"DIY"

After the first Critique on the sixth I completed the first step of my piece. I wanted to get to 3000 tiles but after seeing them all laid out I realized that I needed make more. The tiles were bisque fired and looked brilliantly white. Now that I have raised the count to 4300-5000 I have more work to do but in the end it will give that overwhelming feeling that I am trying to instill in the viewer. I still am planning on glazing this piece by following the color scheme exemplifying that of the sulfur site I photographed while traveling through Tanzania.

Vase I, 8" x 7" x 7", wheel thrown,

porcelain, cone 10 gas fired reduction

Carmel Glaze with Iron yellow over, 2000

Jon Britt

Jon Britt Article on Cat Litter, Antacid and other non-traditional glaze Materials:

http://www.ceramicstoday.com/articles/alternative_materials.htm

New Insights:

Lately I have been very interested in re-looking at Lewis Hines work. I am not sure if because I am drawn to the idea of him acquired different identities to sneak into mills, factories, etc. I know his work may not be considered "new" per say but I like taking second looks and paying attention to the details.

"Mill Girl" by Lewis Hines

"Used Work Wear" by Lewis Hines

"Breaker Boys" by Lewis Hines

Also:

Tony Scherman's Intimate Drawings: In a 2007 interview published in Border Crossings, Robert Enright referred to the work of Toronto painter Tony Scherman as, “the everyday raised to the level of the monumental.” How fitting it is then that Scherman’s latest exhibition Intimate Drawings focuses on his daily drawings culled from his drawers. The exhibition was conceived as being something less formal in nature. And rather having any overarching theme, the show is just about drawing. He says if the show has any meaning it will be in the drawings. “Drawing is kind of like playing scales in painting,” says Scherman. “Drawing is contingent. The paper’s already lit and I’m just passing through. The arrow of time only goes one way in drawing; once you’ve used up all the light you’re done.”

Notes on the Critique October 6th of People who were not covered:

Alex: Cotton Candy, Furry beings, Why only the one hole? Why 9 of them? I want to pet them. I am interested to know why they were made and what inspired you?

Elise: Elements: clay built torso, soap poured over, pink/red/ orange tint. Ribs are very defined and raised the torso is so wide...man? woman? Hardened soap resembles sheet of ice that the blood as spread out through the cracks. I like all the shattered canals. Frozen in time. Something preserved. Why not hanging? If different execution do you think that it would be help the piece?

Pam: Pottery, gorgeous glazes. Her work has come so far. Interesting shapes chosen. earth toned set is my favorite. Love, love, love the glaze techniques. The blue set didn't really do anything for me. The speckled set had more diverse shapes. Overall very beautiful work very clean cut still.

Ashley: Fabric and lace, 6 squares. 1. guitar tree, good detail, creative. 2. polar bears starry night white paint? 3. girl and sheep-not really sure where it was going 4. kitty cat girl skirt and world. Why faceless pink and purple swirls and then half the earth. 5. Not sure. 6. Alphabet Soup Love the detail on the bowl and the craftsmanship. Why only vowels? I think overall I would have liked to hear where her ideas were driven from. I think that it was a very nice piece but like said an explanation i think would have been helpful. (In order to follow her thought process)

Abbey: Elements: clay built road kill skeleton, material, other than textural additives, green paint-why? although I like it. Beautiful piece I would have liked to see a series though. I loved the island piece on the left what great texture and tonal value in the glazing and the green paint added. Overall one word I use TEXTURE. Definitely captured the color and texture of a decaying body of some sort. If you didn't want to do the route of a series, large scale would be nice. We'll talk!

"The Surround"

Just an update to as how my piece is going:

It's been two weeks since I've last posted and I have made a lot of progress. I have decided to hand make each tile for this piece verses cutting slabs and just wire cutting the tiles. I think it is important for me during this process to completely dive in to the piece as a whole and have a complete hand in all the variables. My count is 1,002 tiles as of today. I plan to play with glazes and fire the first thousand today, during our class. If all goes well this time next week I should have another thousand. In terms of where I see this piece going I'm thinking very organic, no iconic images will be painted onto the tiles, and a sense of being overwhelmed is what I want the viewer to experience. I am still unsure as to the color scheme that I am going with. I am still teetering on the vast white plains or rich saturated middle eastern colors. I did have one dream that resembled the piece, which consisted of this repetitive hills rolling over and over again. This feeling of monotonous motion constantly fluctuating.

Example of what pre-glazed/fired tiles look like.

This painterly quality in this work-might be something I may lean towards.

"What is It?"

Advanced Studio Artist Blog

Various images of mosaic tiles as seen on the famous long windy wall in Parc Guell, Barcelona.

"Untilted" Ali Mirsky's 15" diameter Mosaic

For this first piece in the semester I am going to be working on a mosaic. There are still many unset variables to this piece but I can start by describing my two paths of colors that I will be working with. I have an idea of doing a very white template with hints of light blue and light green and possibly some gold added throughout the piece. There will not be any set edges resembling a shape, ie: square, rectangle, circle. More organic and outside elements may be brought in. I am thinking alternative processes to the tiles after they have been glazed and outside materials, wood, yarn, paper. All components that will allow me to layer and compile tiny images into a grand image. I am somewhat lost in the sense of a clear set type of work that I am practicing now, but other inspirations such as Native American artwork have become prevelent in my sketchings since I had just travelled out west this past summer.

Kirby Sattler's Native American

The photographs documented such beautiful portraits of these indians. The lines in their faces from working all day, and the intricate head pieces and weapontry they hand-made was breath-taking. I may also take some of the natural deep colors of their works and go the opposite from the white spectrum for my mosaic and use yellows, deep reds, browns, and gold for highlights. These set of colors has always come up somewhere in my work and I like that about my style. For the semester as a whole, I am not too sure where I am going with my work, I know I want to start with this mosaic and see where I end up next.

http://www.delaguarda.com/frontend/main2.html

http://www.alimirskymosaics.com/

http://kirbysattler.sattlerartprint.com/

http://www.philamuseum.org/exhibitions/370.html

http://www.philamuseum.org/exhibitions/370.html

http://www.delaguarda.com/frontend/main2.html