Molds are almost complete!

This has been a pretty productive week but I am about two molds short of completetion...I was hoping to have all of the molds done by today so I could clean out my studio of all things mold production and move onto clay! It is important that the clay and any plaster bits, trimming and powder do not mix. As my students know clay is always shrinking from the moment it hits air until it is fired the final time, the problem is that plaster doesn't shrink and so if the two mix the clay shrinks around the plaster and causes cracking or in the firing the plaster pops out of the clay and leaves a hole. Because of this it is best to have a seperate plaster room away from the clay, but as that is not the case here I just have to be sure to clean really well when I am done making the molds.

In terms of blogging I will spare you details of the studio work this past week as they are quite similar to the previous week with a few exceptions. I was able to cast and bisque fire a few small test pieces which I will glaze fire on Wednesday which is the soonest that I can schedule the test kiln becasue other people are using it. I am doing this so I can test my glazes on this new claybody.

Below: Mini birds and flowers hung up against my mini backdrop image...now imagine these decorated like my pots (sort of) and below that is a detail. I added flowers to these and I think I will try that on the full scale sculptures too, I just need to find some flower molds.

I was also able to cast, using scrap slip, two of the grasshoppers I have been working on...no legs yet because those molds are still wet. I have to wait for the molds to dry out (I have fans on them to speed things up) otherwise the water will not absorb from the slip into the plaster which is how the skin (wall) of the clay piece is formed. When I first cast both grasshoppers yesterday they ripped as they came out of the molds which sent me into a moment (or entire sleepless night) of panic. I was worried that I had made all of my molds wrong (I have probably made 14 molds so far...gone through over 300 pounds of plaster!) so you can understand my concern. Thankfully the next day I recast them and both came out beautifully. It is typical for a first cast, which is always a scrap cast to clean out the mold of any remaining mold release and bits of plaster, to not come out right. Molds become "seasoned" with use, I knew this but it did not keep me from worrying. I had also not let the clay sit in the mold long enough before I poured out the excess slip so my walls weren't thick enough AND I had tried to pop them out of the molds too quickly so the clay was still too wet . Each piece (and mold) has its own timing needs depending on the molds wall thickness, how damp the mold is (if you are making multiple casts) and how thick you want the clay piece to be. Long story short at least two of the molds work which is promising.

Below: The grasshopper body (seems like a small accomplishment I know but it is actually pretty exciting to me...I will be able to cast up to 16 grasshoppers in a single day (plus other molds) which will make putting the sculptures together very fast.

Other than that not much else went on in my studio. On Friday there was an opening in the gallery featuring the artists of the Northern Clay Center. It is a nice exhibition as it showcases a range of work from instructors to studio artists to work from the kids classes. Studio artists are what the people who are renting permanent work space are called here. There is a range of types of spaces from a shelf rental in a community space to small and large individual or shared private studio spaces. There is a long waiting list to get into the private and semi private studio spaces and as I understand it there is also a jurying process involved. The studio artists spaces are completely seperate from the four large rooms where classes are taught. Some of the studio artists work is very accomplished...post graduate school or similarly experienced while others are seriously commited hobbyists who also make nice work. At the moment the work of Kip O'Krongly is my favorite, she handbuilds functional tableware out of lowfire red earthenware...I plan on getting some of her work before I leave!

Below: This is Kip's studio, she is VERY neat. She was awarded a Fogelberg grant for this coming year at the clay center which means a free studio and materials for a whole year! Her work is great, I will try to ask permission of some of the artists to post images on my blog in future weeks.

That same night two artists, Hide (pronounced He-Day) Sidohara and Linda Cordell came by (from upstate New York...does that count as "coming by"?) to drop off some of Hide's work. Hide was a McKnight recipient two years ago and Linda went to LSU, graduating a year or two before I arrived. If you are interested you should look up their work, just google their name and ceramics, it is very impressive! I hope to bring them both in as visiting artists to UCA in the near future. Linda is also very good friends with one of my best friends and so because of all those connections we went out to dinner together. It was really nice and great to get a chance to talk with them. I haven't had conversation that long with anyone in person since I have been here!

There are going to be mini artist presentations this coming Tuesday so the studio artists can introduce me (and whoever else wants to attend) to their work and then next Tuesday I will give my presentation; they have me scheduled for an hour and a half! I know I can talk that long I'm just not sure anyone will want to listen that long...typically talks run about 45 minutes with 15 or so for questions. It will be intersting because most people have only seen me making sculpture...well really only molds, and the majority of my talk is about pots so we will see how it goes. So that is what's up in the studio right now.

I took a few pictures of where I live and my commute...They are really not that interesting as I am truly not doing anything other than studio work and yoga class. I eat all of my meals at the studio, picking up the days food on my walk there...it is annoying that the co-op doesn't open until 8am but I am there every morning right as they come to the door! I am enjoying going to yoga everyday...One Yoga is the nicest facility I have seen with the best teachers I have ever had...by October I expect to be able to move into a headstand and a backbend! (maybe).

Below you will see Josie's house where I am living...my room is where the three windows to the right of the door are.

This is the street that I walk down...the green building to the left of the street in the distance is the Co-op

Below: The Co-op

Here you will see some urban wildlife "Citycus rabbitus"...this rabbit lives in the yard of a church across from the clay center. I see him (?) every morning.

This is a cool sculpture/jungle gym in the park next to the clay center. There is a very large Somali population here and many live in an apartment building facing this park. Every evening parents are out playing with their kids, it is fun to watch them playing on this troll scukpture coming out of the ground.

Finally last but not least, this is Milo, he is the official Northern Clay Center cat. He lives in and around the studio but is not allowed in the gallery. Sometimes in the morning if I am the first one there he comes and lies on my work table.So hopefully next weeks post will have new and exciting clay images to show you and from then on I will be in a frenzy of making sculpture and working on decoration techniques and ideas. I am looking forward to it!