CLAY POWER

In the Cert IV class at CIT Ceramics Studio which focuses on investigating and experimenting, we've zipped through a really busy program of skill sets this term.  We've done handmade teapots, boxes and now we are pushing on with the subject of wall art.  Last week we had a short slide show via my iPad and the digital projector (so easy) to illustrate the diverse possibilities, looking at artists in working clay and other media.  Then we got started on our designs and clay models.  The purpose of this wall art project is to teach the students how to make a simple model from which to make a one piece plaster drop mould and then go on to make multiple copies to arrange as wall art.

Mel is working on a cluster form

At first I thought the students weren't keen on the idea of wall art and all the processes involved, but that gave way quickly to some enthusiastic sketching and planning.

 Zach was the first to get his model ready and out into the plaster area to form the mould.  Here you can see he's built up cottle walls with bits of MDF and recycled clay to hold the retaining walls in place.  He was at home with mixing plaster having used it previously in a sculpture unit and had worked in the trade at some point.  His clay model was not very big and the walls were firm enough to resist the pressure of  the plaster as we poured it in.  We were in and out of the outdoor plaster area in ten minutes while the sculpture class slathered plaster onto their self portraits behind us.  Then the rest of our class noted what Zach had done and followed suite with little direction from me.

One great thing was that the students were passing on the still soft clay with plaster in it for shoring up their subsequent moulds and the MDF walls were leftovers from the workshop area so the wastage was very low.  Meanwhile back in the classroom the students were working away on their models ...

Tanh, who has the concentration and determination of an athlete and works rapidly, was finessing her two cylinder model with a cool faceted surface texture, we may have to address some fine undercuts near the base though. 

Actually here is a little image transfer tip we used in class.  Rowan, below, had drawn his character in his visual diary and needed to translate it into clay.  We went over his drawing with a pen we'd tested to ensure the ink was water soluble.  We tried a couple of pens out to find the right one.  NB Must buy more!  

First we rolled two slabs of clay and placed them on top of each other, with no slip or water between them, the lower slab is about twice as thick as the top one.  When he pressed the image face down onto the top surface of the 'just rolled' slab of clay, the image transferred easily, a mirror image of the original  We'd also tested this simple transfer technique out with a printed 'inkjet' image earlier in the class to good effect.  For a curved surface such as a cylinder you'd just trim the paper to fit the curve.  

 

We used the print as a guide for cutting around it through the top layer of clay with a sharp knife and a with bevelled edge all round.  Some of the background layer will be kept as a foundation for the 2D image to enhance the sense of dimensionality.  The bevelled edge is to ensure we have no undercuts for when we make the mould.  Next week Rowan will be softening the edges of his clay character with his fingertips and brushing a small wet paintbrush into the cut edges to meld the two layers.  

Of course the ink lines that were transferred will disappear in the firing as the ink has no material content to withstand such temperatures but this transfer system works as a guide for carving, sgraffito or for painting on oxide or under glaze decoration.  I learnt most of these methods from Trudy Golley, Head of Ceramics at Red Deer College in Alberta, Canada while I was at ANU.   No photographic models were needed for this blog posting, I just happen to have a very good looking class.  

You may have learnt something new here or been enthused to try something out as a result of reading my blog, if so I would LOVE to get some comments from you.  Want more?  Pop on over to the Mud Colony Blog, we link our blogs up to Mud Colony between every Thursday and Sunday night - and there may be heaps more clay stuff there for you to enjoy.  

3D PRINTING IN PERTH CIT, a continuing story.

Left an early trial 3D print in clay (unfired) , right, a plastic 'raft' printed by 3D printer

The blogging mojo has been absent in the past couple of weeks due to plain busyness, and yet, of course, so much has been going on in my world.  For one thing teaching at CIT ceramics department has been a wonderful challenge and I am loving being part of the place.  The students are a great bunch and often surprise themselves when they dredge up a previously unknown resourcefulness or ability to put into their clay work.  I loaded a kiln last week full of their handmade teapots and boxes, we are moving onto Wall Art now and making simple drop moulds to replicate their  forms with. 

Meanwhile Graham Hay continues with his residency at CIT and tweaks and twiddles with the 3D printer CIT recently purchased.  It came in kit form and took a while to build. I imagine a ready made one would have cost a lot more given how many man hours went into building it.  The 3D printer was designed to print with a low temperature meltable plastic, this is fed into the printer from what looks like a roll of cable – but the cable is in fact the plastic consumable it prints with. 

In normal parlance the concept of printing entails the laying down of an ‘ink’ of some kind onto a flat substrate – usually paper.  The ink sits on the substrate and dries whether it is a screen print or an inkjet or laserjet of text or images.  Sometimes an ink or paint is printed where we can see and feel the change in surface where the ink sits upon the surface. 

In the case of 3D we are printing but layer upon layer and building upwards from the horizontal plane into a 3D form instead of across a flat 2D surface. 

There were weeks of calibrating our 3D printer and once that was done the hard part now starts.  Now the development of a suitable clay body is underway, one that will pipe through the printer under gentle hydraulic pressure – there is a large pressurised air pump attached.  So as well as the 3D printer a source of compressed air plus a computer are required to make anything happen.  The printed/extruded/piped clay mustn’t be too liquid or it will flop and flow, but must be soft enough to extrude and sit upon itself to build up layer upon layer to create a 3D form. 

I am assuming that you dear reader are smart enough to ‘get it’ if I threw in some hi tech terminology, I am putting this all into my own ‘laymans terms’ to try to explain it. 

So the printed clay, think of a coil pot but the printer is placing the mini ‘coils’, has to hold itself up and take weight while the printer head moves around the form laying down the clay – as directed by the computer.  Personally I find this whole subject completely fascinating.  I love modern technology and materials and I literally lie in bed at night thinking of what the printer might make and what might make the perfect clay composition to work best.  

Here is a short clip of me asking Graham about the printer.

There have been lots of trials and observations of the result of each tweak and change.  Graham lays out the tangible evidence of each test print in sequence on the long table at his station in the ceramics area to be handled and noted, prompting enthusiastic interest and discussion. 

 More – as it happens! 

Now, although I have missed the Mud Colony deadline – let’s hop over there anyhow and see what the other clay bloggers have been doing.  

SKILLS WEST - PERTH CONVENTION CENTRE

Andrea Vinkovic getting a new potter started

What did you do last weekend?  On Friday I went to the Hale Cocktail Preview of their Annual Art at Hale show, sold a lot, spent a lot more and had a great time.  On Sunday at Skills West Expo at Perth Convention Centre I helped on the Central Institute of Technology stand for the Ceramics department.  We demonstrated throwing and helped people to have a go on the pottery wheel.  Practically every single person who saw our stand expressed a desire to 'have a go'.  It was staggering!  I chuckled inwardly at the popular perception that pottery classes are dull - HAH!  Clearly Pottery is the new Knitting.  (Tune in darl, knitting had a huge renaissance about ten years ago.)

Holly Courtney giving guidance

The idea was for anyone considering potential areas of study or apprenticeships they might apply for next year after high school to 'Try a Trade'.  Is Ceramics a Trade?  Mmmm the jury is still out on that, and that would take us to the Art Vs Craft discussion,  - I am long over that one.  Rolls eyes, sips wine.

Tomoko giving throwing tips

There were TAFE stands all over the place at Skills West - the one I most wished to visit was right beside ours, they were such friendly and busy people and they were offering massage!  We had a couple of CIT clay staff (Andrea and me) and some top students manning our stand, two wheels and a whole lotta clay.  People were literally lining up to have a go on the wheel, and it was hard to get them off the wheels once they started getting the hang of it.  We were trying to get them 'processed' as quickly as possible as we had a constant queue of people waiting, right up till the very last minute and ended up turning people away so we could pack up and leave on time.  Just look at the photos to see what I mean.  There were quite a few kids, egged on by their Mums, and then, predictably, the Mum's had a go too.  One couple were so keen on the wheel I suggested they buy a wheel and take some classes.  I believe they will!

So this is a call out to say well done to Andrea Vinkovic - the dynamo whose aim is winning people over to take up clay whether by studying or just taking evening classes.  The students who came to help get people skilled up fast on the wheel were Holly, Isis and Tomoko.  They were enthusiastic throwing instructors and all showed potential for being blooming great teachers.  It was utterly relentless and intense.  I bet numbers for our future classes at CIT will be up as a result!  I am confident that some day in about ten years some young potter will tell me that trying the wheel at Skills West sent them in their career direction!  Hey let's shimmy on over to Mud Colony to read more clay related stuff!  

Young Nadia did really well.  

FINE ART AT HALE - good times.

Alas! (with a wink) of my porcelain laser decal'd nests .... I am out of stock.  They are currently all out in galleries, new homes or sold - and the last six are on sale at the Hale Art Show this weekend.  A  potter pal observed to me lately that the 'nest' body of work is showing how my skills have advanced.  It was a lovely unexpected attaboy from someone I rate.

But Wait!  There's More! Oooh News Update, I went to the Fine Art at Hale Cocktail Preview last night and had a great time with husband Henry.  We spotted that four out of six of my pieces had already sold.  I fell in love with two paintings - one by Lauren Wilhelm and a memorable one by Norm Wilson in acrylic but I cannot seem to find a website or images of his work.  What a show, it truly was a superb gathering of work by WA contemporary artists, mostly paintings, some sculptures, some glass and photography and a reasonable amount of ceramic work most by artists I know - but of course, we'd like to see more next time.  There were plenty of red dots in the memorial hall and it was obvious that people were there to buy and not just for the conviviality.  PS The food and drink were plentiful and top notch!!  I am already looking forward to next years event.

(photo Bill Shaylor, borrowed from Amanda's website)

At the Fine Art at Hale preview I finally bought myself an Amanda Shelsher bust very similar to the one pictured above. Air punch!  It is probably about 50 or 60 cm high and destined for my hall table or somewhere central in our home like the coffee table where we can have her live with us and invent a personality and history around her.   I have been wanting one of these for years, possibly a decade!  I have a feeling it will be the first of many, as I am a big fan of Amanda's work.  I try to buy myself a really good artwork every year and only buy things that lift my heart or move my soul.  

I hope you get some nice attaboys about your work soon too.  See you over at Mud Colony where many other potters are sharing their news and views.

Cracking up, again.

I made a whole body of work, a lot of handbuilt round 45cm (18") platters a few months ago at Central Institute of Technology.  I slowly and patiently dried them, and lost a few, and bisqued some, and lost a few, and fired them, (and over fired some), and lost a few - and I find there aren't that many survivors.  You may recall I posted a few pics as I went along, I covered some with engobe/underglaze, printed on others and imprinted the last few with my own rubber stamps.  I made them carefully, took all precautions I knew of to nurse them along.

So what did I learn?  Not much new apart from noting that I am either really stupid (no can't be that) or unlucky (mmmm?) or just a ridiculously pragmatic optimist.

I learnt .....

• about draughts - from which I tried to protect my work as they dried slowly while loosely clad in plastic.  Draughts are obviously sneaky little buggers, they hide themselves well and then dry a part of a rim, cause an imbalance of tension as it dries and woo hoo - an insidious crack in my lovingly formed work.
• that I am remarkably patient and that although I went into that residency with a plan, it somehow shifted and became less important as the weeks went by.  
• that hand carved rubber stamps have a lot to add to a chunky piece of work, this was a direction I had not seen coming, I enjoy carving my own rubber stamps to press into my clay - as do several of my students.  So - a win.  
• about letting go with your losses and losing the angst fast.  I'm good at that, the piece is dead, move on, make more.  
• that some dark clays have so much iron in them that when you fire them to their highest recommended temperature you gain a gritty dark toastiness that obliterates many surface finishes.  Actually I already knew this, but the overfiring was a bit OTT.
• that sometimes 'burnt toast' work can look like woodfired stuff - even though that is not one's aesthetic and I'd rather leave that to the experts.  
• that blaming the clay doesn't get you anywhere (It was BRT dark, gritty and plastic) and possibly the one I used would not be suitable for large thick flatware.  It made up beautifully, but I got a lot of cracking in the drying alone.  
• I even threw some shallow cylinders to add as stands or feet on my platters, and noted that though the clay is super gritty, it is manageable and quite pleasant to throw, as long as you arent a total wuss about the dermabrasion bonus.
• I learnt for this body of work I may need a white mid fire clay - and stop getting this mucky dark stuff in among my porcelains, or maybe stop with the low and midfire platter idea - or work out how to do something in that vein in porcelain ; >7  
• I learnt the path to the skip and the catharsis of first smashing and then dumping the stuff and walking away.  
• I learnt that I am really glad I hadn't committed to a solo exhibition anytime soon based on that residency.  

I know I will go back and do it all again, with different clay, just not too soon.  Interestingly, I was mucking out (because it sometimes feels like that) my home studio yesterday and found five platters kept aside for glazing from the first time I had a go at platters, and I liked them again once I'd removed all the cobwebs and dust.  Fun will be had getting them tidied up and glazed and overall reinvented.  I have come full circle and I like it.

 See you over at Mud Colony where many other potters are sharing their news and views.