Art a Day Installation Grid and Mixed Media Bulbs

Mixed Media Bulbs

"Abstract" bulb with flower decoration, finished with underglaze colors, clear  gloss medium, and mixed media attachments.

I will be delivering both of my "abstract" and "politics" bulb sets of bulbs to Columbia Center for the Arts in Hood River tomorrow for their Art a Day exhibition opening in August. I finished up the glazing for these pieces last weekend and this week I have been finishing up the non-ceramic attachments for some of the pieces. 

Bulb in the process of having bike parts attached with epoxy

Out of 60 total pieces, about 20 have some element added on afterwards. In most cases the mixed media attachments are epoxied on after firing, in some cases the additions are tied or wrapped, as in the knitted cover that I made for one of the "abstract" bulbs. 

knit bulb

I had three pieces that came out of the last firing with incomplete glaze coverage. Since the pieces are not meant to be used for food or drink, I decided to coat them with a clear gloss medium--basically acrylic paint with no color. 

"abstract" bulbs with glitter paint

When I reached into my stash of paint bottles, I found a glitter paint that I must have inherited, but never used. I decided to give two of the "abstract" bulbs a contrasting texture of glitter gloss medium. It feels fairly silly to use glitter paint, but also an interesting texture.

Installation Grid

initial plans for installation spacing

I will not be able to install the work myself, so I also spent some time this week making a new paper grid to be used by the gallery staff who will be installing for me. I already have a paper grid for an installation of 100 bulbs, but this time around I am installing two separate grids of 30 each in the same 8' wall space. Additionally, my existing paper grid is confusing, with extra marks, mistakes, and triangles that need to be fitted together when putting the three separate pages on the wall. The existing grid only needs to be read by me, but the new one needs to be clear to other installers.

most of the "abstract" bulbs in place, with one "political" bulb to the right

Yesterday, with the temperatures in the 90s and above, I wanted to finish the grid in the morning. I laid out an 8' roll of paper on the back patio, arranged the bulbs on the paper to get a sense of the size and placement, and got out several tape measures and L-square rulers to measure and draw out my grid straight and even. My goal was to make the paper as clean and clear as possible so that the gallery staff only need to level the paper, tape it to the wall, and mark the holes. I was able to keep the paper mostly clear of extraneous pencil and ink marks, but I wasn't able to keep the cats from walking across the paper with dusty paws.

"abstract" hand bulb (I strayed away from the original idea of abstraction in these bulbs, but "no specific political message or story" bulbs sounds awkward).

The two sets of bulbs will each be arranged in grids of 5 bulbs wide by 6 bulbs high. As my paper wasn't quite large enough, I had to add paper sections to the bottom of the roll to make a large enough space. I marked the grid in pencil and marked the holes in marker with each hole mark circled for clarity. In the past when I have used the paper grid to install, I just drilled the holes directly through the paper. The gallery staff can do the same or they can mark each spot through the paper, then take the paper down to put up the hooks.

I hope the kitten wiped her paws before walking on my photo backdrop

While I was making the grid, I also took some decent photographs of the 57 bulbs that were finished at that point (two are still being epoxied together right now). I used my old photo backdrop on the ground and my phone camera rather than setting up my table, vinyl backdrop and tripod, but the results are fine and the best I care to achieve on my timeline. Theses photos at least do not have epoxy and other detritus in the background.

I think there are nearly 100 toothpick pieces epoxied into this bulbs. What was I thinking?

Today I will finish up the packing and the epoxy on the last two pieces, then I will deliver the work tomorrow. I also need to write about my process. I have blog posts and notes that I've written throughout the process, but nothing ready to present in a gallery, yet. I'm hoping that motivation to write will show up soon, otherwise I'll just have to set a timer, tie myself to my desk chair and force myself to begin. 

Trayvon Martin bulb; Martin had purchased skittles and Arizona before he was chased and killed. 

Finishing Sculpture from Last Summer

Building

Last summer, I started building two large sculptures but ran out of summer work time before I could finish them. I was able to build the sculptures last summer and bisque them, once I got a new kiln. They waited patiently in my studio until June of this year when I was able to begin applying color.

the sculpture in progress in 2016

Planning Attachments

Last summer, while I was building, I planned to attach bike parts to both sculptures. I had been thinking about moving parts for some time and I knew I wanted to try incorporating small scale moving parts positioned like leaves on the stem of the taller plant form.

placing bike parts in their planned location

The bike parts themselves incorporate bearings and have a nice smooth spinning motion. Last year, I had thrown some round shapes on the wheel with the intention of using them on top of bike pieces roughly this size. I epoxied these round forms onto bike parts. Inside these forms I attached found objects and fired ceramic pieces to add visual interest and to hold up the "stamen" of the "flower."

spinning bike parts with ceramic toppers

Underglazing and Glazing

The underglazing process for this sculpture, like all my underglazing processes, took a ridiculously long time because I layer at least two colors on each part of the sculpture.

first layer of underglaze in the kiln

For this sculpture, I first applied green underglaze to the "stem" or "trunk" of the plant, yellow to the gear sprigs, and purple to the closed and open forms on top of the sculpture. I bisque fired these first underglaze colors in place, then applied off-white into the texture of the stem and red on the gear sprigs, interiors, and indents of the top forms. There are a few more colors applied and layered on the sprigs that are almost hidden inside the circle formed by the top forms.

 
first and second layers of underglaze in progress

Applying the red on the top forms was most difficult where the forms butted up against one another. It took me several days and I had to wipe off glaze and reapply several times. Finally, once everything was fired to my satisfaction, I applied gloss glaze on the top forms and the sprigs.

underglaze and glaze finished

Repairs

Last summer, during the drying process, a small but noticeable crack developed between the two top sections. The crack was probably due to the heavy weight of the two top sections pulling down on either branch of the stem. I noticed it before the form was completely dry and tried to save it by adding clay and using fabric to put the two sides in traction. 

bracing the sculpture to try to prevent cracking

The repair didn't wholly fix the problem and I was left with a small crack between the two branches. After the last glaze firing, I mixed up some epoxy paste and pressed it into the crack. Once the epoxy set, I mixed some acrylic paint and painted the epoxy to match the underglaze.

epoxy on the crack 

The seam isn't noticeable at first glance, but I plan to further hide the repair by painting a matching off-white paint into the impressed texture to match the design elsewhere on the sculpture.

painted crack

Attachments

After all the glazing and repair was complete, I finished attaching the blue flower shapes (a.k.a. "end caps") to their non-ceramic elements and then attached those to the sculpture itself. 

toppers (a.k.a. end caps) before being attached

I had built round shapes sticking out of the sculpture to which these bike pieces would be attached.

the round part onto which the bike part attaches

One major challenge was applying the epoxy so that it stuck to the interior of the bike part but did not stick to the outside that was supposed to move.

epoxy applied

While the epoxy set, the attachments had to be held in place with masking tape. Only three of the six attachments are set as of this writing, but all three of those spin freely. The others are setting with tape in place.

toppers being held in place while epoxy sets

My goal for September is to take some quality images of this finished sculpture and possibly finish the other large piece as well.

a funny angle on the almost-finished work

Chain Mugs

measuring the chain length before cleaning and trimming

At the start of the summer, I had this idea to make mugs with chains. They're totally impractical, but I wanted to try it anyway. I started these in June, then realized that something like a cookie jar would be better with a chain because it wouldn't need to be cleaned as often or heated. Too late. I threw and glazed mugs, not cookie jars.

thrown mugs from June

These particular mugs progressed slowly, though. I threw and trimmed them in a couple of days, then took ages to get them glazed. I threw them as straight walled forms, then pressed the chains into the wet clay as I wrapped it around the mug, gradually moving from top to bottom.

chain mug with sprigs and cut groove

On two of the mugs I carved out a slight indent for the chain and added sprigs for texture. For the others, I wrapped the chain around the mug and gently pressed the soft wall of the mug out to bulge between the loops of chain.

chain mug with bulging wall

I fired all four mugs to cone 6 so they'd be food safe, using some new to me glazes. Since I don't fire cone 6 as often as I fire to lower temperatures, it took a while to fill that kiln.

 
bike chain before and after cleaning

Once the mugs were glazed and fired, I cleaned and prepared the chains. I started by cleaning them in Simple Green with a stiff dishwashing brush, then I used a spinning wire brush to clean off rust and the remaining oil. Strangely, one of chains didn't get completely clean using this method and I can't quite quite figure out why. It looks as clean as the others, but leaves grease on my fingertips.

using a wire wheel to clean chain

After the bike chains were cleaned, I used a chain tool to trim the chain to the correct length. This chain tool can be used to remove a link from a chain, cutting it down to size. It can also be used, with some frustration, to add a link to a chain. 

 
chain tool for removing or adding links

Once I had cleaned, measured, and trimmed the chains to size, I used two-part epoxy to attach the chains. 

mug, cleaned chain, and chain tool

I started with PC-11, but didn't feel like I was getting a strong bond and didn't like the white residue left by the epoxy, so I went to the hardware store in search of some clear epoxy. I hadn't used PC Clear before, but I've been happy with PC-7 and PC-11 in the past.

chain taped in place for epoxy curing

Both of the epoxies I tried are slow curing, so I taped the chains on the mugs for 24 hours. The chains fit fairly well in their grooves, but I wish I had made the grooves a bit deeper. The chain adds some weight, obviously, so adding thickness to the walls might not make sense, but with a shallow groove for the chain, there is some wiggle room where the chain is placed.

the PC-11 didn't hold this chain in place

I used PC-11 on half of all the chains and then switched to PC Clear to finish each mug. The PC Clear is much less visible, allowing me to use more of it. It's texture is similar to the glazed surface of the mugs, helping to make it less visible agains the glazed surfaces. On one mug, the PC-11 didn't hold the chain in place at all, so I redid it with PC Clear.

finished mugs before clear coat

Another potential problem with these mugs is that the chains might rust, especially if they get wet from cleaning or humidity. To try to prevent rusting, I sprayed a clear coat on the chains. Obviously I don't want to drink from a clear coat, so I protected the interior, handle and other exposed clay with masking tape before I sprayed on the clear coat.

taped mugs ready for clear coat

The end result is what I wanted, even if what I wanted is kind of silly. Obviously I don't plan to sell these not-entirely-functional mugs, but I wanted to try combining a functional form with an industrial look. I am considering, if I do this in future, making the chain from clay as well. If the chain were clay, it could be used functionally and cleaned with less fuss, but I am afraid it would lose its industrial look.

finished blue bulge mug

The trouble with making the chain from clay is that the major material feature of the chain is that it is thin and flexible in one direction while rigid and strong in the other. A clay chain that looks convincing would probably need to be made from separate cast or cut links put together on the wet pot. The small, thin pieces of clay would me more likely to chip, bend, have rough edges, or crack. Scoring and slipping might remain visible on the mug behind the chain. The final result might be more fragile, and, of course, the process would be quite tedious.

finished blue sprig mug

I was trying to envision using a 3D printer for the chain, but I'm not sure 3D clay printers can do such fine detail. If a resin printer is more detailed, it would still result in the same sorts of epoxy issues as the metal chain, but without the risk of rusting. A resin printed chain would look like resin, whereas with clay I could us gold or silver decal to make it look like metal.

finished colorful sprig mug

Latest Gear Stack Piece

Next week my show, Mechanical Botanicals, opens at CORE Gallery in Seattle. Since this week is the last chance I have to finish work before installing this weekend, I am trying to finish a few pieces.

 

the new gear stack piece after bisque firing, unstacked (left) and a gear stack piece from my sabbatical

This past summer I started a new gear piece similar to some I had done during my sabbatical. I wanted to create as similar form but with a more complex base. My sculptures are inspired by plants and flowers, so I wanted to reference a stem branching or splitting from the central form.

a gear stack piece from my sabbatical

Like the earlier gear pieces, I built this form in sections, planning for gears to nestle and attach between the different ceramic segments of the sculpture.

part of the new gear stack piece after glaze firing

During the summer I built and fired the work. I started applying underglaze in the summer but wasn't ready to put the forms together until this month. Last week I started epoxying together the gears and ceramic parts.

tape holding the top on the split bulb

I used tape and armatures to help support the forms while the epoxy was setting.

a towel and box acting as an armature to support the end bulb and gear while the epoxy sets

Unfortunately, it wasn't until the entire piece was put together that I realized the unfortunately angle, placement and proportion of the smaller branching form. I am also disappointed in how straight the top section is. I may have put together the top form or forms incorrectly, but it's hard to recall what the entire form looked like, since it was hard to take pictures while also holding up the wet pieces.

The new sculpture, mostly complete

One innovation in this piece was splitting one of my bulb forms near the base so that the gear could fit inside it. The plan was good but the smaller segment warped during drying or firing and now the curve is a little more narrow and taller than the area where it needs to attach.

two sections of the split bulb, with epoxy

I used epoxy putty to fill in the seam of the two bulb pieces and painted over it. The paint color is a close match, but there are some visible brush strokes because the paint was a little thick when I applied it.

epoxy putty roughed into place

This sculpture is close to "finished," needing only another coat of paint and some gloss varnish to complete the bulb patching. However, I haven't decided if I want to include the piece in next week's show, since it didn't work out quite how I planned.

the bulb with the patched seam