8/01/2013

Bleeding for my Ice Cream


Summer session has finally come to an end here in Tallahassee, and for me it has been a very short yet fulfilling semester. This would be my second semester taking a course with Pamela Theis, and like the last I have gained so many new skills in clay under her guidance.

Since I came to school with prior experience with wheel throwing it is a process I'm much more comfortable with. It's faster and I don't find it as intimidating as hand-building with clay. Production work is something I have grown every fond of in all areas of my work so I was definitely enthusiastic to approach the wheel on a more "serious" level.

Some new forms I have fallen in love with are the enclosed form and double-walled bowl. These seem to go against one of the very first lessons that is learned about wheel throwing: DO NOT TRAP AIR (because all your hard work will explode in the kiln). My interest in exploring these new structures served as a jumping off point for driving my concepts in the class.