Every moment spent by myself leads to dissociation due to thinking about how uncertain and scary the future looks. I’ve been forcing myself to spend time around people who are feeling the same way as I am, and trying to lessen the amount of time spent on the internet. I’ve been reaching out to friends so we can find comfort together in the fact that we are not alone. Due to the state of the country right now, I have been trying to dive headfirst into making to distract myself from the dreadful reality of the world. I was lucky enough to be accepted into the 2nd Sunday holiday market in Saratoga Springs, so I have a goal to make towards, which is very helpful for keeping me in the studio. And I have been cranking stuff OUT! I’ve been really enjoying making small bud vases, just out of two pinch pots, and the idea is to raku a bunch of them. Raku is so interesting to me and I’m glad I have the opportunity to do it more for myself. Along with these vases, I’m also making a few pigeons to raku as well.

These small vases have been a fantastic excuse to practice my handles, which is something I have always struggled with. Pulling a handle is the bane of my existence, yet every handle I’ve made from a slab or a coil has never looked right. I’ve recently been pinching my handles, starting with a short, thick coil and using my fingers to guide it into the arc I need. The act of constant pinching and smoothing gives the handle a very appealing handmade but refined look to it.

(A teeny tiny bud vase with some wire and star additions)

Along with practicing handles, I’ve been able to test out some smaller scale techniques with these vases, including different silhouettes, and some surface design. I am a big fan of a simple stamped flower on the body of the vase, but have also been lightly texturing them as well with various different tools. When it comes to my larger sculptures, my go-to texture is to scrape the surface with a wooden rake tool, as this (in my opinion) can translate into a subtle fur texture, which made sense on my mostly animal pieces. It’s tried and true, but I want more variety. Something that has always enticed me is little dangling ceramic charms. I find them so playful and joyous. i’ve never had a reason to add charms to my sculptures, but now that I’m making more functional vessel-like objects, I have areas on my surfaces that make sense to add an extra hanging star, or a beaded handle, etc. These bud vases have been perfect experiments.

Before I made the move from the Clay Art Center in Port Chester to Saratoga Clay Arts Center, I had been so encapsulated by vessels. Throughout my entire (short) career, I had only really ever made figurative sculptures, as that is what I was taught to do in school. Wheel throwing and functional ceramics came much after graduation, as the only formal education ceramics class I took was “ceramic sculpture”. Nancy never taught us wheel throwing. Wanting to throw myself into hand building vessels was difficult as this was coming to me at a time where I was also getting ready to pack up my entire studio and move somewhere else, so instead of putting my time into making all of these vessels, I put time into planning them: thinking about how I wanted them to look, and what stories I wanted them to tell. Something that has stayed consistent from then until now are little coils the I press into loops that act as sweet little additions. I enjoy the way negative space plays with them, especially when they overlap.

A couple nights ago I set out to create something based off a drawing I had made a few days prior. I have been trying to think a bit more abstractly when it comes to making these vessels, viewing them less as a functional object and more as a home for a story. Some of the things that have stood out to me since moving is the natural world around me. The squirrel that visits my window most mornings, the deer that crowd the roads at night, the darkness of the forest behind my home, and most of all, how much more clearly I can view the stars at night. For the first time in my life, I have been able to look up at the sky and identify constellations. That is so very special to me. I needed to put it on a vessel. I decided to coil build it, not too large yet not too small, and I adding in the texture over the entire piece after initially smoothing the coils. I added a little mermaid sitting on the handle to bring the vessel into a more sculptural realm, leaving no surface untextured. Finally, I decided to dangle some stars from a few different parts of the piece, and added some coiled pinched loops bursting out from the inside. I’m very excited about this guy, and look forward to making similar vessels and firing them to cone 10 reduction.

Studio Happenings, Handles, and Vessels

Recent Wheel Throwing Antics

drawing drawing drawing