3-D Composition, Spring 2010

Squeaked into this class with a drop out. Very interested because of seeing wood-working projects made by the fall class: wonderfully crafted benches which were on display in the small gallery. The first assignment, dropping an egg from 12' without it cracking was a disappointment because I thought it an engineering project rather than a "functional" 3-D art object. There is certainly nothing "artsy" about the Egg Rocket, and neither versions kept the shell intact, but others were works of art: one being a fish of grey cardboard and glue embelishments.

Ceramics Spring 2010

No room for seniors this semester. Budgetary constraints are lessening classes, while student numbers are going up. Brad and Suzanne good enough to let me help as a lab assistant and will help John and Constance to make up slips and glazes and help keep that room clean.

My projects to accomplish:

• A 3" diameter cup (think wall), about 4" high for truck pens/pencils, to fit in cup holder. Make Red and white

• A water carafe, tall and narrow and simple as pictured.

• A 3 1/2" x 4"H thin-walled, green cylinder for shower tools.

• Something flat and matching for the soap dish.

Photography

Award-winning photojournaist James Pomerantz is studying for an MFA in Photography, and now you can read the books that he’s reading.

For example, Barthes’ “Rhetoric of the Image” ponders:

“if the image is in a certain manner the limit of meaning, it permits the consideration of a veritable ontology of the process of signification. How does meaning get into the image? Where does it end? And if it ends, what is therebeyond?”

- excerpt from Photojojo (click on link below)

Photo Writings

Photo was clipped from the Heard Museum (Arizona) website.

Click on the vessel, after you have navigated from the Sonoron Desert area, a video will start and describe the origins and construction about this beautiful, indigenous vessel done by Mary Juan. It looks disarmingly simple to make, but, in fact, its body thinness and handle arch had very skillful artisan hands in crafting.

http://heardeducation.org/home/

More Great Works In Ceramics

Products on this site have varied and innovative use of ceramics. Beautifully, simple things one can lust for. Watch the "Edith on Martha Stewart Video" and you will get a picture of Heath Ceramics' history and mission.

http://www.heathceramics.com/go/heath/

Heath Ceramics is chock full of lovely things that we just can't get enough of. Heath is one of the few remaining mid-century American potteries still in existence today, and they remain a small, local manufacturer employing 40 skilled craftsman who work out of their Sausalito, CA factory.

Final Project - Ceramics

In the Korean Vessel Gallery at Academy of Arts there are stoneware pots from the 5th - 6th century that are simple, yet finely constructed, with clean ridges and thin walls. With all the tools and access to techniques that students have, it seemed a reasonable challenge to replicate.

The above pot looks nothing like the vessel on display at the Academy, except for the 3 lugs. My replica is thick walled; the top does not have the graceful expanse in the base, then narrowing and then flare with two rims leading to a final double narrowing. I tried to make the moves in clay, but lacked the ability that was prominent many centuries ago. Mine turned out to look more like a Hawaiian gourd, which is another historical vessel. This class has altered my awareness and appreciation of working with clay.

Glazing. This is the tour de force of potting; it's the frosting on the cake, and the step that takes the most study and experimentation in the process. Glazes, their mixture and application can impart very different results that requires planning through applications that look nothing like the final patina, as photos show.