test of thrown pots

SO I’ve been back in oz about 3 months now and I’m starting to get a handle on what I can and can’t do in my home studio which is still growing. For the most part I’ve been working with my electric kiln that can only fire up to the mid-1100s.

Slip cast forms

Dealing with the constraints of a workspace and materials available to me is why I am involved with ceramics. Particularly I’ve found that the cycle of problem solving and developing new projects over time is really inspiring to me. I try not to look at the limitations I have as a hindrance but rather as a way of pushing me to do things differently.

I’ve written earlier about my inspirations and which artists I look up to and the Manly Art Gallery contains a few of these people. I live relatively nearby the Gallery and enjoy heading in to check on the collection as it does change around from time to time. I’m especially fond of how the collection spans over several decades and I find it interesting to compare works of artists like Les Blakebrough through their older and new works on display.

Decals on found plates

So as I have pointed out before my work is driven by my interest in clay and how I can develop and broaden my skills over time. Hopefully over time I can master one or two techniques but I’m in no rush to be a one trick potter. I figure I’ve got a few decades ahead of me to work on my skills considering I’ve only just finished my first degree. Personally I feel the biggest mistake we can make as potters is finding the one thing we’re good at and stick with it forever. Hearing the great talks down as the ANU’s Materiel Matters symposium recently confirmed this for me. Seeing examples of how artist are still growing at all stages of their career was inspiring.

Over the past few years I’ve been working on my slip casting techniques and developing several forms. Throwing pots as much as possible to develop my skills. As well as having a play with using decals. So the work I’m showing in this post is an example of each. What I think my work shows is how many possibilities there are to discover for a new potter trying to build a repertoire. I’ve previously completed an instillation which deals with the issue of choice which a ceramicist faces. We can do so many things with our chosen medium and my work as a new potter is involved with discovering these possibilities.

Thanks for reading, Owen Carpenter

Bowlarama

So this past couple of weeks the semester has been coming to a close, this means tying up all the loose ends in the studio, final critique and the big clean up. I’ve been lucky that whilst studying over here (university of Kansas) my lab fee has provided me with as much clay as I can make! So I figured I should take the opportunity to work on my throwing. I really enjoy throwing bowls and wanted to improve on my technique and work on keeping the weight off. I’m working towards having a nice consistent couple of forms I can repeat.

This was my daily mission and I’m happy with most of the results. I’ve tried to really recycle anything that wasn’t up to par in the raw stage and fire only forms I was happy with. I’m not a fan of firing all of your work as it’s a great waste to fire work just for the sake of it. After helping with the studio clean up this week I am more convinced than ever that a studio where beginners are working can really create some unnecessary bisque fired landfill.

Anyways so here are some photos of the bowls I was most happy with over the semester as well as some slip cast plates and other shapes I’ve been working on…

Next week I should have some video of my final critique/tower balancing act/breaking pots that I did a couple of days ago,

Hey pottery people, so I have a lot to share this week as it was a busy one with a visiting artist coming to KU, a pit fire, a trip to a collaborative studio to help put together a large commission piece as well as two of the MFA students putting their large works on show. Yes lots going on! This is why I really enjoy travelling to different parts of the world and sharing experiences with people.
First off we had a visiting artist come and work and lecture for two days this week. Danny Meisinger is a Kansas studio potter who apart from two semesters of undergrad at KU is mostly self-taught. He throws large pieces and works a lot at altering forms on and off the wheel. One of those potters who just makes throwing large look easy. He is so good at throwing that he worked as a demo guy for Brent wheels at NCECA a couple of times. See photos of some of the stuff he showed us ….It was a fun couple of days being able to just watch and be inspired to do things outside of the box.

Also this week I was fortunate enough to be involved in a pit firing with a couple of the other students, we fixed the pit up and built a new wall then packed it and fired it off on Wednesday night. This morning (Saturday) it was still hot and smoking despite it being covered and sealed for two days. But we opened it up anyways and dug it out slowly letting it cool over a few hours. Was good fun despite the stink of the cow dung we covered it with to seal it up and keep hot. See photos…
Also worth sharing are some photos of the grad students show, we had a good time carrying David Platters large sculpted head into the gallery space. The other work was by Geoffrey Steven Kunkler, Garden of the Forebearer, this was a great ceramic instillation that you could walk through and observe the various shapes and glaze colours of the hundreds of extruded pieces.
Finally here some in studio photos of the work i'm doing right now. These tall slab pieces are inspired by Tatlins Tower, a famous Russian piece of architecture that was never built but was so next level that it is still seen as pushing the boundary's of architecture. My pieces are dealing with the limits of ceramic material as well as how we become more specialized and skilled as our ceramic careers grow. The finished piece will include three towers holding mass produced teacups. Each will be in a varied state of completion and quality, metaphorically representing the passage of a studio potters skills. We can all remember how hard throwing those first few pots was but as time goes by we progress. The tea cup held up by the tower represents that old foe of the ceramicist mass production. As well as the number of cups of tea or coffee we need to survive those hours in the studio when we just want to give up. The completed work will be posted within the next few weeks so please stay tuned!

So for the last few months we have been studying abroad in the States in Kansas.
The experience has been great and really rewarding working alongside other potters and being involved with a different ceramic community. The trip thus far has included lots of test firing of Raku kilns, pit firings and stoneware sculptural work. also a trip to NCECA in Tampa Bay was a great eye opening experience .