Summer 2014 Happenings

In early June I made the decision to postpone work on my projects until sometime in August. This decision was made because I needed a break and because the working conditions in my workspace aren't up to my satisfactory. My workspace is currently in the process of being reorganized and this process with hopefully be finished within a month. Most of what's happening this summer is non-eventuful to most of everyone except me. Nonetheless, here are some other things that are happening while I'm taking a break from artwork.

- I finished some new button designs recently and hope to have them up for sale soon.

- I'm still looking into making a website for myself to serve as a true home for myself on the internet. Right now, I'm in the process of still figuring out what I want. Anything that gets done this month will most likely consist of sketches and overall outlines.

- I've been spending a lot of time thinking about how my new video format is going to work. I know what I want it to focus on as I explained before, but now I'm just figuring out the more technical aspects of the new format. I still hope to start the new video format by the fall.

- This month, I'm hoping to revamp the Etsy store and give long overdue update to my Deviant Art account. Ebay will also be updated with new stuff on sale.

So that's the main focus of this month, to try and take care of the many other aspects of my art other than the artwork. The next post will hopefully be more picture-focused.

Follow-up To The February News Update

Back in February I gave an outline for what I had planned over the next few months. That post was supposed to have been the first of many posts that gave various updates to everything that was going on. That didn't happen. Instead, I'm going to directly update the information I posted in February in the order everything was listed in.

-  I stated earlier this year that three new projects were started. At the time, they were listed as Projects A, B, and C. These were later updated to P1, P2, and P3. The reason for the working title change (yeah, that does sound rather pointless) is because I had updated my to-do list and added these new projects to the list. My projects are always called P-something until they're finished. P1 and P2 were completed and are now known as Paranoid and Duality. You can see them in the pictures below and I would like to do a more extensive post about each one of them sometime in the future. P3 didn't get anywhere because I felt like I needed extra resources and more time to do what I wanted. While the piece is still in development, I put it off to the side to focus on other projects.

Paranoid

Duality

- I was also working on three projects that had already been in development. I managed to finish one which became known as In The Shadows and immediately started on another one which became known as Predator. There are two more that had made some progress but are only around 50% finished.  They are currently known as P8 and P9 and development on these pieces will resume sometime in August (more on my summer plans in the next post). 

In The Shadows

Paranoid

- I did end up having a show in April. It was titled After Midnight. It was a great show. I'll show off two pictures of it right now but I would rather hold off on the other pictures because I want to go into more extensive details about it sometime soon.

After Midnight Front View

After Midnight Side View

Official Show Flyer

- The blog facelift I said I was going to do has been done......to an extent. So far I'm liking this new look and I think I'm going to keep it. As for the new format I announced where I would start a vlog and use that to explain things in detail while this blog would be used mostly for visual purposes has not come through yet. I kind of jumped the gun when I announced it. I originally thought it would be as simple as recording myself with my built in computer web cam and the early results I got through testing this were rather disappointing. I would still like to do this, but I feel it has to be done right. Hopefully I figure things out over the summer and start the vlog sometime in the fall.

I think that covers everything that I talked about in February. If everything goes right, I'll discuss my summer plans in the next post.

New Blog Title and Design!

I'll admit I've been falling behind with my posts. This was due to my workload over the last few months as well as the preparation I had to do for the show I had in April. Since I'm getting ready for more updates on here and other sites, I thought this would be a good time to give this blog a visual makeover.

This makeover was done mostly because I felt dissatisfied with the old design. I wanted to do something that was more simple yet elegant. The background was based on source material taken from Flyer #2 that I made last year for my show Wildwood. That flyer used a picture that was taken of my 2012 mixed media piece "She Wants Blood". I wanted the background to have more presence so I chose to do away with the solid squares and rectangles and went with a transparent design. I wanted to use darker text so it wouldn't take away from the artwork, but at the same time I didn't want it to be too dark. The Crimson Text is used for everything. I thought it worked well for the visual style I was going for. Finally, the blog name was changed because I wanted the blog to serve as an extension of the photo album I have on my Facebook of the same name.

I may tweak the blog a bit more or I might leave it as it is. Let me know what you think. Also, here's a screenshot I took of the old design before I changed it. Compare it if you want.

The old design prior to May 25, 2014.

February 2014 News Update

I've been meaning to post this for some time, but I just haven't had the time to focus on writing new blog entries. I'll make this short, yet informative.

- I started on three new projects recently. They are currently known as Projects A, B, and C. I'll post more about them as they progress.

- I will also be working on three older. unfinished projects. That brings a total of six projects currently being worked on not counting digital photographs, commissioned work, or any collaborative work I may currently be involved in.

- I have a show coming up in the later half of April. I'm hoping to have a show title, flyers and other means of advertising done by next month.

- I'm still trying to configure my new blog format. I hope to start my first vlog either later this month or sometime next month. I'm also planning on giving this blog a visual facelift.

There is more to share, but it's too early to talk about certain other things. I hope to have my next post ready within the next week or two.

2014

It's been a while since I updated this blog. There's a lot that's been going on over the last few months and for a slow typist like myself, constantly updating this blog can be a chore. Anyway, I have big plans for 2014 and I would like to break down some of the thoughts I have. So, here it goes (note: this is not listed in any particular order, although some goals will be emphasized on more than others).

Mixed Media: While my mixed media work has been somewhat active from time to time, these projects have unfortunately been delayed due to my emphasis on photography and ceramics. Starting this coming year, the mixed media work will be my first and main priority, although that doesn't mean ceramics and photography will go away.

Photography: As far as I know, I have no plans on the horizon to get back into film. Maybe someday, but for right now, I got plenty of digital images from the studio lighting course I took and other pictures I took throughout the year that I would like to do some work with. I also have plenty of film prints that I felt were unacceptable as film prints but might be better as digital pieces. Since working on digital photos is something that can be done anywhere at anytime as long as I have my laptop, I'll probably be working on digital photography work throughout the entire year.

Ceramics/Sculpture: For the first time since 2007, I plan on taking another sculpture course. I actually hope to use this class to work on my mixed media pieces since that work would go well with sculpture. I plan to work on some original sculpture pieces as well. As for ceramics, I may do more ceramic work, but it won't be as much as what I did this past year. It'll most likely deal with the half finished work from earlier this year that'll end up being more mixed media-based.

Shows: Wether it'll be at the college or someplace else, I would like to continue to have shows. The shows are still my main sure of exposure and it's a good event to sell stuff. I would like to have at least two major shows in 2014 if not more.

Buttons and Ceramic Pieces for Sale: I will be the first to admit that the marketing for the stuff that I sell has been terrible and almost nonexistent. It's not that I don't know how to market this stuff. It's more like I don't have the time. Well, as of right now I see an open window of a few weeks coming up. Over the next few weeks, I would like to work on marketing. Although, even if I had everyone of my buttons and sellable ceramic pieces posted on Ebay and Etsy, this stuff usually sells at my shows and that's unlikely to change anytime soon.

Blogs and Other Media Outlets: In 2014 I would like to be more responsive with this blog than I was throughout 2013. I would also like to continue to keep my Deviant Art page updated as well. Beyond that, I think it is time for me to start getting into vlogs. While this blog serves as a nice way for people to keep up with what I'm doing, assuming that I keep this place updated, I feel that a change is needed. I've come to understand that people nowadays don't like reading. They do however respond to visual and audio media. I want to format my blog in such a way where this blog will be reserved for pictures that don't need a lot of explaining. The vlog, which will most likely be posted to my Youtube account will serve as a means of explaining myself in a way that doesn't require long lines of text. I hope to start this new format soon.

Oh, I almost forgot. I think this blog needs a visual update. I would like to work on that soon.

Website: I've wanted to do a website for years. The problem is my knowledge with HTML is minimal at best and because I'm busy all the time and I don't plan on having web design as my main field of work, I never took the time that was needed to learn enough HTML to make a functional site. I know what kind of site I want. I can even do the design work on my own. I just need to find somebody who can help me with the HTML coding. I would like to finally start on this sometime in 2014. I've been doing this whole art thing for 10 years now with no website and I think it's about time that I get one.

Additional Projects: Over the past 10 years, I have learned a lot. I feel that if the first 10 years have been a learning period, then the next 10 years should be a time where I put all this knowledge to use. This year, I hope to finally start projects that'll someday result in a real source of income and allow me to be invested in my artwork 100%. Since this particular topic warrants it's own blog (or vlog), I would rather not go into to much detail right now.

So, this is 2014 in a nutshell. Hopefully, it turns out to be a productive and successful year.

My Ceramic Experience In 2012: Part 4

This is the final chapter for the Ceramic Experience in 2012. By this time, the wet work was done and whatever pieces weren't fired by this point were waiting to be fired. With the pieces that were fired, additional work had to be done. The work on these pieces would continue beyond the end of the school semester and up until the end of the year. By the end of the year, I would have 10 complete ceramic pieces. I don't recall doing too much "crunch time", although I was still persistant in getting everything done before the end of the year because I knew I would be taking another ceramics class in the spring and I wanted to have everything done so I could get a fresh start.

December 2012

12/4/12: These are the three raku pieces I had made prior to their firing. The one on the left used black glaze. The one in the middle used blue crackle while the one on the right used a combination of both glazes.

12/5/12: Around this time, I started working on the backs of my first three pieces. They would eventually have a label on the back indicating the name of each piece, molding paste work, and hanging wire.

12/11/12: This is the work I did for the semester. There are pinched pieces, coil pieces, hard and soft slab pieces, a
combination of techniques, small and large pieces. I also did electric firings, gas firings and raku firings. The only thing I didn't have time to do was working with the throwing wheel. I still have work to do with these, just none that involve firing.

As I mentioned earlier, there was additional work done after the semester had ended, but I decided to save those pictures for when I start talking about each piece individually. I put a lot of long hours into all this work and I think most of it came out pretty well. I learned a lot too, mostly from accidents, but I think that is the best way to learn. Hopefully, I will get around to talking about the Spring 2013 semester and the work that came from it.

My Ceramic Experience in 2012: Part 3

First of all, I want to admit that I lied. Initially, this was going to be the last post regarding last year's ceramic work but after realizing that I had a lot of pictures to show, I decided it would be best to present the November and December pictures in two different posts. I know that I'm way behind with these, but I'll try to get the December post out as soon as possible.

Anyway, in this third installment of the 2012 ceramic experience, I'm going to talk about what happened in November of 2012. By this time, the coil projects had started. They took much longer to do than the slab construction pieces. One of them wouldn't make it. In November, I took my greenware home to work on because of how little time I had left to get my wet work done. Because of the difficulties of transporting greenware as well as not having the proper workplace at home, I never want to do that again. In the future, I'm going to try and do all my ceramic work as close to a kiln shed as possible.

November 2012

As I mentioned earlier, this was the last month for wet work. Everything had to be ready for the bisque firings by the end of the month. Building the coil pieces wasn't too difficult, although it was time consuming. This was partly because I was doing things that normally aren't meant to be done with coils. Also, I started work on what would be my raku pieces. Those three pieces were a combination of of pinching, slab construction and coils. Despite their simplicity, they were not easy to build at all.

11/1/12: An unusual day. I'm not usually in the studio on Thursdays. I progressed more on the first coil piece that I started in late October and started work on the second and third pieces.

11/6/12: At this point I was nearing the end of the first piece (the one on the left) while the other two were coming along rather quickly. I wanted to have these pieces ready to be bisque fired by the following week. As far as glazes were concerned, I wouldn't have to worry about for some time, but I had already decided what I would be using. I ended up using the same glaze combinations I used for the first three pieces I made in the semester (see part 2). This time however,  they were gas fired instead of electric.

11/13/12: The soft slab piece I had put in the gas kiln finished firing. It used the same glazes the hard slab piece used (see part 2). However, whereas that one ended up with shades of blue (it was fired in the electric kiln), this one has shades of purple. At this point, the two remaining coil pieces are coming along nicely and quickly. Sadly, they would not turn out as well as I had hoped.

11/16/12: These are the bottoms of what would become my raku pieces. The centers are meant to be used for name labels.

11/16/12: These are the raku pieces flipped right side up. Each of them has a different shape with the one on the left being made first while the one on the right was made last. These pieces are meant to serve as a base for another form.

11/18/12: My three coil projects. Unfortunately, by the time everything got done, only one piece was left entirely intact (the left one), while one was damaged and usable (the right one), and then there's one that never made it back to the college in it's final form and eventually became nothing more than a test piece (the center one).

11/18/12: These future raku pieces were starting to come along quite well by this point. It was challenging to create these forms since I was using very thin slabs of clay. I had to build everything by sections and then leave it to dry in front of a fan, usually by holding the upper pieces as they were drying. The piece on the right is smaller than the other pieces because it's original design fell apart and had to be modified. Ironically, despite being my least favorite of the three in terms of it's form, it ended up having the best glaze work and texturing.

11/19/12: By this point these pieces were almost ready to be fired. The problem was getting them back to the college in one piece. Luckily they made it.

11/19/12: All that needed to be done was the texture work. Sadly, I waited too long and that's one of the reasons this piece never made it. Because greenware is so easily breakable, this one ended up breaking before I could get it to the college to be fired. I was quite upset by this. I would eventually get used to failures though.