Some More recent tests.

So, as per usual, i have tragically failed to keep blogging regularly. here are some of my more recent Stoneware tests - using a mixture of glazes and slip with my underglaze pencil...

And here are some of my Almington Test bowls - fired to stoneware with clear glaze. They did have a thin ozide wash in the scratches but it was too thin and the high temperature burt it off. I do liek these lots but the colour is too solid - for this project i want softer, more subtle surfaces.

i have also written my Extended Essay in the last couple of weeks - another reason why i have been to busy to do this blog. i reached over my target of 5000 words but im not confident the content is good enough... i feel i havent gone into enough depth in some areas- and possibly babbled on too much in others. I handed it in as a draft so will get feedback after Christmas - hopefully there will be some decent parts to build upon in the couple of weeks of january before the final deadline. Another thing, the first phase of the Firing Up project has sadly come to an end. the next phase is in the new year when the atrtists - and us student helpers - get to go into the schools to teach the kids. I'm really excited about this as i love working with "young adults" (seeing as they are secondary school kids - same age as my little sister and brother) and it will be excelent practice for in the future when im running my own workshops.

Firing Up

Firing up is a national project by the Crafts Council trying to get ceramics back into schools. Most schools have access to ceramic equipment like kilns etc but a lot of teachers don't have any training in ceramics so cant teach it to their pupils. so, the crafts council have set up this project to re-introduce ceramics into mainstream education. This is the second year of the project - last year the project ran in London and, I think, Liverpool and this year it is in Manchester and another city (I forget where). The Manchester sessions are based in Manchester School of art - so that's where It involves me! There was a call for third year students to help out while the artist is running the workshops - just mundane thing like fetching slip and water and washing tools etc but its is good opportunity to see how workshops are ran and there are excellent opportunities further in the project. The project, how I understand it, runs in two sections. Firstly teachers from the involved schools come to Manchester Metropolitan University to receive workshops in ceramics skills which they can pass onto their pupils (this is what I have been helping with tonight) and in the second section of the project the artists go into the schools and run workshops with the pupils. There is also opportunity to help at this stage too which will be very good practice for if I want to teach or run workshops in the future. There is also an opening event in December at Manchester Art Gallery and, I think, another such event later in the project. I really think that this whole project is an amazing idea - I wish I had learned more about ceramics at school as, what little we did, I really enjoyed it. Also, ceramics is becoming less popular and it would be such a shame if we cannot revitalize this lost passion as ceramics is such a grounding, natural instinctive process which has obsessed people since the very beginnings of civilization. To lose ceramics as a mainstream form of art or craft would surely be a tragedy? This is my profile page for the Craft Action Network: http://www.craft-action.org.uk/profile/AutumnGraceEtherington This is the group page for the whole of the Firing Up project: http://www.craft-action.org.uk/group/firingup And here is the page specifically for the Manchester section of the Firing Up project: http://www.craft-action.org.uk/group/firing-up-manchester

bowls 1-8 (without 4)

Here are my first 8 bowls (without number 4 as that was glazed later) the glazes and oxides i used are listed previously in one of my journal entries - week 4 beginning 10/10/11. My favorite is number 8 as i like the texture where the grog in the clay has moved and scratched when turning the bowl and also from the flat edges that make up the surface (also from turning when quite dry). I like how the glaze is quite thin so it has a light shine but also you can feel the textures in the clay. Plus, i like number 1 with the matt glaze - it is quite thin over the lines created by turning so you can feel that texture while still having the smooth matt feel which i like. ......... so number 1

...2

...3

...5

...6

...7

...8