Unconventional Materials Challenge

This challenge was really, really problematic for me.  I was going to create a piece of clothing?  But I didn't think my design would have incorporated enough of the bungee cords I received.  It only took two to go around my middle?  And none of the designs in the art room, or that I  had at home, had the sort of empire waist I wanted, and I didn't really want to have experiment with the pattern and the fabric I would've used (which was too gauzy to really wear anyways).
     So, I decided to make this sort of mobile thing?  But that didn't really work out either, because the cardboard ripped.  I mean, it worked out well, until the cardboard ripped.  Also, I overestimated the stretching capacity of the bungee cords, so the cords on the wings were really droopy and the cord on the tail and the head were really stretched out. Whatever.  If I ever attempt something like this again, I'll have a better plan, and think more about the three dimensional aspect of this.

The tail had already ripped off before I gave up.

The face was really cute. 

Origami Installation

The cranes were surprisingly simple to make, though I probably flubbed the last few steps on mine.  I only made smaller ones, so it was relatively simple on my end.  And, in the end, when we had piled up all the cranes together, and all of the little loops had been sewn in, it was really cool.  It was just this massive outpouring of art, and everyone in the class had done exactly the same thing I had done, and though everyone's was a bit different, the cranes I'd made had stopped being mine. I couldn't distinguish them from anyone else's, which is normally a really important part of the artistic process -- to set yourself and your art apart.

   Putting them up was a bit more difficult, because it as a larger installation in a busy place, and everyone was sort of doing something different, but the coherence was nice when it was all put together.  We laid all the cranes out on the floor in a v-shape and strung fishing line through the little embroidery loops (at least, that's what I think it was), and then it was hung from the lights in the front hall.  

   A really lovely piece of art came out of this lesson, as well as a demonstration (for the students and by the students) of what we could do if we wanted to.  Sometimes, I look at large pieces of art, and deny that I could do that.  Because it's so large, and improbable, and who would even appreciate my creation anyways?  But we were able to create this bunch of hanging birds in the busiest part of the school at one of the busiest times of the day, and people appreciated it.

   In Art 1 we explored the idea that the process and the product were both an equal part of the art.  That the process was as beautiful as the product itself.  This was also shown in the documentary 'Between the Folds.'  But, I suppose in a more literal sense, the process was the creation of the art, everything from the plain paper to the hanging it up. And the product was the arrangement of cranes on the ceiling.

Figurative

Ha.  Ha.

So, what challenges did I overcome during the creation of this piece?  Pretty much everything.  I felt like I went crying for help pretty much every day.  The lips, how to make the head, the eyes, how to make it, how to do it, hair, ears, everything.  But I did it!  With lots of help and it even looks half decent and I am really proud of myself and I carried his head all through school on Friday stroking his hair which, is really creepy, because he's just a head, but I've stared at this thing too long to recognize that, so . . .
    I would change a lot in the future.  Like, the back of his head is just whack.  And the left side of his mouth -- just the skin next to it.  It just makes his face look puffy in a way that it shouldn't.  And . . . His left eye.  I messed that up pretty bad, but I got really fed up with it, as I do with most art projects, and I thought it would look good enough, but I regret that now.
   I would really like to do another sculpture like this (if I take sculpture 2 will you just let me do a lot of heads?) because I think that I just need practice to get it better.

And to make your life even better, here are 18 unnecessary pictures of Cecil's head!
(Character owned by Joseph Fink and Jeremy Cranor.)

Tray and Cup/Bowl

I didn't get the chance to do a  tray, because my life has become the never ending project of Cecil Gerschwin's face.  But, I did do a cup!  It's still in the glaze kiln, and it's going to be a Christmas project for my dad.
  I guess, that it was just a normal project for me? I've made a lot of quick little cups since we first learned how.  And I tried to texture it by using a wet paintbrush against the clay, and then pressing coffee ground burn-outs into it, but that didn't work out so well, so I just glazed it all over.  And no, I didn't use underglaze.
    I guess I didn't expect much from the project, because it was something that I'd done previously, but I hope that it turns out well.

It did turn out well!
I could have painted it better, but maybe that's just the glaze. Let's just say that's the glaze.

Dwelling

This is what it looks like looking up into the structure.
Where one would hypothetically stick a candle.

I don't know if you can really count this as a successful project. I mean, it came out how I wanted it to come out, but at the same time I never really liked it?  It's fine, I guess.  It was very annoying getting the wire to do what I wanted, and that required a lot of innovation and time and tape.  But, after that, everything else went together pretty smoothy.
   It was just an irritating project.  The building would fall over, and then I didn't bend the wire right so it's sort of constricted in the middle, and the wire kept slipping down and would only stay after I hot glued the paper on. Also, there are slits between the paper and the wire, and I don't know if I like that?  Because there's supposed to be a light source in the middle, and I didn't originally want light leaking out.  I just wanted it to shine through the paper.
    In the future, I guess I would just have a better idea.  Or, at least, plan out my idea better, and make sure it's more architecturally sound.

"Between the Folds" Documentary

I didn't really like the documentary.  It was very annoying, how the narrator was very artistic and poetic?  I understand that origami is an emerging art form, but the transitions seemed very dramatic, and I was more interesting in learning about the more meatier subjects, like seeing the actual art, or maybe interviewing some more people?  I don't know, I guess I'm just being picky.  Also, I think that you'd showed up this video when I was in art 1.
   And I don't really know anybody's name, but the french man who was making the little gnomes and caricatures of people was very interesting.  If I could make anything out of origami, I would make that.  Though, I don't think I have the patience to learn for 32 years.
    Something that has always stuck with me since the last time I saw the video was the exponential growth of the steps that the origami models have experienced. From 10 steps to 200 in a handful of decades is really astounding.  And, I liked the models that the kids were showing off at the festival. I guess I would be one of those people who appreciates technical perfection over art form, because the fact that someone folded all those scales on that dragon will never fail to impress me.
    I also appreciated the dedication that man took to building the hexagonal flower-things, that he could pop out of the paper?  That was some very cool stuff. Though, I don't understand what he was saying when he spoke about 3/4s of the art being the process. I guess I can understand how processes can be really beautiful things, creating something from where there had been nothing before, but isn't art for the observer?  The artist gets enjoyment from the process, of course, and that's why they create the art, but the spectator just sees the finished project, as in all art forms.  I don't know.

Figurative Artist -- Mario Diltiz

The artist I chose was Mario Dilitz, who works in bronze, wood, and also impressions. I was most drawn to his life-sized wood sculptures.  His biology says that he combined traditional sculpture method with technical techniques.  

   The wood he uses, it is noted, is laminated, because traditional wood wouldn't be able to withstand the sculpting.  He lives in Austria and has been putting on shows since 2009.  

    I really like his wood sculptures, because the faces all have an expression, and anatomically they're very well done.  They look like living people that you could touch, and their skin would be warm.  They have bone bumps and places where they're chubbier, and they just look like real humans. 

His website is: 

http://www.mariodilitz.com/en/home/?no_cache=1

Vessel

   To make these pieces I had to learn to throw on the wheel, which was a challenge all in itself.  Originally, I wanted to make longer, skinnier cups, but every time I got the piece to the height and the width I wanted, inevitably something would happen, so I gave up on the specificity of that design for shorter, wider cups.  I almost think that that worked out better, in the long run. Another challenge was the forshortening of the faces.  I don't know if you would call it foreshortening in this term, but I was trying to take the flat fronts of the cups and give them dog/canine faces.  So, I slipped-scored clay noses to the front to try to make it look like the noses were coming out, but I don't know how well I accomplished that.
   All in all, I think it was really successful and I am so happy!  Some of the old glazed I used disn't work out so well … I sort of expected that to happen, though.  So, I'm going over it with clear glaze. But it looks much better than I thought it would, and I'm so happy to see everything that I worked on as a viable product.  I honestly thought they were going to explode in the kiln or somehow break before I ever got to see them finished.
     I hope that they're going to be functional.  I hope I can fix up the glaze enough to be able to drink out of them.  That would be the coolest thing ever.
     All characters are owned by Tom Siddell.

Pinterest Inspiration Board

It's here. 

Molds

I hate molds.

I did not do a full size mold because my vessels were slowly drying and I was in a bit of a panic, so I did one of the ice cube molds.  I don't know if it was my fault or if that was just what the mold looked like, but it came out looking insanely creepy.  And I couldn't fit the clay into all the crevices?  

   There was that same lack of control, I guess.  Maybe if I ever use one of the bigger molds, I'll like the experience better.

Pit Firing

I guess my process was the same as the sort as the lady in the video showed us?  I didn't really use a form, though, because I wanted a smaller cup than a juice cup. (I'm making this for my mother for her birthday, and she likes small pottery cups.)  So, I sort of just eyed how much clay I would need.  It wasn't really the best process, I don't think, because there was an excess of clay on the walls, and they got all wavy. Also the clay cracked before it was biqused, and I think that was because there was an excess of clay.  So.
      I don't know if this is a style I'm drawn to? I sort of put the burning stuff wrong, so it doesn't look as good as I wanted to.  If I could do it correctly, I think that it would be a really interesting technique.  I don't really like the lack of control, either.

Relief

For my piece, I made four tiles.  I'm waiting for them to be glaze fired, so I can paint the hand with acrylics.  I really liked my hand.  The hand in the middle.  I'm not usually good at drawing hands, so that's one of the reasons why I wanted to do one in clay, just as practice.  It came out far better than expected, though, so I'm very happy. 

     I used a process that was very much the same as the practice relief tile I made, with the leaves, except I think I made the tiles too skinny, or else I just scraped too much off, because they're very thin.  The bottom left hand one actually broke, and I gave up trying to fix it because that was breaking it more. So hopefully I'll be able to glue them together later. I'm pretty proud of my flowers, the Baby's Breath, I guess.  I attached a whole bunch of little balls of clay onto a raised up piece of clay through scoring, and then I just pulverized them with a clay tool, so they're all uneven and mushed in several places, and have a texture to them.  I show more detailed pictures when I finish.  I glazed the back a clearish/white, the daisy petals purple, and the centers yellow. 

   Next time, I think I'll be more carefully with everything.  Maybe more precise as well.  Halfway through, I got very exasperated with it, because the clay kept drying up and I had to redo the hand several times, so I didn't take as much time as I should've and broke it and made it uneven and didn't texture it as much as I would've liked to.  

    I made the piece for practice with hands, but also because I just had this image in my mind.  I don't know where it came from, but I liked the simplicity of the colors but thought that the actually sculpting would be complex.  

Mini Project

This is my clay mini project!  I don't think it has been fired yet. Anyways, I really enjoyed working on this, but I'm sort of disappointed because they don't really have the texture of real leaves?  But at the same time, I wanted the veins to bump out, instead of indent, which is what would've happened if I'd laid a leaf on it . . . but, I really enjoy clay, so.

I guess I took two pictures of this one so you could see the structure of it?  It was supposed to be an airplane, and when you opened it up the airplane would look like it was flying?  Um, I guess I'll give myself credit for trying.  The real problem with this is that I hate meausuring and can't cut a straight line to save my life, and also this wasn't really well planned out?  Because I thought I understood what I was doing, but it was only when I had stuff glued and cut that I realized it was going to go together as I had planned.   

      I improvised a bit.  And I probably won't be using paper again. 

I really liked the cardboard project. I think I liked it the best out of all of them.  I messed up the planning, though. I should've just had the wiggles underneath the hand, instead of going down to the bottom layer?  At the same time, though, I think that would make the hand look flat, and I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.