2017 Progress Report: February

I was actually planning on posting the March Progress Report, but then it came to my attention that for whatever reason, I have not posted the February Report yet, even though it has been ready for some time.

Anyway, February was when everything got started. This month's focus was almost entirely on clay projects. The challenging part was that I was finally starting to run out of the clay I had bought 2 years ago. So I had to think of creative way to make pieces that looked interesting, but used a minimal amount of clay. For some pieces, this brought up some structural issues. For example, in picture #14, that piece didn't make it because it was too easy to break. I wouldn't say it was doomed from the start. There was a 50/50 chance it could have survived. Aside from making pieces minimal, I'm also making some pieces that look somewhat similar to work I did last year, only it won't look the same when they're done.

So that's all for February. Hopefully, the March post will be up in a few days while the Weekly Report will hopefully arrive by next Saturday. So enjoy the post and share it with as many people as possible.

2/1/17: This is the first picture from 2017. Even though this looks a lot like a project I was working on last year, only the design lookks similar. I plan on doing something very different with it.

2/1/17: I like this piece, but it'll probably be the last time I make something like this unless I end up making reproduction pieces to sell. But we'll see.

2/1/17: Like the other two pieces, Something different will be done with this one.

2/8/17: While doing burnishing work, the tip broke off. We'll see how this piece continues to evolve thoughout it's development.

2/8/17: This piece stayed intact during the burnishing.

2/8/17: Like this first piece, the tip broke off during the burnishing. 

2/9/17: This was actually a second attempt at making this piece. Other than saggar and raku pieces, I am also focusing more on wall pieces this year since the ones I made in 2016 were very successful. It is also worth noting that with that as well as the other pieces, I am using clay slabs that are a quarter of an inch thick rather than the half inch slabs I used last year. This will make the pieces lighter while using coils on the back will provide reinforcement.

2/15/17: my next wall piece. I had to shorten the piece on the ends to make sure it will fit in the kiln. This was actually inspired by a piece I made back in 2013, except that was not a wall piece.

2/15/17: I wanted to try and give each piece a distinguishable look. I keep seeing clas when I look at this.

2/15/17: This was a challenge to build. I constantly had to worry about it falling apart.

2/15/17: This is a sphere similar to what I build last year, except this will be a saggar piece whereas that one was done in a pit firing.

2/22/17: The bisque firing is done.

2/22/17: The raku glaze work is finished.

2/22/17: As I was running low on clay, the pieces had to get smaller. Still, I like this one. Unfortunately, this piece did not make it. It broke before it had a chance to be fired. I will most likely attempt to make this piece again during the summer.

2/22/17: This one was also a result of me running low on clay. Still, I try to do what I can with what I have.