Dear Ceramicists!

Want more valuable ceramics blogs?  You've probably seen this listing already. But, if not, I challenge you not to find at least a few to add to your blog list...

http://www.guidetoartschools.com/library/best-ceramics-blogs

Enjoi!!

Where has the time been going?!

Oh my goodness!! It's only 1 week away that I leave for the East Coast!! I could not be more excited!! A wonderful journey lies ahead--I am first visiting my friend Julia Whitney at Peter's Valley where she is a summer assistant. Love her and her work and can't wait to see them both!!

Then it's on to Snow Farm where I am Head of Ceramics for their High School Summer Program. It's going to be great, ceramics all day everyday with a group of ambitious, talented high-school age students. The campus is in the mountains of western Mass, so very beautiful and peaceful. We are far enough away from civilization to feel secluded and intimate but definately close enough for a quick drive for afternoon ice cream or a lobster roll at the local roadside stand. In the words of Rebecca Black: "fun, fun, fun, fun." Thats not to say we don't all work hard; its definately a work hard, play hard, go to bed uber tired type situation.

AND THEN: When I return from Snow Farm we only have 3 weeks to move to North Carolina! I am a little stressed about all the logistics: finding a job, apartment, moving all the stuff without breaking the bank, and oh, yes, riding with my baby cat in a car for over 10 hours....but I'm soooo, sooo, sooo excited to move into my studio at the Odyssey and get working!

sooo...soon I will be posting images from the looong drive, stay with Julia, images of my student's work, definately the raku, and most likely other studio adventures ( last year this involved leeches and rats rotting in a rain-filled barrel ).
Til then, Take care lovelies!!

I need a sensei

Nothing like a massive mold fail to ruin one’s day.  This one definitely makes the last mold fail look like a dang picnic.  I think its time I take a mold making class so I can learn what I have been doing wrong.  If anyone knows of one or can recommend a specific person to try to take one with, I would greatly appreciate it.

 It’s so annoying, never does a mold I make for fun break, only those that I have spent countless hours preparing.  This time it was a vertebrae cup I was particularly fond of.  It’s been waiting to be cast for about 2 months now because that’s about how long it’s been since I had a day free between work, my drawing show, and springtime busy-ness.

I’m not quite sure what happened but, basically, the plaster came out the bottom of the mold in a pretty little (giant) puddle.  I'm fairly certain that it was related to the cup had waited so long to be cast and had been repeatedly reconstituted.  (I have been casting in greenware state, works well for most forms so far, but apparently not tumblers) 



I tried to save it by frosting the plaster on, but the terror was so great that it was not possible to cast the other half after the plaster set. No salvaging any of it.  I was hoping to at least be able to cast the bottom half of the tumbler and maybe turn it into mugs.  



Here’s the giant mess.  It would not have been so bad, but it just felt so good to throw it on the floor malevolently.  It wasn't worth the time to try to save any of it.

In other happier news...my website has images up of the new drawings I did for my recent solo. 
Check them out here:   http://elainebuss.com/section/220611_Drawings.html

If you are interested in having any of my drawings or prints made of them please let me know and we can definately arrange it!!

Until next time, Take Care!!



Dear Studio, I am sorry

Ernie has become a storage space:

So all the work for my upcoming drawing show and the residency applications I have been sending out has left me no time to work in my clay studio.  I feel guilty and sad for my lonely, neglected studio.  I wrote this letter:

Dear Clay Studio,

I am sorry that you have been neglected the past couple weeks.  Yes, I realize that bucket of reclaim is ready to be dried and wedged. And yes, vertebrae cup, I do care, and I do want to cast you. It’s just, you know, there’s another medium:  drawing.  Yes, I know it is not as fulfilling as you, but as soon as this show is over, we will continue on as if nothing every happened.  So be patient.  I will return soon. 

Forever yours,

  Lainey

Upcoming Show!!

I have been offered a solo of my drawing work at Lotus Arts in St. Louis on Cherokee (2608 Cherokee) Beautiful space! So very excited to show there!! I am working hard to get ready. Some of the drawings can be seen on my website.

 

The show, titled “Common Infinities” will be up from April 23^rd to June 3^rd.  The reception will be on May 6^th, from 7-10 pm.   There is another fantastic show happening that night at Mad Art. It is the MFA Thesis show of Dan Van Tassell (dvtceramics.com) and Brett Freund. 

After checking out the space I decided I wanted to make a couple smaller sized drawings.  As promised, here are some in progress pics:

I begin with white paper.  Basically the drawings are developed in the beginning by spraying ink and paint onto paper and allowing it to dry so that it creates beautiful filigree-like edges. 

This is the first stage of this set--looks like, well. yep.

    Drawings at various states in what I call the puddle-layering process.  (I know, so technical)

                                                                                                 

     
    This spot looked really nice, had some great qualities.  I especially enjoy the sheen on the blue--Bling!










    

    The same drawings further in the process, and a new baby in the middle...

      Thought the clay people may enjoy this-- The way the ink settled on the above drawing and detail at left looked really similar to the orange-peel affect you can achieve in atmosphere kilns--this one reminded me of some of my tea sets and vertebrae cups.

  




     This is what a drawing looks like when the puddle process is complete. I know it does not look like much at all, but once I work back into it with dry media, it changes quite a bit. Since this specific set was intended to be made into smaller drawings, I will find interesting areas and tear them down into smaller compositions. Below is another drawing that was just finished.

Anyway, come to the show!! Beautiful art, good food, and great company—what else is there to be desired!?

Hello Hello!!

        Hello all! thank you much for checking out my blog! This is the first post and I am learning as I go.  The purpose of this blog will be to follow my studio adventures in my home ceramics studio.  I recently graduated, and so I am undergoing the shift from school-studio to the new challenges of a private studio.  For your enjoyment, I will post images from my studio, images of others' work that I think is fantastic, and some of my own images.  If you are overcome with excitement, and would like to see images of my work now, the url is:

elainebuss.com

To kick off my blog, I thought it would be fun to post some studio images so you can get to know the environment in which I work:

Here is a view of my work table-I've recycled an old glass pane from an entertainment center to function as a dry-erase board for to-do lists.  Works amazingly!

This is my wheel, Ernie.  He is a Brent Model B.  Usually he stays much cleaner than this photo would leave one to believe.  We all have our bad days.

This is how I dry work faster in my basement level studio--works, make the studio smell good and adds to the ambience. What more could I require of my drying?

Ahh, the infamous vertebrae cup mold fail.  This is what it looks like when your mold walls fail.  Bad Day.



       And not to be forgotten, one of my favorite parts of my studio: my ipig, Gilbert.  His poor little ear does need some sort of stitches, butterflying, or minor surgery. But he is content and still makes my studio tunes happen for me.

    Thank you again for checking out my blog.  I hope to post often (as often as ceramics will allow--she is a jealous lover)    

         

                                Take care!