Waxed Teeth

Now time for some waxed teeth!

I've been experimenting with watercoloring the teeth, then dipping them in a crockpot full of "clear" beeswax

I say "clear" because it's really not clear, it's a bit cloudy so the more times you dip the piece, the more subtle the color becomes

There's also a really interesting difference between watercoloring on bisqueware (fired to cone 06 and therefore VERY porous)

And watercoloring on high fire porcelain (fired to cone 10 and therefore not porous at all)

And also if you dip the piece in the wax when the watercolor is still wet, vs. dipping it after the color is completely dry

So these are the first of what will hopefully be many waxed teeth

There’s a couple more that aren’t represented here, mostly because they were without watercolor–just bare porcelain dipped in wax.  Most likely when it comes time to do the actual installation of the “dreamcatcher”, I will only use bare porcelain + wax and skip the watercolor step.  I do like the effect of the watercolor, but I think when there is 100+ of them, it will just be overwhelming and confusing if they are all watercolored.  I’d rather keep it clean and simple.  So for now, the watercolor will only happen on a select few and maybe on future sculptural teeth that are separate from the “dreamcatcher” installation.  Just for the purposes of experimenting, I recently fired a couple teeth to cone 6, something inbetween 06 and 10 to see how that temperature takes the watercolor.  I’ll probably post those in the next week or so for comparison…  Plus they will be out of an oxidation kiln instead of reduction so that will also cause some variation in the overall tone of the porcelain.  Stay tuned for more fun with porcelain, slip-casting, teeth and wax!

Glazed Teeth

Unfortunately, these are probably the only glazed teeth that will ever exist… At least for now!  I’m so in love with the watercolor/wax technique that I plan on just focusing on developing that further and leaving glaze by the wayside.  Trying to glaze the teeth on all sides just became a complete nightmare and I’ve decided to give up on glaze for now.  Sadly, I also ruined the work of many other people during my glaze disasters so…  Perhaps if I ever own my own kiln and can run my own firings without anyone else’s work being affected, then I would bring glaze back into these pieces, but for now I love the wax, and I’m not sure why I would ever glaze these again!

Anyways, here’s all the pieces that survived the many disasters of the glaze kiln:

A crawly glaze

A pretty layered celadon mix

I love when Shinos do ridiculous things like this...

Another greasy looking crawler

Another oddly textured one

The first of the itty bitty ones

Itty Bitty Number 2

Another mini

Last of the surviving glazed

So yeah!  Glazed teeth.  If you have any questions about the glaze combos on each of these, feel free to ask–in theory I know what they all are…!  Next up I’ll either finally share the glaze disaster story(ies) or post some better photos of all the waxed teeth…

Post Show & Sale Post

OK, so I lied about getting all caught up on the blogging while visiting my family and friends in Virginia…  In fact, I didn’t even manage to do much of anything AFTER returning from Virginia…  What can I say, I’ve been lazy, unmotivated and uninspired for nearly a month… but now I’m back!!

So lets jump right in with some photos from the Show & Sale…

I chose to do the least you can do: share a bank of shelves with another person

My top shelf was all the framed pieces from Post-Processualism and the middle shelf all teeth

The night before, I experimented with watercolor and wax

And I LOVE the results!! I'm definitely planning on doing more with the wax/watercolor combo

This was a glaze fusion accident that I really like, so I showed a mix of traditionally glazed pieces and waxed/watercolored pieces

In terms of sales, I ended up selling 3 pieces, which to be honest was unbelievably shocking since the show and sale is overwhelmingly dominated by pots and people looking for pots…  I was really planning on just showing them, not actually selling any so to have 3 teeth walk out the door was crazy to me!!  I only sold raw porcelain pieces; since I had just watecolored/waxed them the day before, I wasn’t willing to risk parting with any waxed or glazed ones yet so they were all marked Not For Sale.

Next up, I fnally took some “real” (ish) photographs of all the teeth after the sale so I will post them soon.  In the meantime, a little gem taken at the studio today:

The first successful cast of the largest tooth to date was born today--it's baby-sized!

Sculpture Residency!!

Oh!  And I got a residency!!  I got the official acceptance letter today (even though I’ve known about it for a few weeks now) with the handbook and request for a deposit.  Of course it has to cost money, which is most unfortunate, but they’ve agreed to pay for half through grant aid and work study, so I figure I ought to be able to save up the rest.  It isn’t until November, so I have plenty of time to prepare for it (which is really good–if it was this summer as I’d originally hoped, I wouldn’t be ready for it!!) and it’s at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnston, VT.  I’ll be going for sculpture for a month from November 22-December 18.  It’s sort of unfortunate that it falls on Thanksgiving, but seeing as I don’t really go home for the holiday anyways (VA is pretty far to travel for only a weekend), I don’t really mind.  And winter in Vermont will just mean that there really isn’t anything else to do except concentrate on my work, and isn’t that the whole point of a residency?  So I’m pretty psyched about that.  I didn’t have to specify any plans about how I want to spend my time there, but I’ve got a few ideas…  so we’ll see where I’m actually at when November rolls around…

And since I went ahead and started a new entry, I might as well try to do some catch up work:

3 "Mini" teeth, Blue box of real wisdom teeth (donated by Casey--thanks Casey!!), and beginning of a new "giant" tooth

Finished "giant" tooth, realistically modeled after one of Casey's wisdom teeth--pictured side by side to give a sense of scale

Completed 3-part mold of Casey's wisdom tooth

First successful porcelain cast of Casey's wisdom tooth

"Mini" teeth glazed and waiting for their turn in the Cone 10 Reduction Kiln... sadly none of these survived, they all melted into a disastrous pile

Tooth on a post, waiting for Cone 10 Reduction Kiln--I promise I'll tell the story of the ruined teeth soon... the wound is still a little too raw, even after all these weeks...

I’ve also been working on some EVEN BIGGER teeth than the biggest ones pictured here.  Two have been modeled and molded, but not cast yet so… hopefully they will all work as intended.  I’m finishing up the last of them this weekend and will test cast them after I return from VA in another week and a half so stay tuned for more on those… Plus the horrific glaze kiln disaster story, and pics of the new waxed teeth that I’m loving!  I haven’t actually photographed any of them yet (hopefully they won’t all be sold before I have a chance!), so I’ll try to do a lot of that this weekend before leaving the city.  So don’t touch that dial!  I’ll be right back with more…

Harvard Ceramics Program Spring 2009 Show & Sale

I’ve been really really bad at keeping up with this over the last month, so here’s a super fast update.  Teeth, teeth, and more teeth.  Modeling teeth, making molds of teeth, casting teeth, firing teeth, glaze testing teeth, painting teeth and waxing teeth.  There has also been some exciting dental work–both temporary and permanent crowns, as well as teeth donations from other people, teeth stories for the Teeth Stories website, and so much more…

Tonight was the secret special “preview” for the Harvard Ceramics Studio Spring Show & Sale, which means those who work at the studio and close friends of the studio are invited to a “sneak peak” of all the work and are allowed first dibs on anything they’re interested in buying.  I decided to actually do the Show & Sale this time, cause why not?  The last one was in the winter (it’s semi-annual) and I was in the middle of frantically making sheets for the show at the Arsenal so participating in the Show and Sale was of absolutely no interest.  But this time I figured I might as well–I didn’t think I would actually sell anything, but thought it would be nice to show some things and maybe it would motivate me to resolve a few pieces.  Imagine my disbelief when two teeth walked out the door tonight!  And the show hasn’t even officially opened yet!  Here’s the card for it:

Harvard Ceramics Program Spring 2009 Show & Sale Postcard

So yeah!  Maybe you should think about coming by if you’re in the area!  Regardless of my teeth, the show and sale is always full of amazing and beautiful work from all the professional potters that work in the studio, so if you’re into ceramics at all (and probably even if you’re not), you’re bound to find something you like here.  The work at the show never fails to amaze me, even when I see it in process hanging around the studio.  And maybe you’ll find yourself walking out with a tooth in your hand…

In any event, I’ll include some photos of the latest teeth–I watercolored and waxed a bunch of them yesterday and am super happy with the results so I’ll have to show them off soon.  Assuming they don’t sell before I can photograph them!  And I’ll try to be better at posting new entries.  And don’t forget to check out Teeth Stories if you haven’t done so already.  I’ve begun posting requests for entries on Craigslist so hopefully lots of new and intersting stories will begin pouring in…