Ceramics - the beginnings

I decided that my first few posts are going to document some of my extinct hobbies, like ceramics. It's not extinct by my choice. As a matter of fact, I had more fun taking classes in ceramics than I ever had with any art medium before that.  I believe the years I took this class were 2000 - 2002. I was 15 - 17 years old when I made the sculptures you'll see on this blog. I made tremendous progress in that time, and am convinced that I never reached my peak. I've never considered myself a true artist, but among my many dream jobs, I could envision myself spending all hours of the day creating tedious claymation figures like Wallace and Gromit. I knew there was no real future in that, but what can I say? I've always been a dreamer. I actually had been to class with my grandmother a couple times before this, but I was a wee lass then, and probably got some help. I tried to duplicate her style with this:

 

She's kind of a paperweight, and has no class whatsoever. I mean, she's clearly a faceless albino with blond dreads! How dare she masquerade in a turquoise sundress! She was glazed, which means the paint was made of crushed glass powder that melts into a glassy finish in the kiln.

Somewhere down the line, I got here: random outdoor objects that I painted in acrylics, and were abused & broken and glued back together. Not quite "The Well and the Lighthouse", they are a well and a windmill. I could have totally done a lighthouse.

 

The windmill doesn't really serve any purpose, but the well is a nice holder for stuff. I mean, objects, not food or ashes or candles or anything flammable- it is made out of flammable paint. If you want to make something to hold a candle in, it needs to be glazed. I now recall other things I made that were broken... one of them being a candle plate with delicate roses on its perimeter that promptly chipped.

 The next item I will share today is a small castle, based solely on my love for L. M. Montgomery's The Blue Castle:

The castle was poorly done, and mind you- I had the limitations of the class period to complete these. The weight of the clay sunk the top in a little.
The last exhibit of today will be the failed Moogle from Final Fantasy 9 I created. It was supposed to look like the character you visit each time you want to save- it opens up the book and lays in front of it. This one looks more like it got sloshed and fell asleep face first. Actually, where is it reading from?! Its eyes are looking over the book, not at it! Like I mentioned earlier, this type of clay can be tricky to work with- it sags under its own weight. It reminds me of this AFP baby.

I thought it could have been kinda cute, but it doesn't look that good on the shelf. It's hardly recognizable. Anyway, goodnight folks!