Extra Day Off

Much to my surprise, I did not get called into work today.  I was able to read a few more articles this morning as well as finishing the slip layers on the 4 disc patterns.  I continued on more cans....(never-ending) 

I broke and rearranged 2 plates that were firming up overnight, and then I tried something new with 2 of the discs that got dry by dinnertime.  I held the 2 together and cut them into strips, then I alternated them with the other one...every other strip back into a circle.  Each of these discs were opposing forces, good versus bad, or more properly, evil versus innocence.  I turned the strips over and taped them together and applied them to the clay, and put them over the molds.  I applied under glaze over the bottoms with paper cutouts as a resist to mask off areas from receiving colors.  These 2 plates should be firm by tomorrow!  I am keeping my fingers crossed!!!

Working and Fighting a Cold

I have been fighting off a cold of some type since Friday, and boy does it make everything seem to go in slow motion!  I really don't feel as though I am getting anywhere, or maybe it is because all of my projects are so time consuming in the initial prep stage.  I have cans to cut apart, marking a pattern, re-cutting, and folding.  I won't even discuss how many lectures that I have to give the kids about giving me the cans and not the trash can.

  I got 2 more plates put together, and 2 more to assemble tomorrow (they are slightly firming up overnight).  The slip layering is also very time consuming, but by tomorrow I will have 4 more plate sized discs ready for clay!  I have to fight the family for the table space since the studio does not have water available.

 I have another idea in the thinking process, but since I am icky feeling, I will stew over it until all the cobwebs of sickness are gone.

The Day After

I only had a afternoon kindergarten to sub today, so I was able to get in reading for 3 1/2 articles this morning before I went in.  This evening I put in my regular two hours in the studio trying to devise other materials and items that I can create.  Today I made flower tops out of cigarette packs...oh the irony is dripping!!  I gessoed the other set of arms again, on other side...building it up.  They are for another table similar to the last one.  I will be building the substructure for it this weekend.  Rummaging around my stuff for ideas to keep the ball rolling.  I finally decided on the two artists that I will be comparing....Louise Bourgeois and Alison Saar. 

Second Mentor Meeting

Meetings with my mentor, Denise, always seem to give me just the extra encouragement that I need.  We share some similar struggles of our youths which helps create a better understanding of the place we draw from in our art making.  I truly appreciate the wealth of information she has about other artists that I can look at that are doing similar things, either in the end result or as a part of their process.  After I returned home, after our first visit she emailed me the names of the artists she had mentioned with links to their work, and this helped to create more meaningful conversations in regards to their conceptions and realizations.  Mathew Barney is a very complex individual, but complexity can be a fascinating subject.  I am currently awaiting her email from this visit to see the new artists she recommended during our conversation yesterday.  I don't work until this afternoon, so...time to get reading!

Cans, cans everywhere!

I have been cutting and shaping and folding aluminum cans like crazy the last few weeks, and it still seems as though I have not done a thing!  I have been trying to create a vignette as my mentor suggested for my clay pieces, and I think I have done so, at least the thought is there.  I am beat!  I have 4 new plates, and a table and a quilt that I am starting....out of cans!  My hands are really sore from cutting, the scissors, no cuts.  Funniest part of it all, is when my teenager came up to me while I was cutting the cans and said, "I need a haircut, Mom can you cut it?"  That was the easy part of the day!!!

Weekend

This weekend did not produce as much as I had hoped for, but I got a couple of more plates made.  The layering process takes so long, and then I smashed them together.  Denise said that it can be liberating to take something precious and basically destroy it.  I can say that I felt very cautious and was definitely uncertain of myself at the time I did it.  I spent all day Sunday wrapping the arms of 2 of my kids with plaster wrap so that I can use their arms as table supports to go with my plates.  I got one substructure built for one of the tables, and today I finally got it out of the form that I had poured the plaster into.  I also started creating the layers for 2 more plates tonight, but this time I am thinking about a particular thought from my childhood.  My son thinks it is a little creepy looking and I think that he would just laugh at me if he realized what is going on.

Long weekend ahead!

The work week for me is finally over, and I am anxious to get busy with some clay this weekend.  I have been diligently cutting apart aluminum cans since I returned home Tuesday from my mentors.  My clay work takes a very long time with the layering techniques that I have been using and I need long full days for the process.  I have finally decided to make some displays for these plates that I will be making out of the plaster arms that I had been experimenting with, (or playing around with).  Denise and I discussed my interest in using or re-appropriating stuff that I have excess of around the house, such as cans, bottles..etc.  Now, I am planning on a new experiment with sewing and cans.  We will see.  I did play around with some strips of some of these cans and wove them with some fabric.  It is a little small for a place mat, but you get the idea, and it was just a trial to get a feel to see how I feel about working with the material.