baskets baskets baskets baskets baskets baskets baskets

BASKETS!!! I <3 baskets!!! Here's one that I'm still working on... I'm trying to use a more uniform technique of piping instead of just doing random scribbles. I need to figure out how to reinforce the form though.... its REALLY sketch right now. I might have to start over but i'm going to try and save this one tomorrow!!

I QUIT......!!%$&%($^!

I'm finally starting to get caught up on all my work, but I still have a long ways to go and a lot of work to do. I spent three hours working on art yesterday, which was really nice. BUT ANYWAYS I'm really sick of my concentration because everything keeps breaking!! Yesterday, I was glazing my ONLY woven basket and I accidently dropped it..................

I feel like I should be used to things breaking by now but this REALLY sucked. But I don't actually quit. I will just have to work even harder if I want to complete my portfolio in time -_- WISH ME LUCK!

Sometimes I Suck....

Soooo this is my first blog of the semester. It's not that I don't enjoy blogging... I just genuinely forget to do my blog EVERY week for the past two months. oops. I"ve actually been traveling though (that's my other excuse). Two weeks ago I went to New York for a conference at the United Nations and had the time of my life. We had a ton of time to sight see, so I was able to visit a few art museums while I was there. The art scene in New York is AMAZING and really inspiring. I loved going to the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Here are a few pics that I took at MoMA....



The first picture is an original Andy Warhol. The second one is a "sculpture" of window blinds--the steriotypical epitome of the term "modern art". Ridiculous. But funny. 

Goodbye Amy, Hello Whitney



Today was Amy's last day at school. I know she decided she wasn't going to cry, but by the end of class I could tell that it was really hard for a lot of us to keep back the tears. Although I am REALLY sad that she is leaving, I am happy for her, her family, and her soon-to-be addition to the family, Blake!!!!! I wish her well and hope that she comes to visit us!!

Whitney, our new teacher, seems SUPER nice. I can't wait to get to know her better. I hope she will learn to love our class for all of our odd quirks.... I think she will. Lexie and I decided that we would make a pact with the other AP3D kids to stand up against the evils of the art teacher in the class next to us who will remain unnamed...............

ANYWAYS I am really looking forward to next semester and can't wait to see what..... interesting things I will decide to make. Heres one of the projects that I have been working on this week:

It's another basket made out of clay slurry. This one is the biggest one that I have made so far. I'm just crossing my fingers that it won't break!! I'm just waiting for it to dry so I can bisque fire it. If it makes it through bisque fire then I should be safe.... knock on wood.

So..... that's all for now.

BYE AMY!!!! YOU'RE THE GREATEST <3

Busy as a Bee

Well, winter break is over. Time to head back to school.... and start counting down the days until spring break!!! Today I was cleaning out my cabinet and was surprised to find a concentration project that I had completely forgotten about. WHAT A LOVELY SURPRISE. I was going to photograph it and put it up with this blog but unforntunately it had to go straight into the kiln.... So I will upload a picture of it later. Today I succeeded in making a basket using a plaster mold and the handheld extruder. It turned out pretty well and it looks a little more basket-y than some of the other stuff I've been doing.

Today I also loaded two of my glazed baskets into the kiln. These were the really fragile ones and I'm just crossing my fingers that they survive in the kiln....

So now for the million-dollar question....... WHAT'S NEXT?!
Well just today I sent an email to Marion Pollmann (see 2 blogs down) asking her about some of her techniques. Hopefully she will get back to me by next class because I would love to start trying to create a piece similar to her work. Something like this:

That's all for now. Bye.

daaayyyyuuuummm.....

I'm practicing humiliation by putting this photo up for the world wide web to see.

I know... scary. I don't care. Oh and p.s. this is at the Lake Oswego Deno's Pizza

Marion Pollmann

I was going to post a blog about what I've been working on lately but I'm going to wait until I can get pictures of my stuff. So, for now, I wanted to tell everyone about a new artisit that has inspired me and given me new ideas for my concentration pieces.....

Her name is Marion Pollmann. She was born in Austria but moved to America in 1994. She now lives in Olympia, Washington.

     

She makes a lot of basket forms that I really like. I cant really figure out how she makes some of her pieces (if she extrudes thin coils of clay, rolls the coils, or uses a clay slurry) so I'm planning on contacting her to see what her technique is....

She spends time traveling throughout Europe and in the South Pacific. Her travels influence her work in interesting ways. Her vases are inspired by her earlier life in Europe where, she says, people give much more importance to flowers and vases in their homes. Time in Tahiti brought forth her ceramic baskets and two lines of dishes. I find it inspiring that she travels around the world to get inspiration for her pieces.

This is one of my favorite pieces by her... I really want to figure out how she makes it!!!