I’ve taken the stamp of the bunny and drawn into the surface of the clay. You can see similar marks in the running Greyhound image – that’s sgraffito – removing parts of the color to reveal the clay below. I really love this technique and never done much with it previously.
Another technique – shown on the big wall box – is Mishima. With that technique one uses a fine tool to carve the drawing into the clay, fills the channel with underglaze (or whatnot) and scrapes off the excess. This reveals just the line drawing. It’s pretty cool so far. The two big Greyhounds on the biggest wall box are examples of Mishima.
As an aside, I’m liking working on these wall boxes, especially the foot which allows me more surface to design. The image can wrap around or I can hide a bunny here and there. He’s bunny with some anger issues…
My normal clay body has a too much sand, but I’m enjoying experimenting with these three techniques while waiting for my test boxes to dry. All are fun and challenging in their own way. I’m enjoying the spontaneity – drawing directly into the clay, creating interesting designs. It’s a nice change from the stress of cracked boxes and things that I really, really, really want to work.
We’ll have to see if these techniques creep into my work.
Tracing paper. My favorite drawing surface.
I rarely draw on paper-paper. I don’t remember why I started drawing on tracing paper – probably trying to “fix” a drawing. Now all I draw on is tracing paper. Here’s why:
On each of the drawings I begin with an idea and often a source photo or photos. I’ll draw that image five times trying to get it just right. I use the tracing paper to trace part of my previous drawings – fixing positions of the legs or head or mushy anatomy. Tracing paper also allows me to work on both sides of the paper. The marks show through. I can change the drawing on one side and still keep my original drawing on the other side, but still see both versions.
Another little trick is to look at the drawing in a mirror or hold it up to a window. This allows me to “catch” the anatomy mistakes that I may not see by only viewing what I’m drawing head on. The drawing above is a tracing of my final drawing. Here’s another reason why I like tracing paper so much.
It allows me to create and easily change a design motif. Here the two Greyhounds are nose to nose. I find the negative shapes (the shapes around the dogs) pleasing, and the smooth s-curves of the Greyhound’s bodies interesting. But what if I change it a little?
Another quite formal design. Should the stopper pads of their front legs touch? Do the bodies create their own design motif? Is that what I want? These are the questions I ask.
Now pushing it to the extreme. I’m literal. So I see a big H. Perhaps an entire alphabet of Greyhound letters. I don’t find the negative shapes as interesting in this version and don’t like their feet overlapping so much (unless I was trying to make a letter).
I do this process for most of the tile designs. I love tracing paper!
Ran right by wordless wednesday.
Yesterday was Wednesday? Boy that time change derails my sense of time. It does indicate that spring is on its way – a reason to celebrate! Also means I start working on new tile designs. Here’s a sketch of a possible idea.
Cracked boxes.
With each kiln load the goal is to fire successfully and efficiently. Over the years I’ve learned how to pack my kilns so the airflow is good yet I make the most of the space provided. This failed with the last load. Cracks.
Cracks along the seams of nearly every slab box. Huh? What is going on? Did I do something different with this load?
Five medium sized boxes and four large boxes cracked during the bisque firing. All were bone dry and dried out very slowly. Only about three of them were made on the same day – this wasn’t me being lazy and not joining things properly. Fired to the same temperature as usual using the same firing schedule.
Humm… So what’s up? I’ve pugged (mixed) my clay and made five new test boxes. As soon as they dry I’ll fire them. Not really sure what’s going on here.
Unloading the kiln.
Unloaded the kiln this morning and am quite pleased with the results. This was the smaller of my two kilns. It requires a different packing strategy than the large L&L kiln – that plan was further changed after several of the medium sized boxes cracked during the bisque fire. Those boxes met with Mr. Hammer and this kiln load becomes less than efficient. So fewer pieces than normal. Let’s talk about them anyway.
Here are two views of the same box. Box itself is about 10″H x 6″W x 6″D.
I love the slightly mottled effect on top of this box – giving the box a kind of aged quality. Also think that the combination of several colors is working. The cut-out designs of these boxes are a new technique for me. I need to push on it a bit and see where it goes. This is the first box that I tired working with more than one color. I like it.
Here’s a good example of using more than one color. The box on the left has that addition of a pinkish/red star verses the box on the right with just the gray and the cream of the clay showing through.
Here’s box with green and blue – skipping the dark gray entirely. I love the pattern. The green is interesting in person. Hard to photograph though.
Small sculptures roughly 10″ long. Irish Wolfhounds. A glossy clear glaze. While I like these two pieces, in the future Irish Wolfhounds should have a matt finish. They seem like a matt finish kind of breed to me?
Also in this firing were many small sculptures. These are glazed in the antique parchment glaze.
And one winged Whippet…
All in all, good firing.
They are my models.
My Greyhounds sleep around me as I make the figures for my memory boxes. They make handy models – being right there. Here is a memory box waiting to be bisque fired and Winchester sleeping on the couch. Isn’t he sweet?
The gritty details.
The drying racks in the studio are filling up with memory boxes. I tend to work in batches – batches of small sculpture, or tiles, or boxes, or even big sculptures. It’s been awhile since I’ve made memory boxes.
The truth is – they are hard to make. Not the actual construction. There are tools and practice that make that much easier than it used to be. In clay, practice doesn’t make perfect, but it does make “perfect” easier. (Who wants perfect anyway? Perfect is boring. Handmade is interesting).
The reason the boxes are difficult to make is that they are emotionally difficult. Because I know what the boxes will be used for… and that triggers memories of my own losses.
My email inbox always has messages from people seeking boxes. These emails are raw and emotional. I know how it feels – with every email I remember how it has been – how it hurts to lose these creatures – how you are never quite the same.
Strange how thoughts creep in. Like how I’d overheard someone talking about planting trees. “I should plant a tree in the backyard,” I thought. Innocuous enough. But then I realized that I wouldn’t know where to plant that tree. All the good tree spots are occupied. That the yard is a graveyard of dogs past. Really… Even the studio is built over a dead dog’s grave.
I try not to think about it too much, you know? How does an artist bring the emotional sensitivity to the work, without crossing the line into personal grief quicksand? Practice? Ugh.
So as I make this batch of boxes I try to positive. To think of the good parts… There are lots of good parts.
Maybe these memory boxes will bring similar good thoughts to the people who have loved and lost their Greyhounds.
Three days to more clay work.
I had nothing on my calendar this past friday, saturday or sunday. I cannot remember the last time that happened. No events. No library thing to distract me from studio time. Plus sunshine. It was wonderful.
So I pulled out of 25 pound block of clay and began to work. I’ll admit – friday things didn’t go well. I made ugly things. Really ugly things. Wasn’t working. I was fighting the clay.
Saturday wasn’t much better, but I kept at it. I’ve been at this long enough to know there is a time to quit – to shut the studio door and walk away for a better day – and there is a time to work out the ugly. This was the time to keep at it.
The way to get out of the Uglies is to stay on task but scale back. I put the big pieces away and make small heads, or feet – on Saturday I made new stamps to press into the wet clay (for boxes, etc.).
Here’s why this works for me. The stakes are lower. I’m not using large amounts of clay. I’ve solved the engineering and firing problems already. All that’s left is working the creativity muscles.
It’s like stretching before running a race. A warm up. Preparation for the Big Art.
After a Saturday of making the stamps (so much fun!), I started a few of the smaller maquette sized pieces. I’ve sculpted many of these small works. They are the my equivalent of sketches - solving basic problems, working out simple ideas, practicing success. Sunday was beginning to look productive. The clay was fun again.
By Tuesday I was ready to tackle a few Salukis. Here’s the smooth Saluki in a play bow position in the working stage. Maybe a larger piece is in the future?
There is an ebb and flow to this clay work thing. I try to jump in at the middle – to take short cuts. But the process is the process. Even if I try to “cheat”, the process keeps me honest.
On to more work!
Bring the heat.
I fear that the heater in the studio needs to be replaced. Darn it anyway. If I’m going to store boxes of clay the studio is going to need to be heated since clay cannot freeze. And then there is firing the kiln when it is so bitter cold – the computer controllers don’t care for the bitter temps anymore than I do. Plus I do like to work in that place over the winter.
I was hoping to nurse this heater along until the season was over – only a few more months really. That would put it past other bills like taxes and semi-annual car insurance bill. Ahem. Guess things don’t go as planned. Oh well.
Sorry for the flash photo above. A quick capture to get a rough idea of this wall piece. Sculptures are everywhere in the house – my dining room table is covered, the table in the kitchen is covered. There is work in boxes stacked on top of dog crates. Tomorrow I’m going to begin to photograph and pack the finished pieces – just to make room for the work that needs to be completed.
On the plus side, the hounds habit of begging for food while humans are sitting/eating on the couch is nearly broken.
Giveaway details on Friday.
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