The last time I had clay to work with was in my first year of high school. I was twelve years old. Working with such a different medium now is certainly stretching me. Apart from the novelty of the tasks we've been assigned, there are all sorts of practical challenges. We're supposed to roughly shape the lump and then allow it to dry to just the right stage where it can be carved without making dust. Last week I let the clay get too dry. Now all I can do is sand it lightly--outdoors so I don't fill my lungs with fine powder. Yesterday I got carried away with shaping the wet clay. I ended up with an exciting form which was too fragile to handle. I left it for the rest of the afternoon to harden. By bedtime some areas were firming up nicely while others were still wet. What to do? I gently manouvered it into a plastic bag and taped it up. I'm resisting the urge to check on it this morning. I have to take my car to be serviced today. It will have to wait until I get home. Meanwhile my meals have been relegated to a bowl held in my hand. My kitchen table was already half-covered with stitching stuff. Now there's all sorts of clay stuff filling the rest of the space.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
New Media
I mentioned yesterday that this week's homework for Design class consisted of a lump of clay. Here's last week's lump:The last time I had clay to work with was in my first year of high school. I was twelve years old. Working with such a different medium now is certainly stretching me. Apart from the novelty of the tasks we've been assigned, there are all sorts of practical challenges. We're supposed to roughly shape the lump and then allow it to dry to just the right stage where it can be carved without making dust. Last week I let the clay get too dry. Now all I can do is sand it lightly--outdoors so I don't fill my lungs with fine powder. Yesterday I got carried away with shaping the wet clay. I ended up with an exciting form which was too fragile to handle. I left it for the rest of the afternoon to harden. By bedtime some areas were firming up nicely while others were still wet. What to do? I gently manouvered it into a plastic bag and taped it up. I'm resisting the urge to check on it this morning. I have to take my car to be serviced today. It will have to wait until I get home. Meanwhile my meals have been relegated to a bowl held in my hand. My kitchen table was already half-covered with stitching stuff. Now there's all sorts of clay stuff filling the rest of the space.
The last time I had clay to work with was in my first year of high school. I was twelve years old. Working with such a different medium now is certainly stretching me. Apart from the novelty of the tasks we've been assigned, there are all sorts of practical challenges. We're supposed to roughly shape the lump and then allow it to dry to just the right stage where it can be carved without making dust. Last week I let the clay get too dry. Now all I can do is sand it lightly--outdoors so I don't fill my lungs with fine powder. Yesterday I got carried away with shaping the wet clay. I ended up with an exciting form which was too fragile to handle. I left it for the rest of the afternoon to harden. By bedtime some areas were firming up nicely while others were still wet. What to do? I gently manouvered it into a plastic bag and taped it up. I'm resisting the urge to check on it this morning. I have to take my car to be serviced today. It will have to wait until I get home. Meanwhile my meals have been relegated to a bowl held in my hand. My kitchen table was already half-covered with stitching stuff. Now there's all sorts of clay stuff filling the rest of the space.
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