Go here to see what Seth Apter is up to once again. Although we are identical twins, born several years apart and mysteriously separated at birth, we are both artists. But.... his art work is more creative than I could ever dream of. Go here for the listing and links of all the artists he inspires and admires.
And here is the Buried Treasure from my blog, an entry that reminds me that it's not hard to remain humble when you are trying to make art. There are days when Your Art just stomps on you but you come back day after day anyway, knowing that one day you'll make magic.
From October 20, 2013, Sad Birdies:
Look pretty good, don't they? This picture and the next two were taken by a fellow classmate, Bernie, who has a big honker of a camera. So you think all went well? Right now the Kiln Goddess is laughing her head off.
For starters, notice the small spot on the back of the dark bird below? Somehow the glaze just skipped that spot -- an air bubble? Or did the Kiln goddess spit on it?
Below is a really interesting sort of pink glaze and sheen effect I'll never be able to create again because I have no idea how it happened. Take a close look at the bottom of that bird. See that clunky spot under it? That's a bad bird butt.
Here's a quick shot I took of all the birds from that particular firing.
So you politely ask "Why are they sad?"
They are sad because I screwed up their butts. First, I like to make the birds rattle (they are hollow) so I put BBs in them. Because the birds are hollow I have to make a small hole in the bottom so air can escape. This firing was high-fire for these special glazes, not low-fire which is what I usually do. Much to my dismay (and huge learning experience) the BBs melted this time and flowed out the air hole and made a mess on the bottom of the birds. To make thinks worse, my glazes ran more than I expected and flowed over. AND, even though Susan has warned me a hundred times, some of the birds' butts weren't exactly flat so they fell over in the firing and messed up the glaze.
Out of 17 birds, 8 were a BB disaster, 3 tip over all the time, and 3 had a lousy glaze job. Three are OK. And you thought making art was easy!
6 comments:
You are so hard on yourself. Despite your disappointment they are deliciously plump and fluid. Maybe they're not as sad as you think.
if you said nothing they would be a flick of adorable birds. and now that you've dissed them they're a flock of wabi sabi lovelies :)
Oh sad little birdies.....NOT! Imperfections make them real and interesting. I'm trying to catch up with all you've been doing...love the fantasy birds. And those Hands! A really cool dappled birdie guarding the bacon jam! And let's not forget the acorns...painted with alcohol inks no less. Way to go Susan!
Don,
Do you put BBs in your birdies cuz you like the way they sound? Maybe you've already you tried making little tiny marbles (or tiny BBs)from wet clay? Then wrap them in bits of paper so they don't stick to the innards of the birdies. The paper fires away and the little clay BBs will shake around in there and make a rattle.
P.S. Have you access to a grinding wheel ... might that clean up some of those birdie butts?
well, i would not have noticed the bottom because i was taken with the eye, the wing & the colour of the bird,.....beautiful!
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