I was recently asked to define the benefits of working with Sarah Sloboda – an idea I loved – because to date, I am unsure as to whether I have truly written anything that captures the essence of my mentality when I am photographing something, or otherwise creating something. Read More
Excitedly, I used some glass from my 30th birthday ceremony in my latest ceramic glazing experiment. The piece I was glazing was one of the first pieces I threw on the wheel. Twice, it was going to be a bowl, until I pulled up too far and caused the top to fall off. What was left was a base (perfect for a candle holder), and a wavy, delicate rim, and the shape delighted me for some reason, so I decided to fire it.
I recently turned 30, and I wanted the celebration to be a reflection of my life, as I saw it in the beginning as a small child, how it has evolved through the years, and how I am now stepping forward with all of this experience into my future.
I am very excited to have successfully thrown a couple of pots on the potter’s wheel. This was not an easy feat for me!
The first step in the process is called “centering,” during which you shape the clay into a cone, and then flatten it, and cone it and flatten it again, until it spins in the center of the wheel without showing any signs of wobble.
The trick is bracing your elbows against your body so that your hands put even pressure on the clay. You make yourself as solid as possible so that the clay moves in the way you are directing it – rather than having a wobbly mound of clay make you move and wobble, too! Read More
Briefly, I wanted to show off some of the amazing talent of my friend and client, Christina, whose wedding I photographed this year. Christina and I were introduced through a mutual friend, and then discovered that we both take classes at the same ceramic studio – Choplet.
Christina hand-made all of her own centerpieces for her wedding in ceramics. I was completely blown away by the concept of a “modern farm,” that she managed to make both elegant and adorable. Read More
In getting into the spirit of a new season of ceramics classes, I decided to experiment with some Italian air-dry red clay. I started playing around with a chunk of it (it’s more rubbery than the white ceramic clay we use at the Choplet ceramics studio), and the next thing I knew I was working on this little hollowed out tree stump.
I like the idea of a hollow tree stump, its carcass an open shell to contain new life or just air, or in my case, perhaps become a pencil holder. In other words, the little form that took shape in my hands made me think of real tree stumps, having passed through a life so full and rich
that it grew wide and strong… and then passed into the phase we call “death,” rotted away on the inside, and eventually dried out. The whole process providing life cycles to countless organisms, I find it fascinating to think of the decades involved in the process of the creation of a real hollowed out tree stump, which in turn, provides the perfect little hiding place for a raccoon to peek out from, or for a child to come upon, and imagine fairies and nymphs throwing soirees.
My little tree stump took several days to dry out on my windowsill. It was fun getting a practice run at ceramics again before starting a new class – this fall, I’m learning to throw on the potter’s wheel!
