Tomorrow's the Day

Today is the last day before our midterm examination. I'm currently finishing my studying (readying back over the passages) and feeling a little unsure about what tomorrow's exam will look like. I know the exam will have a written portion and a practical portion... I'm most nervous about the written portion, and only slightly nervous that I'll have enough time to finish the practical part. The written part could be on basically anything--including my visit to the Bargello museum last week--and I have no idea how specific it will be. Well, guess I'll cross my fingers and hope for the best. 

I already know what we'll have to do for the practical portion, so I'm less nervous. We will have to recreate a large replica of an ancient Roman coin. We had the opportunity to practice last week... so I did. It turned out alright, but it took me 3 hours of work before I was satisfied with how it looked. Tomorrow we'll only have 2.5 hours, so hopefully it'll take me less time now that I've practiced and have a game plan. We shall see.

I wish I had pictures of the coin I worked on this past week, but I didn't take my camera with me. Hopefully you will be satisfied with a text-only post this time... perhaps I can take pictures of my practice coin tomorrow after the exam. 

This past week I also worked more on Andrea's project. I simply stayed after class so that I wouldn't waste any time with starting/stopping or cleaning up multiple days. However, that meant that I was in the ceramics room at F_AIR from 9.00 until 17.00... oh well, sometimes that's just what happens. At this point I'm getting a little nervous that we won't have enough pieces finished to make Andrea happy, and I'm sensing that the professors might feel the same way. We still haven't started glazing any of them, so it's hard to know how many "finished product" pieces we will end up with. 

That reminds me, I finished my glaze tests and decided which combo I'd like to use. I'm planning on using the matte black glaze first, firing it, then covering it with the glossy black glaze before firing it a second time. I'm also hoping that Raimondo will let me use a spray gun to apply a nice, even coat of glaze (at least for the glossy black), but I might have to be content with using a brush or sponge. 

Ok, that's all for now. Back to the books.

Monday, March 5

I spent most of today in the ceramics lab--from 9.00 in the morning to 17.00 in the afternoon. The first half of class was dedicated to practicing techniques of painting black glaze on red clay. We used water to get a feel for the shape and movement of the brushes, then experimented with a matte black glaze on a spare tile of red clay. 

This practice will be very helpful for when we create designs on the pieces we've been creating. Right now I'm considering doing a geometric pattern (similar to the one I painted here) around the upper rim of my piece, though I'd like to create the pattern in red on a black background. The amphora pictured here was made by a previous student and is our illustration of technique. I've been testing a couple different types of glazes--mostly combinations of matte and glossy black--on pieces of red clay that I burnished with a spoon to match the surface of my amphora. Those pieces will be fired for a second time this week, and then I'll be able to decide which combination of glazes I like the best. 

Since I want to create a pattern that is red on black, perhaps I will use latex to prevent the design from being covered in black glaze. Today Raimondo showed us how easy it was to cover spaces with latex and then rub it off after it dries. If he says I can paint it on with a fine paintbrush, I think that will work best for the design I have in mind.

Raimondo also showed us some "salami" beads made of Murano glass that can be used in conjunction with our ceramics projects. If these colorful beads are fired at half their melting temperature, they form a rounded shape that is quite beautiful. Each of the students in our class has received a metal ring mount and the promise of getting to choose a glass bead for a ring of our own design. The girls in the class were definitely more excited about it that I, but I still think the beads are quite beautiful. We'll see how this ring turns out...

The rest of my time in the lab today was spent on preparing more pieces for Salvatori's creation. I did a lot of sanding... a lot. I was glad that I took my iPhone along and could listen to music while I worked. At this point there are at least 50 pieces, probably more, that are finished and waiting to be glazed or fired. Here are pictures of some of the pieces still waiting to be sanded, fired, and glazed. 

Unfortunately, the time I put in today is the most I can spare for this week. With more homework for Ceramics (visit to the Bargello museum, practice for the midterm) and midterms next week, I'm entering "buckle down" mode.