more on surface and form

I thought we had a good class last night.

I am also extremely proud of all you guys. There is no greater joy for me as an instructor than to see my students embrace new things with a fearless attitude. You guys are great! And everybody is making some cool stuff too!

So, in our discussion at the start of class we explored some of the issues connecting and separating the details of form and surface. We noticed that both things can point to the same part of the pot but that each embodies a different way of looking at it. The form can be more like the structure or the bones of an object, and things like size, proportion, and all the variables and changes of direction are indicated. The surface is like the skin that is stretched over the form, something like how clothes overlay a person's body. The underlying form can be hidden or highlighted depending on what is done to the surface. And also, we talked about how certain things that add dimension to the surface also have consequences for the form. Some embellishments will effect both, like stamping, squeezing, or applying slip, while others, like painting a picture, effect only the physical surface of the pot but don't change the form. And yet this surface treatment is all about how we see the object. It can be something like looking at this image of the duck/rabbit:

When we see the painted picture on the surface of a pot are we also necessarily looking at the form at the same time? When we observe a texture on an object we can notice things about the form, but would it be more honest to say that we were looking at the surface? And when we notice how details on a pot's surface can be stretched when the pot is deformed out of round, we can see that these clues tell as much about the form as they do the surface.They two are interrelated but not the same.


So there are lots of things to play around with, and the more tools we have in our toolbox the greater our ability to give life to our imagination. These kinds of ways of working with our pots give us just that much more control over what can happen. We now have more options to play around with.

So here are some pictures and videos that can be used as reminders of what we talked about. The potter is John Bauman, who makes some really fine pots, and is a true master of these decorating techniques (unlike the guy teaching your class...).  Check out his blog for some great tips, conversations, and general information that might interest your potting brain.

And here are some videos he has shared that demonstrate his use of these ideas. Hope you enjoy!

If you guys have some favorite videos to share, please do so. Later!

Using stamps for added texture

Hey everybody in the Spring 2011 Good Dirt Intermediate class!

Our class is focused on altering thrown forms, and one of the important ways of changing a shape is to change the surface. This Monday's lesson will deal with how using stamps can create a dynamic interaction between the form and the surface as well as providing great visual interest. Below is a link to another potters blog post that shows some of the cool uses of wood block carvings to create a textured surface. Watch the video of wood block printers in India using this technique on fabrics. The idea is the same when applied to clay.

Hope you enjoy!

Lucy Fagella Pottery

ARLOPALOOZA

For those who don't know, Alya's dog Arlo (whom you may have met over the last year at good dirt) has a medical issue that puts him in a considerable amount of pain. If untreated it will only get worse, but unfortunately the surgery costs around $2,500 which is a huge chunk for a poor potter to cough up. The studio assistants, prompted especially by Julie, have come up with the idea of a benefit to help raise the funds. The original idea of a pure pottery sale has morphed into a 'whatever we can get money for' event. Alya wants artists to have the option of getting a percentage of all their art work sold rather than just making it a straight donation, but that will be the individual's discretion. All other types of donations are being accepted and can be dropped off at good dirt in Julie's space. So we hope everyone can come out to buy something special (I know several artists whose work will be there who I wouldn't mind adding to my collection!) and possibly chip in with a contrabution of their own art work or other household items. The event is being hosted by Teresa in the Cobham district on the west side of Athens, sort of near the Athens Regional Medical Center. Hope everyone can be there!

Sonia asked a question on the last post which may have some relevance for others. As you may remember she is making some nice covered jar forms with cap lids kind of like small ginger jars. The problem she has run into is that the opening at the top doesn't line up with the base, as if it has been pushed off that central axis. This can sometimes be more consequential when you have a multiple part pot like a covered jar form where the difference is worst at the area that the lid sits. This only exagerates the inconsistency and can make it a frustrating resolution. The lid sits at an angle or noticably off center.

I will have to watch your process to help you uncover where this difficulty is being introduced, but there are some typical problems that might help explain what went wrong ( I am of course assuming that it isn't an issue related to uneven distribution of the clay through either centering or opening the form). One issue might be that the clay has twisted out of its proper round distribution. Julie, Teresa, Jayne and I were discussing this just yesterday at an impromptu group potting session. Coincidentally all three are using porcelain these days and this issue is perhaps most severe with that clay. What can happen is that as you apply pressure to the walls inorder to thin them out the water disapears from the surface and creates more and more friction the less water there is between your fingers and the clay. This drag can twist the clay so that it is distinctly off center. As the clay dries out it can even get worse as the clay shrinks and unwinds unevenly.

Another possibility is that picking the pot up off the wheel was done in such a way that a tilt was introduced into the shape. If you are careful to lift the pot straight up and set it gently straight down you should minimize the distortion. If your pot is simply too thin or shaped in an exagerated way I endorce using the pot lifters to avoid these complications. While I try to promote a fearless attitude as a means of problem solving issues through direct experience of the clay, there simply are those times when you can't do what you want just by hand and need to use tools like pot lifters and bats. If this is where the problem is being introduced you have my blessings to use either of those tools.

Good luck and happy potting!

Originality and Copying Ideas

Howdy all! I can't believe we are almost finished with this session. I have felt more rewarded as the instructor of this class than any other class in recent memory. I am going to really miss having this group to work with. I hope we can do more work together in the future, but if not I know I will have fun looking at all the creative ideas for pots you all will come up with when they cycle through the studio. Everyone has learned so much and done some really quality work this session. I am proud of you all!

Anyway, I had an interesting brief conversation with Jayne before class last night on a topic that has been rumbling around my head for weeks now. I have already touched on it in the post about Inspiration. Basically the question is how much we can take from what others have done and still legitimately be our own work. I think that at a certain skill level you can copy another's work exactly, detail for detail, so that there is really no difference in what was made. This is the extreme side of this equation though, and the intention is to make a reproduction. It does not happen by accident. So this is the possibility at one extreme of the continuum. Anything short of that intention to make a duplicate will have atleast some influence of the actual maker. So the question then becomes "how much of it is our own work?". I think it is possible to ask this question and believe that anything short of being entirely our own is illegitimate. That would be an unfortunate and limiting response. It would put the burden of creativity in the realm of needing to 'recreate the wheel' every time, or settling for a narrow focus of what you had already done on your own. If you think of art as being a kind of language, and the elements and details of expression as being like words, then it becomes clear that expressing yourself requires using words, phrases, concepts, and thoughts that are shared with others. You think for yourself not by comming up with your own language, but by making a common language perform the way you want it to. You can come up with new words, new phrases, new concepts and ideas and this can be exciting and even change the way people look at things, but for basic communication we are all fumbling around with essentially the same tool box.

So think of your art and your influences as being a range of expression. The more you know how to do the more interesting the statements you can make. If you don't even look at what other people are doing it is like sitting alone in your closet while the world passes you by right outside your window. I guess the point I am trying to make is just that it is nothing but healthy to expose yourself to other's art and to experiment with the ideas of others as much as you can. Take a theme or detail from somewhere and see what you can make of it. Actually try to copy some things just so you know how to do something new. This will be good for you!

This issue really strikes home for me because at one point when I was in school I had been asked where my inspirations came from and at the time my answer was based on the conviction that I was making it all up as I went. I had failed to acknowledge that I had seen so many pots of other artists that they had become a background through which I approached my own work. Now that I am comfortable with the idea of influences I can see that there is really very little that I have done that is entirely my own invention. I have learned some things from one artist, other things from others, taken some details directly, twisted and changed others a bit. The synthesis of all these ideas and influences manifests in pots that are somehow recognizable as my own. But even so, that is not so important. I am not concearned with having a 'unique voice'. That misses the point of why anyone does this stuff in the first place. I do what I want to do, and as long as I am having fun I will keep at it. Hope you do too!

Good luck as always!

Describe your projects

Howdy again. I had announced last night that I would set up a post so that you could leave a comment describing the ideas you have for your final projects, so here it is. Leave as much detail as you can and try to identify the issues that you feel you may have difficulty with. I will update the blog as much as I can throughout the week to get you answers to questions or suggestions for possible directions. Good luck!

Clay Consistency

I am really delighted at the progress that is being experienced throughout the class these days. As your instructor I can say that my real reward for being at good dirt is to see how well my students are coming along. Even with the occasional frustrations of a failed pot there are valuable lessons being learned. It is all a part of the growing experience.

One point I should have made to Sandrine but which could have been made to the class as a whole is something that Jayne learned from a conversation she had had with Alya a few days ago. The issue relates to the different consistencies of the clay that you use. I always try to make the point that if your clay is too stiff to center you are often better off setting it aside with some water in the bag until it softens up some. If you can't wait or can't switch to a new bag of clay you may be able to center smaller lumps and confine your aspirations to more modest sized pots. One other possibility is to cone up and down as long as it takes to get some moisture worked into the clay. May take a while, but the point is that you can't just assume that you can set out to make what ever you want without first analyzing the limitations inherent in the materials and the possible avenues for correcting/dealing with them.

The specific issue that Sandrine had was that she was working with her reclaim and that it was especially wet, so it was sort of the opposite scenario. While being wetter may make it easier to center, and therefor center larger masses of clay, this does not mean that your ambitions should be for larger pots as well. The wetter the clay the less able it is to stand up to and resist gravity. The clay will want to sag if it is put in a vulnurable shape or if there is too much weight being supported by too thin a wall. This may mean that you have to leave extra clay in the walls for support, you restrict your shapes to low walls and undramatic curves, or that you choose a smaller scale that is not subject to the same threats of gravity.

What I should also have told you, Sandrine, was that instead of trying to throw the form upside down as we had originally strategized, it may just as well have been thrown right side up and then just trimmed down to the correct thickness and shape. Try it both ways to see what the difference will be. If you get to your trimming while the clay is still moist enough you can still do the slip decoration you want to investigate. Good luck!