A. Sartorius Ceramics : July 2013

Monday, July 8, 2013

Toys, Important dates, and lots of Plates

It's been busy BUSY weeks since I last posted here. The summer sun seems to have come and finally burned off the residual moisture of last weeks tail end to the rainy season. As seems par for the course the rainy season saw my dear mellon and cucumber plants consumed by white powdery mold, but my cherry tomatoes seem to be doing ok and my greens carry on as though there were nothing wrong in the least. I've grown esspecially fond of my fish pot with two big gold fish, and a medly of water plants to keep it well oxygenated. They greet me every time I go out onto my balcony.

All too soon I'll be venturing home to visit the family in West Virginia for the first time in two years at the end of this month. I'm excited beyond beleif to see them. So, with packing added to the already impressive list of things to do I have been releived that I still managed to make time to create my pots. I've been testing out some new (absolutely astonishingly great) tools. We loaded two kilns full of my work and some student works and fired them up. The first firing came out very well for the most part, but unfortnately the second firing seems ot have unintentionaly gone too hot. This caused the glazes to become more muted than I was going for. All of this push for work is because I have some wonderful news! In early-mid September I'll be having my first solo exhibition. More details to come, along with fun promotional goodness, but I just wanted to relay the good news with this weeks up date. KIeep creating!

Great new toys from Mudtools. Thanks Mom and Dad these work wonderfuly.
I am esspecially fond of the rubber ribs and the new clay cutter.

I've really been focusing a lot on cup and saucer designs.
These were from the most recent long cool down firing.

I'm still trying to dial in the right mix of glazes and temperature change to result in the most
atmosphiric looking results. I don't quite have it yet, but I'm always after those
Bizen and Shigaraki colors. I am quite happy with these though.

Artist Statement

I really don’t know what my work is. Self exploration? My hands seem to pull new things from the clay every time I sit at the wheel. I love the rhythm and physicality inherent in working in clay. I am a self educating ceramics enthusiast seeking to heighten my understanding and skills in a field that has, I think, always held my heart. There is just something so perfect about someone sitting at a potter’s wheel, and producing something that is meant to be held! With every rotation of the wheel new shapes and desires come to me, and I can only keep growing in order to better express those sensations in my work.