Ceramics: Bamboo on bamboo… for bamboo

Our most recent class was slip casting. So there's moulds, and you pour in liquid clay, let it set a bit, then pour it all out. The master wanted us to try to do layers with colour, so then we can carve the outermost layers and see the inside with another colour.

He had 2 moulds of sake bottles and said we'd take turns to do it. But when the first people were doing it, it was taking a long time, so we went to look for other moulds. I saw this bamboo themed cup or, vessel, or whatever, and figured I'd make a bamboo.

Originally, I had planned a design of dark blue outer layer, then I'd carve a circle to show the yellow moon (second layer colour) against a silhouette of a cat (couldn't decide if remain the cat on the outermost blue layer or let it go in deeper)... but after finding this bamboo cast, I decided, nah.

However, the master only had ready made blue, yellow, red and white porcelain slip. So, he had me mix a colour. Going in blind, I used a lot of an apple green mixed with a bit of dark grass green and a tiny tiny bit of phoenix green (dark blue green kind of thing). I don't know the final colour coming out though. The master said he'd make a cookie to see what the color would be like. Okay...? Meanwhile, I have to get to carving.

Using a bamboo shaped and green coloured thing has rendered my initial moon and cat design moot, so... without much thinking, I thought I'd make a bamboo pattern on the sides.

And then, promptly figured out, the outer layer was a bit too thick. The master said to keep the outer later a bit thicker so we can allow for some mistakes, but this has made carving designs a bit difficult.

Anyway, for now, one side bamboo is done, I have to make the other side next week. It's gonna be a pain though, as just those 3 rods of bamboo gave me a lot of headache already. The other side has 4 sticks of bamboos LOL, I might have to change the design a bit. I'll hunt for my set of wood carving tools and bring them to the next class, I think the carving tools I have would probably be a bit better for what I have to do, and going in so deep (because the first layer is too thick). Next time I know, maybe just keep the first layer slip cast for a minute (he had us wait for more than 2 minutes).

I probably should wait until the whole thing comes out of the kiln before posting, but I'm impatient. I can't wait to see my friend's design though, she was planning on a Van Gogh-esque Starry Night kind of swirls. It's not going to be easy, especially since we have to go in so deep.

Friday Five 9-June-2023

thefridayfive 

1. How many meetings do you have this week? Let's count classes as meetings.
This week I had an extra meeting. There's a regular meeting on Monday, but I don't have to do much, just to make sure the Zoom gadgets are working. Tuesday was an extra meeting that was like an intro to a potential service provider for something. That was a little embarrassing as the other party got wind from my surname that I'm of "some German-speaking country" and so I just said "yeah, Dad from Austria" and they went on to say that they're actually from Austria as well, from Vienna. I didn't really want to go down that route as I'm very very very cold in intro meetings, but the other party seemed enthusiastic, so I just quipped the province (province? State?) my Dad is from and made the meeting move on. On every other Wednesday I have a big scale meeting and this week just so happened to be meeting week. So, work related meetings there were 3.

Counting classes as meetings then I had 2 classes, Tuesday and Thursday, of ceramics.

2. How many of those meetings are in-person (as opposed to online or by telephone)?
The Tuesday meeting was online. The Monday and Wednesday meetings have a Zoom option but I usually prefer to be IN the conference room where there are the most people, because I can hear things better. The classes are definitely in-person.

3. Is anything actually accompliished during the meetings you attend?
Let's be real. LOL. I'm not answering that hahaha.

4. Do you enjoy the meetings you attend?
These meetings usually don't really involve me, but I like to know about what's going on in the company, so I do enjoy them; even when people are just dragging stuff out.

5. Do you do anything special to keep yourself entertained during long, boring meetings?
I sort of have the freedom to look at my phone and stuff if needed because I'm constantly working to arrange stuff for the boss, so yeah, sometimes if a meeting drags on, I'll look at my phone. But when it's a Zoom meeting and the camera is on me, I would be the most attentive person ever, even if my brain is elsewhere. Like the Tuesday meeting, the other party had 2 attendees. The speaker spoke, I listened, and the other person was like moving around so much, drinking water, moving her computer, and this and that. I know they don't have to pay much attention, but, I don't know, for the sake of the zoom meeting, just pretend to sit still maybe?