All posts tagged studio

Three days to more clay work.

By On April 27, 2011 In Art making With 1 Comment Permanent Link to Three days to more clay work.Permalink

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.

Smooth Saluki

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!

 

Back in the saddle

By On December 5, 2010 In Art making With 3 Comments Permanent Link to Back in the saddlePermalink

After nearly a month of dead computer, the FedEx man brought a little bit of joy on Saturday. Yes, new iMac. My poor old G5 couldn’t go any more. RIP G5.

Just in case you’re wondering, blogging on an iPad is not my cup of tea. Its a clever device. Something wasn’t blog inspiring, however. So, with a new computer shining all over my desk, let the blogging commence. Let’s get back to making some sculptures.

Size comparison for sculpture and maquetteFor each of the “big” pieces, I make smaller versions. These smaller versions are called maquettes. Maquettes are similar to a 3D sketch made with the idea of working out the problems before one begins on the larger piece.

Like for this piece – the large runner coming out of the wall. Here’s the blog post where I began this piece.

Maquette for larger sculpture made of clayTo give one an idea of the size of this maquette, the board on which this piece sets is roughly 1/2 inch thick. Some detail but still rough. Just enough to get the idea of the larger piece, to set up the composition.

Size comparison of maquette and sculpture made in clayNow to finish the surface on this piece and figure out how to hang it…

Let’s review.

By On September 6, 2010 In Art making With 1 Comment Permanent Link to Let’s review.Permalink

Anybody notice that it is September already? Greyhounds Reach the Beach in Dewey Beach, Delaware is right around the corner (October 7-10). No need to panic. I’ve got it covered.

Sort of. It’s coming. Nothing is *finished* but it’s getting there. Big sculptures are drying. Tiles need glaze. And I’m going to be setting a fires in the backyard – getting this year’s batch of cockroaching greyhounds exposed to the smoke. Just keep plugging along.

I’ll have more work up on the etsy store this week. I’ll post on the blog and on facebook – or send me an email – I’ll let you know, if you like.

So in all the flurry of preparation for the great early trip to the beach I’ve noticed something. I learned a lot this year+. A Lot.

Remember this piece? This was May 2009. I was attempting to make the largest piece I could fit in my kiln in one piece. I used an armature to build it, sculpted it solid, cut it apart and hollowed it out. Had a few *cough* missteps along the way.

And then I whacked the foot on the side of the kiln during loading. And then I cried.

June 2009 brought the workshop in Helena at the Archie Bray Foundation.

I learned a lot. This is a gross oversimplification.

Came home and started a new sculpture right away.

 

I was happy with this piece. I’m sure of this because I have 10,000 photos of it. Which is a good thing. Cause it fell to the floor of the studio and burst into a 1,000,000 pieces. And then I cried.

Now fast forward a year.

I feel like I’m getting somewhere. This feels good. I’m confident I can fire this piece – get it to live. I’ve learned a lot.

Now instead of mild burn-out/frustration/end-of-my-rope-ness, I am seeing results that I like. Joy. Excitement. Satisfaction.

Stasis.

By On June 26, 2010 In Art making With 5 Comments Permanent Link to Stasis.Permalink

Whew, boy.

Somehow I feel like I can’t wait for June to be over, yet wish I could have June back again. How does that work? Maybe every June is like this… LIGHT! We have LIGHT again! I swear everyone around here is frantic – like ants building and fixing and doing before the big cold winter comes again. It is hard to resist getting caught up in the busyness and before you know it – poof! – June is gone.

I’ve tried to eek out time in the studio. I can see the work that is finished – wish the pile was larger. I’m going to blow right past my goal to get a good chunk of the work needed for Dewey Beach done before the end of June. I’m being too hard on myself – the old kiln is working again thanks to new elements, the fiber blanket has arrived for the raku kiln I’m building, a pallet of fresh clay has arrived ready to be used, there are tiles and boxes and lamps drying. It’s all good.

Began a new sculpture — here is a link to the photo — its the first photo of the piece, a really rough draft. Then it fell off the armature. I started over and the “new” version is better than the old.

Clay Greyhound dog art sculpture in the works (process)

This time I didn’t take any shortcuts with the armature…

It will be life-sized when it is complete. I’m resisting the urge to place an evil Rabbit-Jockey on her back. (Anybody else feel like they’ve had an evil Rabbit-Jockey on their back lately?) I’m not sure aesthetically….

But the ears flying off to the back of the bunny…

Humm. I could always add it later.

Progression.

By On June 11, 2010 In Miscellaneous With 1 Comment Permanent Link to Progression.Permalink

The new piece is progressing nicely. I posted a few photos on the Sarah Regan Studio page on facebook – those photos were current as of this afternoon. But I wanted to back up a bit.

clay ceramic sculpture in progressThis was the new guy for the last six months or so. Followers of this blog might remember him from this post… from January.

He sat, wrapped in plastic, for a long time. Sure, I’d unwrap him from time to time. Wet ‘em down here and there. Scrub off the mildew…

The time to work on him was never quite right.

clay ceramic dog sculptureUntil yesterday. I unwrapped this guy around 5:30 am – and got to work. It’s been memory boxes and tiles since January more or less. Nice to work in a different way. Which isn’t to say that I am tired of the other things I do, but that change is good and mixing things up, flexing the creativity muscle, is a good thing.

I worked all day. Exhausted at the day’s end. Boy it felt good – but I’m going to need more spongy shoes – the concrete floor of the studio gets plenty hard.

dog art clay sculpture snavelyToday, another day in the studio. By the end of the day, this piece was further along that I’d anticipated. I have no idea where the day went. Worked steady all day, stopping for coffee and email.

More work for tomorrow – the video will explain more…

Return of the plastic wrap.

By On June 4, 2010 In Art making With 5 Comments Permanent Link to Return of the plastic wrap.Permalink

It’s Baaaaccckk. Plastic wrap – clay pieces wrapped in plastic to control the moisture in the work.

Clay boxesBoxes! More boxes. Let’s take a look at a few of them.

clay boxThis is a 6 x 6 x 6 inch box. I’m excited about my idea for the figure on the top of this box. More on that later….

Clay boxThis is a taller box. More like 8x6x6 inches. No figure yet, but that’ll come soon.

clay memory boxAnd a medium sized box 8x4x4 inches….

clay boxAnother biggie…. and a few others of the medium sizes. It has been a productive week!

sculpture in kilnAnd… Frank in in the kiln. Or a headless Frank is in the kiln. This involved taking the kiln apart, carefully loading the body, then reconstructing the kiln around it. After the piece will be fired it’s no problem to lift it out the top, but in this very fragile, bone-dry state I didn’t want to lift the piece off of the kiln shelf it was drying on. Easier to take apart the kiln…. sort of… I broke a part of the controller as I was disconnecting the electrical wires. The part was easily replaced – so Frank will be progressing again soon! (The head will be fired in another firing, then attached later).

Kiln torn apartThis photo is my original kiln…. which we also tore apart this week. It has been sitting in the studio for a long, long in need of repair. This week we diagnosed the problem. New elements have been ordered and I hope to have this guy firing again soon. I’m excited to have two kilns working again – improved work flow.

To do list - Greyhound eventAlso, this week, the studio’s white board was erased and the “to do” list for the Greyhounds Reach the Beach event in Dewey Beach, Delaware in October was started. Yes, I’m going to try Dewey Beach again. The “To Do” list is the beginnings of getting ready for this monster event. Lots of time in the studio this summer!

Have a great weekend. Stop back on Monday for new contest information.

The return of Mr. Hammer

By On May 30, 2010 In Art making With 3 Comments Permanent Link to The return of Mr. HammerPermalink

Goodbye, Platter.

Your form was fine, but your glaze was awful. May you have a productive life as a pottery shard in the bottom of a flower pot.

Goodbye, memory box.

Your corner was chipped in the big kiln explosion. If only the carnage had not extended to you and your fellow box. The damage was unrepairable, and so you must meet a violent fate.

And so it goes…

(Remember, only 24 hours left to enter the drawing for the Run tile set! Details here.)

Heartbreak.

By On May 9, 2010 In Art making With 9 Comments Permanent Link to Heartbreak.Permalink


I made an error yesterday. Programmed the kiln incorrectly. Fatal error.


This guy now looks like -


Ugh.


This one is in the pile too.


And this one… and other one I didn’t photograph.


But many things did survive. Gotta look on the bright side!

I know exactly what I did. I pushed these pieces trying to get them ready for the event next weekend. They were close to dry and probably would have survived had I not programmed the kiln incorrectly. I realized my error around 1000 degrees – too late. So….

Back to the proverbial drawing board. Some of the boxes can be saved. One large box was injured by an exploding Greyhound. The masks, tiles and platter survived.

On to glazing the surviving work.

Win some, lose some.

Out of the kiln

By On May 1, 2010 In Art making With 1 Comment Permanent Link to Out of the kilnPermalink

Unloaded the glaze kiln yesterday. Lots of good results. Opening the kiln is like Christmas morning. There are lots of surprises “Yeah! This glaze turned out Awesome!” and overall the pieces look great. This was mostly tiles in this firing.

I tweaked the glazes a bit. Very pleased with the results. The designs are highlighted in a way that I like. Now to got through all the design block, weed out the designs that should be retired, and get the remaining designs on this web site.

Made a few more masks also. I’m itching to get back to the sand-based clay (verse this grog based clay) and make a some sculptures. All in all, progress feels really good.

Keep plugging along.

By On April 28, 2010 In Art making With No Comments Permanent Link to Keep plugging along.Permalink

Preparations for the Greyhound Gathering in Kanab, Utah are in full swing. The kiln is firing as I write this. Should begin to cool down in a couple of hours. Then onto a glaze marathon.


The sky above the studio is striking tonight. The Greyhounds are playing in the yard – no photos – dead camera battery. The spare was not charged either. What’s the point of having a spare if it isn’t charged? Oh well, the hounds are having a ball.


Several of the tiles from the last bisque load – waiting patiently to be glazed. When the kiln cools enough to unloaded, these tiles will go in. Then fire, reload, and repeat. And there is going to have to be a smoke fire somewhere before I leave for Kanab also. Wish me a wind-free day!

499.

By On April 26, 2010 In Art making With 2 Comments Permanent Link to 499.Permalink

blog_intheworks_April2010_002

The work in the studio has been slow and steady. I’m pleased with the results.

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I bisque fired yesterday – the kiln is cooling down and should be cool enough to open late this afternoon. Then into the kiln goes another load of pieces to fire – the lamps will go in there, also the mask above, some boxes and many tiles, welcome signs and gate signs.

blog_intheworks_April2010_009

I’m considering retiring this gate sign design – the block has a small crack in it so it’s probably time to go before the tiles begin to lose quality.

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So if the wind decides to cooperate, there will be smoke fired pieces soon. With every tile batch I make, I yearn for a gas kiln. I have big kiln envy lately – a bigger electric for sculpture, a gas kiln for tiles, and a raku kiln too.

According to wordpress this is blog post #499. I know I’ve lost a few through moving from one blogging platform to another (and through tinkering and not backing up first…). In June 2010 will be 15 years of Greyhounds. Huh, will have to do something to celebrate.

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