Pushing It, or, Fat Lips

I took a course with Shawn Spangler recently, called Throw and Alter. Here is a progression I went through in the early weeks of the class. Apologies in advance some of these photos are dim.

Following my teacher's demonstration, I threw a bowl with a hollow lip--a neat way to add some volume to your piece without adding a lot of extra weight. Then, I altered it by pressing a rib into the lip in four places. This had a way of making it look slightly puffy.



I made another bowl and did this again but tried to exaggerate the effect, this time pressing the the rib in further, so the four puffy parts even look like lobes, which you can see from the top. I also pushed out from inside the bowl a bit, thinking I was squaring out the piece but I don't know that achieved the desired effect. But anyway, you have to show the clay who's boss sometimes.



I then tried to get more extreme, and threw a bowl with an even larger hollow lip. When pressing down with the rib, I actually cut through the rim, which really emphasized the fat, puffy form. It is starting to look like an inflated raft or link sausages or something. On a larger scale, this could be a very impressive centerpiece bowl, or could have a handle across the top and be a quirky ceramic basket.

I really like this idea of making hollow components to my work, giving it a fun chunkiness but without heaviness.

Mission Statement Impossible

We bought our first house and have been having new floors installed.

That sentence doesn't even begin to explain what a time-consuming process each of these things has been. Not to mention the World Series and Election Day; so while I had good intentions of more blog posts this fall, it just didn't happen.

I did, however, start taking a course through an organization called the Women's Business Development Center. It's called JumpStart, a series of classes that goes over stuff you'd want to know to start your own business. I do sell my pottery casually through word of mouth, and at the two craft fairs earlier this year, but I would like to have more focus as I go about it, I'd like to get myself together to create a store on etsy.com, get my work into some more galleries and shops (p.s. I do have ware at VIX Emporium now), and eventually turn this into a livelihood and leave my part time job. I thought taking this class would help me devise my exit plan by helping me clarify my thoughts about what I am doing, and give me more confidence as well.

One of the most applicable things I've gotten from this class has been to write a mission statement. Probably for the last year I have been trying to understand what my work is about, and have attempted to write a satisfying artist's statement. I think going over the mission statement in class helped me understand what the point of an artist's statement is (or could be): as a way to articulate your values while describing what you do. I think in the case of art, you tend to figure it out in conjunction with the making of the work. But that in turn means sometimes you need to stop making, and pause to reflect upon what you have made. I need to reflect more.

In class we did an exercise where we broke into groups and wrote a sample mission statement. Our group just made up a business (a holistic spa) and wrote the mission statement on that. It was helpful to do, and it came together rather easily. One thing we noticed was that once we had written the statement, the made-up name for the spa didn't really fit anymore, an example of how the mission statement ends up guiding the business.

I went home and tried to write one for myself. I wanted to convey that I make ceramics for casual use in people's homes, not precious or fragile, and that there is something uncommon about it, a little odd, or off, and perhaps humorous, but still well-made. I also like to think that many of my pieces have specific identities and I know sometimes I feel like I have a relationship with my mugs and bowls. People always have a favorite mug.

So far I've got: "Carol Han Ceramics produces handmade ceramic items that are made with care and attention to craft, but also live comfortably with you in your home, bringing an upbeat and offbeat attitude to your life."

I sort of want to call the business something other than Carol Han Ceramics, which sounds a little formal and doesn't really say anything about the work other than someone named Carol Han probably made it. I've already spent plenty of time working on it, but although I have some ideas, don't think I've nailed it just yet.