Things ongoing

Things at the university have been going well, despite the death of Pinchy...thist can wait. Today was good day in a busy week. I commented previously that class was jam packed with too much to cover, I feel as though today was less jammed, the students had more time to practice some of the skills that I demonstrated for them. I think it was better. These summer courses that are only seven weeks are challenging in a medium like clay. I want my students to have all of the information that they need to complete their assignments in an informed manner, in the first weeks. This means that I bet a few of the students feel overwhelmed.

Today, was slab construction day. I did the typical talk and demo. As a sample I created a slab box, impressed with bamboo branches.

Attaching the first wall of the slab

Four walls are now attached to the base


The box before I fixed the seams and finished the exterior of the box

Here, I have completed the exterior of the box and used an xacto knife to cut the box open

adding the gallery to the lid of the box

The box is not the only demonstration I gave today in class, or as a class demo. I also demonstrated how o throw a slab, use objects to impress pattern and then use said objects as a resist before throwing the slab again.

I guess it is time to sing the sad tale of Pinchy. It isn't much of a tale really but that's okay because he didn't have one either. In the process of moving some of my greenware around I bumped Pinchy and he was knocked off his roost. Fortunately, he did not break so much as just dislodged. I a m going to bisque him and use a few drops of glaze to fuse the branch and him together.

Before I created the box as a sample, I created a thrown slab demo. After throwing out the slab, then treating it with a blue slip, I pulled it out more and used a ceramic dish as a mould, I bought from a local grocery store. After I draped the the slab across th mould I curld the ends of the dish to create the final shape.

draping across the ceramic dish

coil constructed feet, turned and manipulated individually for the final piece

After a good day at the school Kim and I made the long and slow journey back to Nanaimo, made even slower because many sections of the highway are in the process of being made into single lanes, from the two they are now.

After getting home I was able to relax with my brother and his fiance in the backyard. We even prepped the tiki torches for the upcoming party. I am surprised how much light they cast.

At the end of the night we caught a large moth, well large for our area; its no atlas moth. Then I came upstairs and poured myself a drink before sitting down at the computer.

Labels: Ceramics, Projects, Scotch, Sculpture, teaching