Week 8 - Progress Report

For the first time in a long while, I feel satisfied with the amount of time I was able to spend in the studio this week. Unfortunately that meant that I didn’t have time for other things, like going to the gym, but that’s just how it is. I never have enough time to do all I need to do; something’s always on the back burner. But it wasn’t the studio this week!

Used fine grog for silica sand, and Pyrotrol for Pyrophelite. 

I started off the week by mixing a 100lb (dry) batch of Casey Beck’s porcelaneous stoneware that Jooby and I will share. It was my first time using a Bluebird mixer, and I can’t say I prefer it over our Soldner (which is currently broken). It was a struggle, in part because I made the clay too soft, so I had to dry and wedge it all up and it made it more difficult to get it all out of the mixer.

I was silly and couldn’t find the Pyrax bin so substituted Pyrotrol, which is another pyrophyllite product but has a slightly higher alumina content than Pyrax. Pyrotrol also has significantly less K20 (Potassium Oxide), which is a flux. They both reduce thermal expansion, stabilize shrinkage, widen firing range and reduce warpage. I’m hopeful this substitution won’t affect the clay integrity/properties too much.

The clay is incredibly smooth and has that sticky, cream cheese quality of porcelain. I’m really looking forward to working with it and testing it out in the soda.

Last Monday, the Dirtbags had their first little makeathon in preparation for our holiday sale at Hermitage Farm this weekend. I got on the wheel and threw some cones and an orb, which I made into Christmas tree tea light holders and a pumpkin. It was fun to throw and move clay just for the hell of it, and to devote time to making work that isn’t for me, in community with my cohorts. I had some good bonding time with some studio mates while finishing the little projects later in the week, and though it seems like a small thing, it helped break me out of this stress-ridden headspace I’ve been in lately. I feel like I have no time in the studio, so I close myself off to others to focus in on my work, but in doing so I think I’ve been hindering my full creative potential.

I released the mold of the top of my finished sculpture, added a thin layer of clay (so it has some warpage/shrinkage room) and let it firm before covering it in a thin layer of paper towels and beginning the build of the next segment. I’m a little concerned about the overhang and narrowness of the bottom not being able to support 3’ of weight, but we shall see.

I also worked on a mug for a few hours (not finished), as well as a stein (not pictured).

My macquettes/rocks are growing in number. They’ll be my main focus in the coming weeks as I prepare for my Spacelab show with Jooby and Emma. I really enjoy making them outside and using the cement to create subtle texture.

I envision them fitting in crevasses of my larger sculptures, and/or as a collective rock pile. I am considering firing actual rocks in some of my pieces. Thinking of the rounded stones that find homes in weathered cavities of intertidal pools.