Getting Back Into The Studio

"Practice, practice, practice." These are three words that my Dad always told me growing up; anytime I felt defeated, he was there to remind me to keep practicing. This past week I had many moments where I considered my studio time to be nothing but practice. It was my first week of my Junior year of college, and my first time back in the studio after taking three months off to work for Crossings Ministries in the-middle-of-nowhere Kentucky. I spent hours at the studio, wedging clay and throwing, only to end up with piles of wobbly mush instead of the vessels I was hoping to create. I had a plan, which was to make a ton of salsa bowls to sell at my upcoming shows and to get a few mugs completed for my ceramic's class project, but that did not exactly go as planned. It was definitely a humbling experience; a moment where I was reminded that there is always room for improvement. This is a lesson I think all artists need to be reminded of every now and then: "practice, practice, practice."

A few things I hope to get better at this semester are creating solid concepts with my pieces (I want to explore storytelling through visual art.) and pulling the walls of my thrown vessels (Basically, pulling clay means to raise the sides of your piece with your fingers. You essentially pull the clay towards to top as it spins on the wheel, giving the object its height. I often pull the walls too thin, while somehow leaving the bottom way too thick.). With that being said, improvement will only happen the more I work in these areas and create things outside of my comfort zone. I will have to continue to practice. I am excited to see how I grow this semester as an artist, and I am excited to have the opportunity to share that here on my blog.

I cannot say that I did not throw anything successfully, but this was not one of those successful pieces. This piece was supposed to be a cylinder at first, and it fell in on itself shortly after I took this photo.