Spring and Early Summer Studio Frenzy

newly glazed dishes laid out for photographing, inventory, and quality checks

It's been a minute since I last wrote about, well, anything. The end of the spring quarter and start of fall have been super busy and I've been spending so much time in the studio since classes ended (and even before that, really), that I wanted to put all that energy into that work, rather than writing about it.

a thrown sculpture I started in spring

I supposed the correlary is that today I feel more like writing than working (so far). 

Work waiting to be glazed, shoved out of the way while I make more

My throwing prescription is part of the reason that I've been in the studio so much. The other part is a couple of shows that I am looking forward to. First there is the Labor Day Artists Studio Tour in my home studio over Labor Day weekend. I've done this one the last two years and plan to invite the YVC art studio faculty to show at my place. That's Chris Otten (photography), Kayo Nakamura (our new full-time drawing/painting/printmaking instructor), and Monika Lemmon (drawing). 

bowls in the process of being glazed

The Labor Day weekend show is, for me at least, a chill way to invite folks to see my work and my studio. I don't have to move a bunch of stuff or set up a tent and I can be sure to be near a fan, shade, and cold drinks the whole time. All I need to do is clean my studio, which, admitteldy, is going to be harder this year.

stacked forms and some awards, as well as some mugs under plastic on my storage shelves

The next show I'm excited about is the Yakima Valley College faculty show at Larson Gallery. This will be in January of 2024. The gallery is huge and as soon as we confirmed that it will happen, I got really excited about a new body of work. 

the fired stacking pieces, last week, when I checked for fit and size 

I want to make these tall skinny stacked forms. As soon as the show was confirmed in April, I started throwing some pieces to be stacked. Most of them are simple round forms with flanges inside, measured (usually) to stack with others.

newly throwing stacking set with flanges

When I first started them in April, I was working on throwing just 30 minutes a day, in between class and grading and union work. I also didn't have a fully fleshed out plan about how these would work, so I threw a lot of short segment.

short stacking sets before firing

Once classes were over (the union work never stops, apparently), I got them all out and measured them and discovered I had quite a few unmatched sizes, so the batch from last week and this week is an attempt to match sizes. 

thrown parts of a multipart form in progress

I also started throwing taller pieces by attaching two thrown pieces once they had dried up a bit. I've never been someone who throws particularly large. My teaching demos are often fairly small both because I teach a lot of beginning throwing classes and because I am not allowed to keep anything I make on campus, and on campus is my main throwing time during the year.

a multipart form on the wheel (trying to show height, but I think I needed a tripod)

This throwing prescription, ironically, has got me throwing more often and with more challenging forms than I probably ever have before. It's kind of amazing how teaching people to throw (which is, granted, only 1/3 or less of my actual teaching job) requires less throwing than 30 minutes a day.

the piece on the floor is too tall for my shelves and wihin 1/4" of the height limit of my kiln

I realized the other day that my throwing skills have improved just since March. At least my skills or strength for throwing or combining to make tall forms.

my favorite textured surfaces take a lot of time

I am still more excited about the individual forms that have more going on, but combining forms sculpturally after throwing and working on complex surfaces both slow down the process a lot. My goal right now is really to make enough of the stacking forms for them to make an impact visually or spatially. I am trading off some of the complexity for some of the size and quantity.

even attaching things to the side takes more time than a vertical stack

Additionally, my high production means that I've got a significant amount of glazing that needs to happen and then I need to figure out where to put all this stuff, either while waiting for glaze, or after firing. 

bowls being glazed (and then stacked because I don't have enough surface for not stacking

I ended up pulling out a card table for glazing space since the functional forms have multiplied so much. The ones that have been fired I'm hoping to sell on the Labor Day weekend show or in galleries locally. I believe my brother already put in a hold on some. 

my glazing space is usually the workbench by the window, but I added a card table this summer

Starting the throwing prescription helped get me kick started into summer studio mode early this year, but it also has been somehow freeing. I know I have to throw something for 30 minutes a day and I'm nearing saturation on functional forms, so I finally got a chance the other day to throw some forms that I wanted to try for a sculptural form based on some diagrams of the lymphatic system I saw in the room during a Lymphedema appointment. 

my lymphedema inspired sculpture in progress

I was also able to throw some items on request from my daughter, as well as some forms I'd been meaning to try, like a citrus juicer form I'd never tried before and some displays for earrings for my daughter's projects. 

pierced bowls for hanging earrings

After two or three rounds of glazing functional forms, this week I got excited about getting some glazing done on some sculptural forms I had started during the spring.

sculpture in progress from spring

This week I've had trouble finding the time and energy. I had some medical appointments (oncology and blood work and shots) this week and they've put me on something new (because, apparently, you aren't supposed to have 8-12 hot flashes a day, who knew!). We had union stuff scheduled this week as well as some unscheduled concerns about folks not getting paid correctly.  

one of the first thrown forms for my throwing prescription

Meanwhile, my daughter was supposed to go to Louisville for TSA (Technology Student Association) Nationals, but her and the 22 others with her got stuck in the Denver airport for 2 days (~22 hours before they finally got a hotel!) because United had staffing problems and (I think) because the Northeast had weather or smoke. They ended up flying the kids home yesterday instead of sending them on to Louisville and the kid is obviously super disappointed.

thrown and textured sculpture in progress

I was almost suprised how much it impacted me. Apparently I worry, but having her stuck in a different city and I can't do anything about it doesn't make for restful nights and calm days (also, see above, 8-12 hot flashes in 85 degree weather). I know I didn't need to worry, but my body didnt hear that message. Yesterday, with her on the ground in Seattle and after 4 in a row union meetings, I literally lay down on my face on the computer room floor for 30 minutes to ease my pounding head. 

My June trip to Clay Art Center necessitated by the need for more clay and more kiln shelves

I feel like I've been all over the place in what I'm working on in the studio this summer, and also this post. The other thing we did this week was replace the aluminum barrel of my pug mill with a stainless steel one, a surprisingly labor intensive process. But that's a topic for another day.

my studio assistant daughter texturing a small form

For today, I'm glad to have my studio helper back, even though I also feel super terrible for her having to miss nationals. She's sleeping now after a trip that included all the worst parts about air travel (excessive turbulence, long delays, unboarding because of those delays, trying to sleep in an airport, trying to arrange for alternate flights--with a group of middle- and high-school students who were required to stay with their advisor, long --like 8 hour!-- customer service lines, food vouchers that didn't work, and finally lost luggage) without any of the good parts (like getting to your intended destination).  On the plus side, she said that its better in some ways to be in this situation with a big group because some people can always stay with the luggage while others walk around or, apparently, race on the moving sidewalk.