Foy my pottery study I am learning how to use clay again! It has been 2 years since I have touched clay and I want to start working with it again and explore different mediums besides acrylic, and I would like to practice pottery because my Abuelita Gloria and my Mom were both potters and painters.
Comfort The large piece that I am made this quarter was Comfort. Comfort is a mixed media piece with three ceramic houses with two faces connected by wrinkles as depicted to the right.
When I was brainstorming what comfort feels like I found myself thinking of home, which makes sense, and the earth. In Comfort I carved peaceful faces into the sides of the houses and exaggerated the wrinkles of the faces to mimic wood or paper. Why wrinkles? I asked myself this question too and I looked at my parents faces and I noticed that they both have very pronounced Crows feet as well as my Tata. This piece is about comfort and family, the feeling of having a support system and people around you who you can trust. After the pieces came out of the bisquing kiln I wanted to keep the texture of the clay, the sandy dry texture, having a glass glaze would drown out the details and would lose the feeling of warmth and comfort. I decided on a yellow oxide and a red oxide glaze, which keep the texture of the clay and give the piece a painted look. After these pieces are finished they will be placed in a crocheted and knitted hanging sculpture. Tabitha is my pottery mentor, she is great. 💕
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A process oriented artform Compared to what I am used to this is a very process focused art form, with acrylic the entire process is about the product, tweaking, perfecting, and adjusting. With clay there is more space to work freely, for example when I was glazing my piece the color going into the glaze kiln was yellow but when it came out it was a brick red, it didn't bother me because I didn't restrict myself to one acceptable outcome. I am ok with the pieces if they have flaws, that's what makes them an individual piece.
Dedication I have spent a lot of time in the pottery studio working with Tabitha on these three pieces and two other pieces to try and learn how to use clay again. I have mostly been throwing because it is my comfort zone but in order to improve I think I need to step out of my comfort zone and start hand-building.
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