Time for some traveling...

The spring semester has finally ended.  Oh thank God. I accomplished so much in the last couple months in the subjects of form, depth,  and composition.  I feel like, though I have a ways to go, I have learned most of the tools needed to render from reality at a level that is up to my own standards.  Before this semester, I didn’t feel like I had all the vital information I needed yet. For example, before sculpting the figure I had never really circled the figure in search of contour lines to define my form. I also had never once considered the top view of a figure. Now I am concerned with all sides.

My ceramics have also slightly improved. I am making lidded vessels that actual work structurally and function without being annoying, though they are still kind of heavy. These last couple months, I have been more concerned with controlling the glaze and overall surface appearance (which is practically impossible to control) than the form of the vessel itself.  These pieces are done by drawing over the raw glaze with paraffin wax, then washing the exposed glaze off, and finally dipping again in a contrasting color glaze.  I also tried taping off these areas and spraying with an air brush as I read to do, but for some reason these techniques did not work for me.  The air brush would blast away all my hard placed tape that didn’t even stick right in the first place.  I’ve been told to try latex, but maybe next semester. 

The other method I was focusing on for surface control was carving. I would cover a raw piece in iron slip..  Once the piece was covered, I allowed it to dry, which I found out much later was a mistake and that I should have carved at the ‘leather hard’ stage for more control; I began to carve  designs into my bowls and vessels through this layer of iron.  I would then bisque the piece and use a standard clear glaze.  I like the results though they are completely unpredictable. There is a smoky quality to the images. I love this lidded pot. It is definitely one of my favorites from this semester.

                                                                  And a four bowl set.

                                               
                                                   And some other trinkets of various methods.

                      

In other topics, Geoff and my comic is going well, full steam ahead. I think I am going to mail the pages ahead to Florida so that we can work on them through the summer.  Oh yeah, And we are getting married at this year’s 2012 Rainbow Gathering.  So far some ideas for the ceremony include everyone in bird masks and fun costumes, and of course a plethora of musicians (god-willing).  About the bird masks (idea compliments of Miss Darby Laine): My other awesome friend Darren just explained to me the process of making papier-mâché bird masks that form to your face.  So I figure we’ll hike a bag of flower and some acrylics into the woods when we go into the gathering so we can have a pre-wedding bird mask making party.  I am excited. I love ritual.  Anyway, back to the beginning of this paragraph, As some of you known  Geoff and I have been working on a comic strip called War on X-mas since last November or so.  Here are some in-progress images of our project.