Class04_Homework_August 30th

Mimbre Pottery Example - Click for more Information

Dear Students

Please be sure to have your homework done for next class. We will be beginning a new technique on Tuesday. These are the sections you should have in your sketch binder: Class Notes, Research, Sketching and Planning, Glaze Notes, Process Notes

• (3) Small Pinch Pots - These forms should be completely finished, but kept leather hard and shown to me again for grading next Tuesday.
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• (1) Large Pinch Pot - This form should be completely finished, but kept leather hard until you present it to me on Thursday.
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• Carve Out - This form should be completely formed and hardened to the stiffness of the sample I let you all touch during class [skull]. Make sure you don't let it get too hard or dry. You will know if you can no longer make an impression on the surface with your finger or if you gently rub across its surface and you get a chalky residue. If you let your form become too dry you will have to start over! So please, watch your pot so it doesn't 'die in the car'.

Ken Price

• Research - 
• Look up the artist Ken Price
• Look for living forms that might inspire you to make your biomorphic form. Have at least [3] references to model after. If you are at a loss for inspiration, look for images of bacteria and viruses 

• Reading - Go to the resource folder and read wk2_Chpt11_Hand_Building

Class03_Homework_August 28th

Beth Cavener Stichter
[Click here to see photos of how this piece was made and carved out!!]

Beth Cavener Stichter's work is on the right. She is a very successful artist who works to create very large sculptures using solid clay. 

Watch this video and click on the caption to learn more about Beth Cavener Stichter, her work, and her process. Take notes: 

http://www.followtheblackrabbit.com/about/

Carve Out Exercise-

Clay that is fresh from the barrel will be difficult to work with as it won't hold its form very well at first. Use its soft qualities to create the masses and volumes of what you plan to build for the Carve Out exercise. Let the mass/volume dry and stiffen before starting detail work. That means the form needs to be leather hard before you start doing forming or carving away of clay to make details. If you are premature about this, you may find yourself having a difficult time. When the Carve Out form is done, these sculptures will hang on the wall. I will show you how to make a hanging mechanism for doing this when the time comes. Do not worry about it at this point. Do not attempt to carve-out your form until this is covered in class. Please make sure that your work has the following qualities:

Beth Cavener Stichter

• In innovative form that is compelling to look at
• Not less than 6# and not much more than10 # in total clay weight to start
• A frontal sculpture with a definitive flat 'back' that will be attached to the wall
• Texture that is compelling, covering the entire surface in interesting ways. At least 3 textures. 
• A form that lends itself well to carving out [a head was suggested]
• Devoid of a multitude of thin appendages

Tom Bartel

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION COVERED - review

• How to create a container of slip. Once you make your own, be sure to label it with a piece of packing tape that says 'slip'
• Where the ware boards are in the room and how to use them 
• Putting newspaper under your work before putting it on a wareboard. If you don't do this, your work could stick to the surface it is sitting on.

HOMEWORK

• (3) SMALL PINCH POTS due- Three small, well-designed pots should be finished this Thursday. 
• (1) LARGE PINCHED FORM due - The large pot should be finished by the end of next week, Thursday. Please see me before letting either one of these dry. 
• CARVE OUT in progress- These should be massed out and well underway so that you can begin defining parts of the form. 

Class02_Homework_August 23rd

PINCH POTS [3 small and 1 large]

We went over fixing cracks, making embellishments and additions, and cleaning up the edges of these forms. Please have your small pots close to completion [3] and your large pot [1] well under way for class Tuesday. To complete the work you can do any of the following:

• Cutting the cracked edge off and finishing the edge by pinching
• Patching cracks by scoring and slipping small pieces of clay into the cracked area
• Joining a fresh piece of clay to the pot by scoring and slipping
• Applying a thick coat of slip to a cracked surface and using the rib to compress said slip into the cracks

Beth Cavener Stichter

CARVE OUT
We will be working on this form next class. Please develop at least [3] small maquettes in preparation. If you take photos of these you will be able to print them and add them to your sketchbook binder to receive credit. Using a reference [maquette or actual object] will help you build a good looking and innovative object. Once you have done your prep work, use your references [2D and 3D] to make your overall form. Use between 6-10#s of clay.  


READING - Click and read the following pdfs. Take notes in your binder:

• wk1_An_Introduction_to_Clay pdf  
• wk1_Wedging_and_Kneading  
• wk1_Hand_Built_Pottery

TOOLS - Please have your basic toolkit, spray bottle, packing tape, towel and bucket for next class. Be prepared to pay for your respirator in the next two weeks once purchasing is set up with Chris Allen the woodshop manager.

Class01_Homework_August 21st

Benji Heu

Dear Students-

You have reached the class blog. Assignments will be posted here by 10:00pm (hopefully earlier) on Tuesdays and sometimes on Thursdays when there are additional items. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask me via email or text. Please check the blog each day you have class. Additionally, please follow this blog on your phone so you know when things are being posted.

It's going to be a great semester!

Best,

Professor Urrutia

Wedging 

From this point forward, whenever you get fresh clay from the barrel, you will begin every exercise and assignment by de-airing or wedging the clay you will use for building. Clay should be wedged to make it uniform and air-free. Form your wedged piece of clay into a ball before taking it to your workspace. Remember to keep the unused portion of your clay covered with plastic or it will become hard and dry. Return unused and workable clay to the barrel you initially got it from. If you do this, the class will make clay less. You haven't done this yet. Trust me, it is labor intensive, messy, and time-consuming. Anything too dry to return to the original clay barrel will go into the slip barrel.

Pinch Pot

Practice the pinching technique. Do so to create a small, full, form as I showed you in class. Keep cracking to a minimum by slowing expanding the clay. Keep bottoms rounded. Keep your small vessel moist by locking it in plastic. If you get a spray bottle and notice the bowl getting too dry [turning chalky] give it a small squirt and reseal it into the bag/container. We will talk about what you have done and how to add elements next class on Thursday.

Clean up

Whenever you work, be sure to clean up the tables and the floor beneath you with a sponge. Scraping with a metal scraper is acceptable when you have dry pieces to scoop into your hand, but normally you will use water and a large sponge to clear debris. All scraps of dried or hard clay go into the large slip barrel in the main clay room. Any foreign matter (other than clay) goes into the garbage can or the rinse bucket. Be sure to inspect the area of the floor by your feet where you have been working. Any scraps of clay should be scraped up or wiped up with a sponge so that we don't crush our clay into dust particles. Please throw floor scraps into the garbage unless you can clearly see nothing but clay in what you have scooped up.

Supplies

Please buy and bring your supplies to class if you are able or bring as much on the supply list as you can depending on what your finances will afford. The due date for having all of your supplies will be Thursday of week 6 [see class calendar posted in room for date]. I will make a ratio of what you have against what the list asks for. The percentage that results will count as a test grade. Please mark this due date on your phone or on another personal calendar.

Vocabulary covered today: 

wedging, short, plastic, leather hard, pinching, ware board, grog

Homework due this Thursday, January 25th

• Syllabus - Please read the syllabus carefully. I went over important elements in class but look at it again so that you are aware of all that it contains.
• Carve-out/hollow-out Assignment Preparation - Consider designs for your Carve-out assignment. Find reference materials to use for this sculpture. In other words, if you want to make something, find and print out references to use to help you create the work. Different angles are very helpful if you are new to sculpting. Plan and practice any designs you come up with by drawing possibilities in your sketchbook binder. You will build the image of your choice, but my class example will likely be some kind of head because the head is more of a mass than small intricate parts. This sculpture will need texture all over its surface, so keep that in mind. Design something that doesn't have many appendages or tendrils. There will be better assignments for forms with elaborate appendages later in the course. I will be asking to see your planning work at the beginning of class. Here is a link to my Pinterest page to jump-start your design ideas. There are many sections to browse for inspiration: https://www.pinterest.com/leeondrawurruti/
• Sketchbook Binder - Buy at least a 2" three-ringed binder and dividers [7] that will go easily through the copier of the library. Put at least 50 sheets of copier paper and 50 sheets of lined paper into the rings before class. This binder should have pockets for extra things. 
• ClassFolder - Here is the class Google folder. please let me know if you cannot access it:  
• https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_xaMsUXOejZdGpyVlVJaUY4LW8

I look forward to seeing you on Thursday. Welcome to Ceramics!

Professor Urrutia