Smash!

A view of the rejected work before it met the hammer

One of the side effects of remodeling my studio was that I cleaned out a lot of old or broken work, including a not insignificant amount of stuff I had simply forgotten about. Everything was taken out of the studio for the remodel, and before bringing anything back in, I tried to think carefully about what should and what should not come back in.

the shelves in question, cleared out and ready for new paint

The studio isn't the only place in the house where I store work. As my husband continues to move through the house remodeling room by room, he's reached the room(s) next to my studio, including the laundry room and the hallway/stairway to the basement. Along the side of the stairway there is a set of small built-in shelves where I had stored lots of small scupture, functional work and odds and ends. 

The rejected work included raku fired scupture, slip cast and thrown items, glaze faults, cracks, and partial projects that never went anywhere

As we cleared out these shelves, I discovered some stuff I had completely forgotten about, including some old work, some broken work, and some pieces that were really experiments or early attempts at various forms, surfaces, or techniques. Some of the stuff in these shelves is good work, which just needed the dust of remodeling cleared off, but other pieces got the hammer.

Video of some pieces being smashed (the first mug has no interior glaze and the second has glaze faults)

I decided to smash some of the stuff I didn't want to keep, both so that it will fit more easily in the trash, but also because it's satisfying to smash the stuff that didn't work. I'm not super concerned about people going through my trash to claim work that I meant to toss, but I suppose smashing it makes it final. I am really done with whatever this was.

the mug with the worst bubbles from the low fire clay

I still had a few pieces from the last firing with the bad mix of clays, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that most of those pieces didn't have the big bubbles of the first piece I smashed. These pieces still had some surface bubbles that make the glaze look wrong, but they didn't have the big bubbles from the low fire clay melting.

 

The bubbles visible on the mug exterior reveal air pockets when broken apart

Breaking apart the badly bubbled mug allowed me to see inside some of the bubbles. In one case I can even see a piece of differenly colored clay right where the bubble formed. These pieces wouldn't have been good for functional use, but it was interesting to see how the material acts under pressure (the pressure of being fired higher than some of the clay was designed to go).

The darker clay is a patch of another clay body embedded in the main white body

Besides this one batch of incorrectly mixed clay (I accidentally mixed low fire clay into my mid fire clay and forgot about it), the rest of work work was mostly structurally sound, if not always a success for other reasons. The earlier sculptures sometimes were overly engineered, with unnecessary internal supports. The thrown forms were sometimes thicker than what I makee now and some of the raku stuff cracked before the hammer even touched it. But most of the stuff that had to go was accidentally broken after firing or was just ugly, either becuase of the glaze or because sometimes stuff doesn't work.

another view of a bubble inside the wall

Some of the pieces actually look better in pieces. My daughter claimed some of the broken bits to try to run through her rock tumbler, though I'm not sure how well a thin glazed surface will hold up to the tumbler. The rest ended up in the trash, but will clear both physical and mental space for the stuff I'm working on now.

the remnants of the smashed work

I did make a couple of discoveries that surprised me. I had forgotten that I had first done the scream mugs quite a bit earlier than the pandemic. Back in 2018/19. I was working on these politics/protest mugs. I wasn't totally happy with either the faces or the glazes, and so I put them away. I continued working on other faces, especially screaming faces, but forgot where they had come from initially. 

 

the front and back of a 2018/19 screaming political mug

I first started making these as a reaction to the opposing sides of the political discussion screaming at each other. In face, the first screaming faces are two sides of one mug. As we moved further and further into our pandemic year + the screaming faces seems apropos of both the pandemic and the political climate of the election year. It's kind of hard to remember when screaming in anger or frustration wasn't the mood of the time.

Throwing for Yakima Artist's Studio Tour: Scream & Texture Mugs

 

mugs with sprigged texture

I've got about 3 weeks until the Yakima Artist's Studio Tour on Labor Day Weekend, so I decided to throw some new screaming face mugs. My home studio will be open for the three days of the tour, September 4 and 5 from 10-4 and Monday, September 6 from 12-1. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for kids and seniors, and you can purchase them directly from me. Tickets get you into all 7 participating studios for the entire weekend.

25lbs ready to throw

Last time I threw porcelain, I discovered that my recycled porcelain was contaminated. This caused bubbles and yuck in my clay after firing, so I had to replace the clay. Unfortunately the mugs and some of the bowls also needed to be replaced. In the past week I've thrown 50# of that new clay. None has been fired yet, but the throwing went fairly well.

smashing a covid mug from the contaminated clay

I did have some funny reactions with my pulled handles. I used clay straight from the bag, but several of the wet handles split in straight lines while they were drying. I dont' think I've ever had this happen before. I'm guessing the clay was too recently mixed and that led to the problem. 

broken mugs with (short?) new clay

Clay that has been recently mixed is "short" meaning that there might be inconsistencies in how evenly the water and clay particles are distributed and mixed. Aged clay (as opposed to short or new clay) may also have some mold developing that helps the clay be more plastic and more flexible. I'm guessing these handles were simply too wet to hold up for the distance required.

25lbs ready to wedge

Straight out of the bag, the clay was pretty wet, wetter than I usually work with and sticky on the outside. Once I wedged it up it was ok to work with, but it wasn't as nice as the pugged clay I threw with last time. Of course it should be nicer when fired, since the last batch unexpectedly had bits of a different clay body mixed in.

the color difference in the clay next to the bubble suggests that's a different clay body, which matures at a lower temperature

I had a little trouble getting started the other day when I sat down to throw. Sometimes switching clay bodies or consistencies requires a little getting-used-to time, but I think my issue was compounded because I did a hard arm workout that morning and my arms were simply tired. 

the first "warm up" bowl had to be cut shorter at least two or three times

After the first unfortunate bowl got trimmed down to size a couple of times, I got back into the swing of things and threw a batch of bowls and mugs. I didn't want to make too much stuff, because the face mugs really take a lot of work. I threw five and those should keep me busy for at least a couple of days once the handles are on. Twenty five pounds of clay yielded five mugs, eight handles (always make extras) and four bowls, as well as the stuff I trimmed off the top of the first bowl.

one evening's throwing

The week before I threw the same amount of clay, but made 9 mugs, as well as some bowls. Nine mugs was a bit much, because the face mugs take more time. I didn't end up making all 9 into face mugs, but turned three into sprigged mugs.

sprigs

The sprigged mugs are also a lot of work, but its a different kind of work. Putting sprigs on just means repeating the same texture over and over again. It takes time, but not a ton of thought.  The face mugs take more concentration, planning, and patience. I also find I need to return to the face mugs several times to refine the sculpting, whereas the sprigs go on and pretty much stay put. I did add some texture behind, but that's it.

different sprigs

The screaming face mugs start out looking pretty messy as I rough in the features. I neglected to take a picture of the very start of the process, when it looks like a toddler has decorated the mug. Below I show the mug after the second time I returned to it. The features are starting to get roughed in and the expression is starting to take shape.

step 2 of the facial features

I return to each face several times after I initially place the features. With some of this batch of faces, I accidentally let the mug itself get a little stiffer than I'd like before I started to work on it. This meant I kept needing to add moisture and take breaks between sculpting on it. I started by scoring (scratching) the surface and adding slip (liquid clay) to the surface before adding clay to the areas that would stand out (nose, lips, eyebrows). Then I painted slip over the whole surface and let the mug sit under plastic while I worked on the next one.

step 3 of the facial features

When I returned to the mug, the wetness of the features and the mug itself had evened out a bit, the added clay and surface was a little drier and the mug was a little wetter. I was able to cut and press into the clay with wooden and rubber tipped tools to create the wrinkles and indents and start to smooth the cheeks, nose, and lips. Then I painted to surface again with slip and let the mug sit under plastic another time.

finished scream mug

Eventually, I was able to use metal carving tools to shape the teeth and refine the deeper wrinkles and folds in the drier clay. I usually use a dry brush to wipe away the small bits I carved away with the tools then brush the whole face with thin slip or water when the features are done to my liking.

the eyes were an afterthought here

I hadn't worked on faces in quite some time, so when I returned to them it took me a few tries to get proportions and positions right. 

my faces inspiration and expression guidance board

I started by working from my wall of inspiration photos, but I made a few mistakes. On one I planned to leave the eyes off, but it looked too strange. I ended up adding them, but they are very close to the top edge which also looks strange.

the mouth was an afterthought here

On another I thought I'd leave the mouth off and ran into the same problem in the other direction. I'm fairly happy with the eyes on this one, but the missing bottom lip just looks strange and changes the expression.

face mask mug

I tried one more mug based on my photos. This one was a masked mug which took me a bunch of tries to get right. I kept taking away too much mask. The mask is a little hard to sculpt from a photo because it is all white and because I can't see the sides and the front at the same time in the photo. It's also a little funny working out where it ends, as faces aren't flat at the bottom like mugs.

scream mug nearly complete

Finally I realized that I could work from the finished mugs that I liked last time around. Instead of looking at photos and interpeting them to mugs, I could work from my most successful mugs directly (or photos of the ones I sold). 

scream mug from earlier in the year

In some ways this approach simplified the process, because I already know where the features belong on the mug surface and I already knew which faces and features worked best. Working in this way also resulted in me simplifying or stylizing some of the features. I think this worked out visually. It was certainly easier to create this way and I was able to play around with subtle variations in proportions and depth.

screem mug with large teeth, in progress

I still ran into trouble, of course. For one of the mugs I made the teeth separate, which results in more realistic looking teeth, but I made these teeth too big. I'm afraid the result looks a bit like Jerry Lewis making fun of someone rather than a more straight-forward screaming face.

scream mug with large teeth after the tongue was added

As of this writing, I have five more mugs to add faces to today. With any luck, I'll have learned from my mistakes from the previous batch and these ones will be improvements.

finished scream / face mugs, drying

My goal is to get all of these face and sprig mugs finished, glazed, and fired before the Studio Tour. With three weeks that shouldn't be too much of a problem. I do have some other pieces to finish up and glaze before the tour and a few work committments and appointments. I wrote myself a calendar of when stuff needs to be done because I have a habit of trying to cram in just a bit more if I think I can fit it in. I want to make stuff, but don't want to knock myself out.

sprig mugs drying

Fresh Air Art Celebration & Trouble in the Kiln

 

these little business card holder critters were created with the good clay, so they survived the firing just fine.

This coming Saturday, July 24, is the Fresh Air Art Celebration at Sarge Hubbard Park from 10-3. This is an outdoor art fair featuring 40 some local artists. I agreed to do this inagural outdoor art fair when I was invited in June, though being outside during the day in late July isn't always my favorite activity.

planters from the original firing (charcoal glaze)

The event should have work for sale by lots of artists in different media and activities for the kids (besides the playground, I'm guessing). So if you're looking for some handmade gifts or fun ceramics for your own house, come visit me next weekend!

citrus squeezers from earlier firings

I'm frankly starting to get worried now, since Larson Gallery and the Greenway don't appear to be promoting this event (everything I can find online seems to be aimed at artists, not visitors to the event). The event was presented to me first as a kid's art activity, then, later, as an opportunity for artists to sell their work.

COVID balls from earlier this year

Based on the kids, I thought this could be a decent opportunity to sell some of my smaller work, including fucntional items like planters and citrus squeezers and some COVID themed items. I even made some functional work earlier this summer and glazed it a few weeks ago before we left on a family road trip.

glazed bowls waiting for this ill-fated firing

I loaded the kiln before I left so I could fire immediately when I got home. But the results weren't what I was hoping for. Apparently I confused one of the glaze colors. I thought I had used a light grey (fog) glaze on my COVID planters and cups, when I had apparently used charcoal the first time I made these. The results are a little disappointing.

bubbled in the clay and light grey fog glaze

 

More tragically, I must have had some low fire clay mixed in with the mid fire porcelain reclaim that I used for basically everything in this firing. The low fire clay melted at mid range temperatures, meaning that parts of some of the bowls and cups melted in the kiln. Where they've melted, they've bubbled. Sometimes you can trace the swirls of the pottery wheel in the swirl of the bubbles, which might be interesting if it didn't ruin the pieces.

large bubble marring the interior of this bowl

This bubbled work really isn't safe for eating and drinking, especially if it might end up in a microwave, which is depressing, especially since some of my glazes worked well, especially in my bowls.  Some of the pieces appear to be fine, so that's a relief, but I am disappointed about the others--and about the rest of that reclaimed clay!

interior decoration after firing

I am also finding that my motivation has been sapped by the mistake. I don't really know what I should be working on, as I can't throw new pieces with this clay. I've ordered more, but I probably need to just get this reclaimed clay out of my studio so I can't make this mistake again. 

kiln partly loaded

I should be packing up for the show this weekend, but I'm feeling a little funny about the show given that the gallery isn't advertising it. Sitting outside in the hot in July and talking to people about my work can be fun. Sitting outside in the hot in July with no one there...

miniature pots from this last firing

Let me know if you're coming to the event this Saturday! Have you heard about it? Tell your friends!

Mount St. Helens Glazing

my mixed ash/low fire glaze ready to fire

Early this winter I was invited to make some work for a Mount St. Helens art show. The show date and location have been shifted to account for the pandemic. I was given a new deadline of last Wednesday which I have now missed. I don't very often miss deadlines like this. I think that with the spring quarter moving online, the general worries about the pandemic, and the specific anxiety of trying to work from home while my daughter is also home all day, I had reached a point of just not being able to make everything work.

bisque with two volcanos and some sprigs, ready to unload

I did get the work made and bisque fired by last week's deadline, but pure white wasn't really the look I was going for. I still have some serious uncertainty about the end results, but I glazed this weekend and I'm just about ready to fire the pieces. 

Mount St. Helens eruption box ready to fire

The reason I am uncertain is that I made a significant mistake when I began this project. I was anticipating being able to use some Mount St. Helens ash glaze made by some fellow artists, and though I knew this was cone 6 glaze, I started building with cone 06 clay. 

cinnamon underglaze on interiors and some box exteriors

I had the low fire clay out to make a batch of sprigs and I simply didn't think before starting to build. I'm going to chalk it up to trying to squeeze in too much thought into my week. Usually I work on projects in the summer when I'm not teaching. Occasionally I work on projects during breaks or on the weekend during the year. I can honestly say that I've never worked on ceramic projects during a pandemic while trying to adjust to a fully online quarter and preparing for contract bargaining as president of our faculty union while my daughter is also home with me all day, every day. My brain was (is) full. I couldn't cope.

my three glaze tests at cone 06

Since the work was made in low fire clay, I can't fire it to the higher cone 6 temperature without risking damage to the form. I also couldn't remake before the deadline, so I figured I should try some glaze experiments during my bisque firing. I had the cone 6 glaze, which I guessed was highly unlikely to melt at cone 06, but I figured I should test it anyway. I also tested a glaze that mixed one part of the cone 6 ash glaze with one part of a cone 06 gloss glaze. The third glaze I tested was equal parts ash and 06 glazes with some added red iron oxide. I used the sophisticated technique I learned in graduate school from my checked-out ceramics professor: scooping a random amount so that the results can never be replicated (see above re: no more brain space).

glazing and under glazing in progress

The results weren't particularly surprising. The Mount St. Helens ash glaze on its own didn't melt at all at cone 06. Cone 6 is roughly 2165 - 2232 degrees Fahrenheit, while cone 06 is only 1798 - 1828 (Cones melt based on time and temperature, so the range refers to a slower or faster firing), so the difference is significant. The mixed glazes also didn't melt correctly--again, not surprising. But the mixed glaze fluxed a bit, meaning the surface is starting to become glossy, and has a thick, semi-opaque texture. This texture reminds me a bit of lava, which seems fitting for this project.

peeling off the resist

Because I really want to use Mount St. Helens ash (pumice) in the finishing of these pieces, I'm happy to see what happens with minimal testing. If I were going to fire these pieces, as originally planned, to cone 6, I have a variety of colored glazes that I was planning to use. For cone 06, I have clear glaze in matte or gloss. So, I have used some of my underglazes to try to add some interest to the forms. 

glazing in progress

Did I take pictures of my work after I had finished adding the underglaze? Of course not. Thinking and planning are apparently not things I do anymore. Nor, according to the images shared here, do I take care to check that my images are in-focus, so this is what I've got. Done is better than perfect (I mean, assuming perfect isn't done, right?)

applying the Duncan Mask & Peel to the lid 

I used cinnamon underglaze for the interiors of all the pieces, as well as for a wash on the textured surface of the eruption and venting. I usually like to layer two colors of underglaze over each other, but I simply didn't leave myself enough time for this project, so this will have to do. 

I put a clear glaze over the underglaze on the interior of each piece, so the color looks pink (or white) before firing

Usually when I layer underglazes, I fire them in between, which means I can wipe the surface after adding the glaze. Since I didn't have that middle step, I used some resist which protects the underglaze from accidental drips of glaze and then can be peeled off before firing, taking the over glazed mistakes with it.

this box has both types of glaze on the outside. We'll see how it looks when I unload it.

I used underglazes alone in in combination for all of the pieces, but also left the bare clay color visible in several. I am concerned about how this will work, but time is passing and these are past due. I used a gloss glaze over the cinnamon underglaze inside every piece, then used a combination of my low fire glaze and the mixed ash/low fire glaze for the exteriors, leaving one without any exterior glaze for contrast. The underglazes I use are velvets, so they tend to look nice without a glaze anyway.