What I learned in class this week... Imagine yourself walking into class, as usual having little to no idea of what surprise activity the teacher has in store. The tables are clear, except for a single large sheet of brown paper on each. Some of your classmates are already sitting at the tables with their … Continue reading Recognizably Unfamiliar
A Serious Fellow
I'm really loving charcoal sticks! can you tell? They are deliciously messy and sloppy, but allow me to express so much more atmosphere. The figure comes alive on the page. He is no longer just a portrait of some creepy Victorian gent. He has become the tragic protagonist of an Edgar Allen Poe novel. Seemingly … Continue reading A Serious Fellow
Coiled Bowl
Sometimes the simplest techniques can reveal amazing results... but only when we let go and stop overthinking it. This is stoneware clay, coiled (not my favourite technique), then pressed into a slump mould bowl. I love rustic work, so I left it as crude as I could. It dried slowly over a week or two, … Continue reading Coiled Bowl
Into The Fold
I used a terracotta clay body and wanted to see just how thin I could go. I managed to get it down to about 2mm thick. I had to time it just right, as working it too wet would leave me with tears in the clay, and it wouldn't hold up on its own. Too … Continue reading Into The Fold
Abstract Ship
Again using scraps of slabs and joining them together into whatever shape they decide. This was done while I was seeing the smokestacks of ships in my imagination. I decided to experiment with a red engobe of my own mixture. It would have been more vibrantly red, had I fired it at Cone 04, instead … Continue reading Abstract Ship
Ring Vessels
I think these would be ideal to put your rings in at the end of the day, or when you are washing your hands. The bowls are pinche-pots, the bases are hand-built. I used a stoneware clay body and fired to Cone 6 in an electric kiln. The glaze is mainly a version of a … Continue reading Ring Vessels
Midnight’s DJ
When I'm driving home late at night, I usually listen to the same DJ on the CBC. Odario Williams, with his deep radio voice and soulful statements about the dark, smoky, and soulful music he plays. It always conjures up the image of the Midnight DJ, alone in his radio station, far away from everything, … Continue reading Midnight’s DJ
Casualty of War
Charcoal sticks and a little coloured charcoal rubbed over the page, blended, rubbed again, and blended again, then outlined... the end result is filled with pain and anguish. It reminded me of photographs of wounded soldiers, where it was hard to tell if the moment the camera captured was of them immobilized by their pain, … Continue reading Casualty of War
Playing with Clay – The Seven Box Project
What I learned in school this week... In ceramics we have our first project; to create seven boxes using three basic techniques: pinch pot, slab-building, & coiling, or a combinations of any of them. We don't have a lot of time in class to do this. At least not if I use my usual methods … Continue reading Playing with Clay – The Seven Box Project
Art & Fear – What to do about it in your classroom?
What I learned in school today... First, try to find and read Art & Fear David Bayles & Ted Orland, or watch a few reviews on youtube on the book. My teacher gave us a reading from the book and it was out of chapter 2. Looking through my notes, I took away from the … Continue reading Art & Fear – What to do about it in your classroom?
The New Renaissance Mindset 