Summer 2021, Week 1

bowls, mug, and part of a sculpture from earlier in the spring, out of the bisque firing

Summer started last week, at least for my home studio. Classes finished June 9, faculty were "done" June 11, and I was able to get into the studio quite a bit last week. I still had some union responsibilities, but I was also able to recycle clay, throw quite a few bowls, mugs, and planters, and build a sculpture start to finish.

my time-lapse sculpture, drying before firing

I documented the process of building the sculpture from start to finish, using time-lapse video. It's actually the third of four sculptures I built but haven't yet glazed this year. I was able to get started during the quarter and on weekend because I have a slightly reduced teaching load in spring. It helps to have a still nice and new home studio, and no commute to work. Working at home in my brightly lit, clean, and well--organized studio makes it more pleasant to work at home. The pugmill also helps speed things along. I threw some boxed porcelain at first, then cleaned out my pugmill and sent the boxed porcelain through with some reclaim. It felt a lot nice to thrown once it had been "warmed up" in the pugmill.

bowls, mugs, and planters drying before firing

I threw a bunch of bowls and some mugs and planters. The bowls, at least some of them, are for my friend who is getting married this summer. I'm hoping to have them glazed in time to send them to her, though I wasn't able to fit all of them in the last kiln load. I played around a bit with a stamp and some carved decoration to personalize the designs, but I haven't determined how they'll look with glaze. I'll keep some simple in case these don't work out well.

detail view of a carved bowl surface

I also threw some planters and some mugs with COVID decorations with the idea of having them ready for the Fresh Air Art Celebration this summer. I'm doing two shows this summer, the first is the Fresh Air Art Celebration run by the Larson Gallery and the Yakima Greenway. That show is on July 24 on the Greenway near Sarge Hubbard Park, from 10-3. I think that one is mostly a sale, but they also mentioned that there may be some kids' activities. It's their first year and their communication is a little uneven. Hopefully it will be advertised well. I'll also be opening my home studio to the public on Labor Day weekend for the Yakima County Artist's Studio Tour, September 5, 6 and 7, 2021. This event is also in its first year. There will be 6 or 7 artists studios on the tour, but several spots have more than one artist. This one is shaping up to be well advertised and I'll share the postcard and other info here later this summer. 

mugs, sculptures and bowls from the first two weeks of the summer

The studio tour is a tour just of studios, not homes or gardens, which is nice. Years ago my home was on the Larson Gallery's annual Tour of Artists' Homes and Studios and it was a lot of work to get the house ready for lots of people to walk through. With this studio tour, there's no pressure to get the house looking good, as I'm just opening the studio. I'm also not planning to have other artists at my house. I'm not sure if that seems harsh, but I'm hoping this event won't be an immense undertaking. I'm hoping to simply have my work out in the studio space and keep things somewhat simple.

the first layer of underglaze on a sculpture from spring

This week, the second week of the summer, I've been able to get a bit of underglazing done and I threw for one day. Getting images and text ready for the Labor Day event has used up some of my time, as has some union work, but I've also started updating my website, something I hadn't really gotten around to in several years. It had a bit of info updated in 2017, and my CV was from 2018, but nothing since then. I update the blog pretty regularly, so I usually direct folks here. 

the first (teal and yellow) and second (purple) layers of underglaze on a sculpture from spring

The few updates I did this week, kind of like the images I prepared for the Labor Day tour weren't that difficult, but for some reason I was just putting them off. I'm not sure if its the heat or just general summer feeling, but sometimes it's just tough to get started.

Covid mugs and planters

COVID planters

At the end of last month, Gallery One in Ellensburg had a planter fundraiser event. I thought I might be able to get work made and fired in time, but I was just a bit too slow. Though I will point out that I got these done with plenty of time before next year's planter sale. 

COVID mug version 2

I had the idea to make some COVID inspired planters similar to the COVID mug I had made at the end of last year. That mug was fun, but not well engineered for other than very careful use. It is fairly delicate and the red parts risk breaking off if they get bumped into. This time around I build the red parts are closer together and shorter to help with their strength.

The other day my daughter mentioned that she can drink out of these now that she's gotten her first vaccine!

I tried several variations of the red parts, including little triangle shapes for which I had to make a mold for the bumpy top parst. These triangle pieces were super slow to make because of the mold and I found making them kind of annoying, but the textured tops show up much better with glaze. This is one of those ocassions where I actually like the fired work better than the wet work.

These mugs have the textured triangular sprigged decorations, which look better fired.

For the first COVID mug, I also sculpted hollow round parts onto the surface of the smooth mug. This was good for sculpting and inserting the red parts, but the result is that that mug has hollow hemi-spheres all around it. For this reason I wouldn't want to risk using it in the microwave. For this reason and the fragile bits, I wouldn't want to run it through the dishwasher. I don't even leave it in the kitchen to prevent my family from using it incorrectly.

Inside this planter you can see where I pushed the wall out to create the bumbs for the COVID balls

For this second-round of COVID mugs and planters, I made the bumps when the clay was wet. Most of the forms were thrown, so I pushed the wall out right after it was thrown and before they were trimmed. This made adding the red bits more difficult. In the first version back in November, I put the little red bits into holes in the hemispheres. 

 

A COVID mug in progress. I made just a ton of the little stick out red parts and then lots of holes, score, slip, slot in and clean up.

This time I couldn't do that because a hole would go through to the interior of the planter. The made the attachments a little more precarious. In fact, I think I actually lost one of the red bits from one of the mugs before firing.

The pugmill can be set to mix or pug. When mixing, nothing happens outside the pug mill. This day I forgot it was set to pug (push out the clay), so it puged some tubes onto the floor.

I used my pug mill extruder for a few of the mugs. I was using the extruder already to make some hollow tubes for a whole bunch of stuff. The extruder attachment is pretty great. I have an extruder already in the studio, but this speeds things up and makes it easy, too. Sometimes too easy as you can see above. So far this year I've used the hollow die extruder to make mugs for sample textures for class demos. I've cut open the extrusions for slabs for slab building, texture samples, and glaze tests, and I've also made biscuits (in case of glaze drips) which I've always been far too lazy (or otherwise occupied) to make for home.

This little slab pill box was made from slabs started from the extruder.

I also used the tube extrusions with my kid and her friends to make mugs. The extruded form is already the walls of the mug. We can cut another extrusion apart to make a slab for the base and a handle. The kids can spend less time building and more time decorating. Also good for short attention spans (or 9 year olds).

These two mugs were both made with extruded tubes.

The covid mugs made with the extrusions aren't great. The rims just kinda stop, which is disappointing, but the goal was to test some stuff out, so I did that with color and attachments. I was pretty disappointed with this glazing firing, mostly because I switched clays. I've been using my recycled clay which is a mix of whatever I used over the course of probably a decade. Before I got the pugmill, I had been using porcelain which looks different with these semi-transparent celadon glazes.

COVID planters

In fact, I took these out of the kiln more than 2 weeks ago and took pictures more than 10 days ago, but I couldn't get around to writing about them until now.  I'm feeling a bit better about them with some distance, though it also helps that I started working on something new.

Throwing with Newly Pugged Clay

planter with COVID-like bumps (in progress)

I'm pretty excited about this: I got into the studio a few days over the last few weeks! Incredibly, this is the first time I've gotten to throw with pugged clay (even though I got the pug mill in December!)

extruded mugs made with the pug mill extruder

 

Over the 8-day spring break (Monday through Tuesday this year), I was able to get into the studio to clean, glaze, and pack some pieces for shipping. The stuff I was glazing included a lot of pieces that I had made for student demos during Winter quarter, as well as some mugs I had made testing out the extruder on my pug mill. 

Cone 6 glazed stuff from Winter

Most of the work I made for class demos was done with my recycled pugged clay from home, which I was able to test to check that it can be fired to cone 6. I haven't been using this batch of cone 6 glazes much, especially for layering with sculptures, so I consider these tests of this application approach with these glazes.

low fire glazed sculpture from ??

I also finally glazed this sculpture that's been hanging around for maybe a year. This is a low fire body (at least I think it is). This piece has underglazes on it and has been through at least a couple of firings already. It will be nice to finally finish it.  In fact, getting through my whole backlog of unfinished work felt like a nice way to start the break/spring quarter.

COVID balls from spring break

I also made some new covid bulbs. I wanted to experiment with adding some texture, using some different glazes and trying out slightly different shapes for the bits that stick out. The round attachments are much easier and more pleasant to make, but I tried some triangular shapes to more closely match the familiar COVID image that we're all used to.

thrown mugs (in progress)

I threw a bit this week with my newly pugged clay. It throws really nicely--what a difference from the merely wedged clay--even though it isn't actually a throwing body. I did have to pick out some tiny acorns, which tells you about my inconsistent previous process for clay recycling. 

planter and mugs (in progress)

I hadn't thrown in 6 months, since I'm not teaching a wheel class anymore (the wheel doesn't translate to online as well as some other classes and media). This long time of not throwing feels very strange, so it was nice to get back on the wheel, if only in the brief time between class and dinner. I threw a few mugs and a couple of small planters. (Gallery One is having a planter fundraiser and I'm half thinking that I might have these ready for that.) 

last summer's COVID mug

The idea for these mugs/planters is to add some COVID-like decoration. I like the mug I made last year, but its fairly fragile (and awkward), so I reduced the depth of both the balls and the attachments. As with any new idea, I think my execution is intermediate right now; I'm not totally happy with what I've got. Next time I throw these, I'll space the bumps a little differently. I'm also considering using the triangle attachments instead of the round, though they aren't quite where I'd like them to be yet.

Mugs and Plates at Oak Hollow Gallery

some of these mugs are at the gallery, some have already been claimed

If you live in the Yakima area and are interested in having your 2020 mood mug, I now have some scream mugs at Oak Hollow Gallery. This past weekend I brought some mugs and plates to the gallery. There aren't a lot, but I'm hoping to make more. Oak Hollow is in the Chalet Place Shopping Center breezeway (between Wray's and Inklings) at 5631 Summitview Avenue. 

most of these plates are at the gallery

I believe there are about 6 or 7 mugs left (as of this writing) and a 8-10 plates. The plates are salad or desert sized and in fairly bright colors, though a few were done with a darker clay, so the colors are more muted. I took photos kind of at random, so I don't have pictures of everything and a few of these have sold, but I think the photos communicate the general style and size of the plates.

twelve inch ruler for scale

Next week is finals week, so I am hoping to get some wheel time after that so I can make more pieces (though I sometimes devote this time of the year to holiday gifts). I am planning to make some more sceam mugs and maybe some COVID mugs. If I have time, I might also make some of the smooth patterened mugs, too, though the glazing process is fairly time consuming. 

I've got only two of these, but I may make more

Though things have been quite busy over the past month, I wanted to get my pieces to the gallery before the holiday. A small part of me "worries" that the world might settle down in late January (after the inauguration and once the vaccines become available), in which case the scream mugs might be out-dated. 

Trump

But then the rest of me laughs at the idea; it seems pretty unlikely that anything could make the world settle down and people become calm and peaceful. With any luck the Trump and COVID mugs will eventually be out-dated and maybe the whole mood of 2021 won't be quite so dire and depressing, but people are probably going to continue to want to scream at one another, politics, work or life in general.

First COVID mug not for sale, but maybe the next ones will be

Scream and Covid-19 Mugs

Scream mugs with layered cone 6 red. The orange was on for the first firing on the left; the red was on for the first firing on the right.

Tuesday was advising day at YVC, as well as being Election Day. Like election day, advising "day" this quarter lasted a week. Back when I started at YVC, and for a number of years thereafter, advising day was viewed by most students as a day off, and students seeking advice about classes visited their advisor before or after that day--at least that's what my advisees usually did. This meant that faculty were required to be on campus, in their offices that day, but, in reality, spent most of the day grading or prepping (or bored).

The Covid-19 mug is ridiculous to use or wash, but I love it!

Back then, our advising loads were assigned by declared major or by last name. As the junior member of the art program, I was not assigned art majors, instead I was assigned all students who hadn't clearly identified a major and who had a last name starting with G. So, y'know, Garcia, Garza, George, Granger, Green, Grey, Gonzalez, etc (there are lots of G names). What that meant for me is that for a full week or two, I would constantly have student coming in to ask what classes to take for Nursing, Education, English, IT, or whatever other major I might or might not be able to tell them about. And then I would also spend advising day alone in my office.

My favorite face mugs from both firings.

Being the innovative teaching institution were are, YVC faculty and administration joined forces a number of years ago to get rid of this silly system and replace it with a much better advising system that integrates mandatory advising and college and career pathways with a one-day group advising process. When this change happened, I traded my ~75 G-advisees for a small group of about 10-12 art advisees (my art colleague had retired). As suggested by the "mandatory" label, we also started requiring student to attend advising day, which made that day a lot more interesting for faculty and removed much of the advising load from the teaching/grading/prep days. We also put everyone in a pathway into the same room, at the same time, so that advisors could help each other and help new advisors learn how to best advise in a particular area. Also, it's nice to be with colleagues during a lull in advisees.

My favorite face mug from the first firing

That approach was going great until the pandemic (as we so often say these days). In spring, the mandatory element of advising was temporarily suspended as we rushed to figure out how to operate entirely online, but this quarter we returned to mandatory advising. We couldn't require students to come to campus or be in the same room, of course. Instead, this year advisors were asked to contact students from October 28-Nov 3 and then also spend several hours in a Zoom meeting waiting to advise drop-ins on Nov 3. This approach gives students flexibility, which is great news, but also gives faculty both the responsibility for contacting all advisees during the week (while also teaching classes) and the requirement to be available for drop-in advising for a several hours. 

Less scream, more grump. I'm happy with the face, but less happy with the handle.

The COVID-modified Zoom /online mandatory pathway advising model (what a mouthful) is still better than the pre-mandatory, pre-pathway 75 students for some, 3 students for others pathway model, so I'm only slightly complaining. And instead of spending the whole day in a room, we each had to spend a few hours in a Zoom room. I didn't get to hang out with my colleagues, but I was able to grade when no-one was in. And seeing students we don't always get to see in person is a pretty great pay-off. Doing drop-in mandatory advising on Election Day evening also allowed me to ignore the news for a few hours that night. 

The Covid-19 mug was a beast to glaze, since I wanted even coverage, but was using only brushes.

In between morning advising, and drop-in Zoom hours for my students, and evening Zoom advising, I unloaded a kiln I had fired earlier. This kiln load included a few glaze tests for class (we have new glazes because students in online clay can't come in to use our class glazes, so each student was provided with commercial cone 6 glazes) but also some functional glaze of my own, including mugs and plates. These were mostly the screaming mugs, but also one Covid-19 Mug. I am absolutely delighted with the Covid-19 mug, though my friend said she thought it was disgusting when I showed her during our Zoom meeting.

Covid-19 mug in progress. The design isn't great for function, but it gives me the weight and size I was looking for.

I was hoping that drinking out of it during a Zoom meeting would surprise and entertain the other people in the meeting, but my experiment during a meeting this weekend didn't get such a reaction. I might have to switch to one of the screaming mugs to get the mug noticed.

The mug is totally functional, and I've been using it for days, but I've also kept it on my desk so no one in the family will try to wash it.

Obviously the whole world has been on the emotional roller coaster of the election. Teachers are also on the regular mid-end of the quarter roller coaster + pandemic teaching online roller coaster. I got to add one more bit of fun to that in getting my new computer. I thought that realizing the old one wasn't working right, ordering a new one, and waiting for it would be the extent of my worry, then I could just use the speedy new machine. I guessed that I'd just migrate over my info from the old machine and everything would be peachy.

probably one of my favorite scream mugs. The red contrast nicely with just about everything

I was super duper wrong about that. I spent time with Apple Support on Wednesday afternoon when I got the machine and wasn't able to migrate the old info, then I had two chats and two or three calls with them on Thursday afternoon when the subsequent OS update (why doesn't the computer come with the most up to date OS?) and 14 hour migration resulted in the same problems I was having with the old machine. Thursday and Friday I got to talk to 4 or 5 Apple Support people, and got to delete everything, repair the hard drive, and reinstall the OS. Then I took Saturday off (from Apple Support--I attended a 3 hour meeting and graded instead). Today my phone call with Apple Support lasted 2 hours and 23 minutes and I was able to talk to three different levels of support technicians (the politeness level of the support technician decreases as their expertise level increases).

This one was from the earlier batch. The glaze application is uneven and theres not much contrast between the ochre that was meant to highlight the features and the grey for the rest 

The bad news is that I can't migrate all my stuff over from the old machine--I have to manually move everything over bit by bit. The good news is that, as of today, I have a speedy machine (fingers crossed) and also access to both my photos AND my photo albums. As of this afternoon, the metadata on my photos isn't scrambled so that 2020 photos include ones form 2007 and 2009, and I might even know how to find my videos. I can't, however, back-up my computer at this point, something I just discovered in the past hour. But maybe all that time with Apple Support is paying off, because I think I have an idea how I can fix it. If not, I look forward to my 7th call to Apple Support next week.

I believe I was getting tired of eyes (and the mouths were ended up too small) so I did some mouths only for a few. I think the one on the left looks like Slimer.

I was feeling in such good shape photo/computer-wise, that I took pictures this morning and upload them into my new computer (twice!) where I am now able to use them. Last time I wrote a blog post, I had to upload the photos directly from my phone, which was...different. Of course the pandemic, and work from home is teaching us all to be adaptable, patient and creative with tech solutions. We're all gaining computer skills and flexibility at an accelerated rate. And patience, too. I'm still working on my work-from-home/school-from-home ability to block out the incessant questions from the kid who can't go to school.

These two had decent color coverage, but not enough contrast. I believe both were fired only once.

I'm pretty happy with the results of the firing I unloaded last week. Near the end of the summer I fired some of the earlier iteration of these screaming mugs, but wasn't happy with my colors. I'm using cone 6 electric kiln glazes, mostly Amaco Celadons and I somehow thought I'd like the subtle colors of the first batch. For this batch, I ordered some brighter Celadons (I was running out of the bright colors I used on some of the lemon squeezers) and layered them like I do with my sculpture. It shouldn't have been a surprise that I liked the brighter colors and the layers of contrasting colors.

These were from the earlier firing, but the color combos are closer to what I did this time.

It helps that the faces themselves have also improved since the earliest versions. I'm much happier with these results, especially for the ones where the layered color is a contrast to the main color. In fact, as I review them here, I realize that I'm happy with any that had red in the face and reasonably happy with the purple/blues that aren't screaming. 

The orange was on for the first firing and I left the mouth dry. I wiped away more red than I intended inside the mouth, but I kind of like it anyway.

I tried layering the colors two ways, both with two firings (again, like my sculpture). I feel pretty silly that it took me this long to get to the double firing method with these glazes, since that would be the most obvious approach if I was thinking of these mugs as sculpture. Not only is this the method I use with underglazes, but I did something similar with underglazes and cone 6 glazes in 2019. 

I was sad because my handle is so tall...

I'm feeling reenergized about both the faces and the colors and I'd like to get some studio time in which to work on some more. Moving two studio classes online this quarter continues to be a lot of work, but I might be able to squeeze in some throwing/building time over winter break. My daughter believes I will spend the entire break making cookies with her, but maybe I can throw before she wakes up ;-) 

...now I am sad because my glaze crawled.

In this firing, I only had one disappointment. Fittingly, it was the mug with a tear in its eye. I'm happy with the tear and fairly happy with the color, but the glaze peeled in the back. I guess now the mug is crying because of the glaze fault.