The Fantastical Amazingness that is Pit Firing

I've attended my first ever pit fire party on Tuesday night.

Lindsey (left), me (center), and Paola (right) hanging together at Vicente's studio during the pit fire party!

To be honest, I was quite worried about what I'd write today.  But my professor, Vicente Garcia, was kind enough to invite us to his studio so the upper level ceramics classes can fire a few of our pieces in his pit fire.

Can I haz ur studioz?

For the record, I want a studio space like his when I grow up.

When we arrived, the pit fire was already built with fire brick and a steel grate covering the top and the short sides of the structure.  He assigned us the job of finding small sticks.  He'd started a fire, but we needed to throw small sticks into the fire so it could burn faster and build bigger.

He then proceeded to toss in his old dead Christmas tree from last Christmas.

After building the fire a bit bigger, we then went inside his studio to learn the different methods of how to finish a piece before we put it into the fire.  We could've just put our pieces in there, but we could also cover these bisque pieces with copper mesh and slip containing things like copper, steel, or cobalt salts.  There was also a really cool copper wash we could have dipped our pieces in. 

We lined the finished pieces on the wall of the pit, and when the fire was ready for them, we put them carefully inside the open flames with steel tongs.

The palate burning in the pit fire

We gathered bigger branches and also threw in at least three palates to keep the fire burning hot.  The pieces were glowing like embers at the bottom of the fire.  And what amazing color the fire was turning!  Due to all of the different salts we added to prepare our pieces, we saw greens, blues, even purples burning away with the yellows, reds, and oranges.  It was a burning rainbow!

You can see some of our pieces, partially on fire.  The chemicals we've prepared them with are giving the fire a greenish glow!

 

While they were 'cooking', we all took a break and ordered pizza (we were there for a good while).  After that, it was time to toss in the fun-colored salts to make the bare pieces pretty!  And even though the fire got lower, the blues became more intense, and we saw more purples.  Is it bad that I think I was more excited about the colors in the fire?  But truth be told, I think all ceramists are secretly pyros. I know we all were that night!

When the fire died down, we needed to quench it.  First we smothered it with damp wood chippings.  Then we took the hose to cool things down.  We dug the chips out again and took our pieces out of it.

And they came out AMAZING.

My pieces are the small oddly-shaped one up at the top, and the two wide pieces, the blue one and the red one.  I call them both 'Fire' and 'Ice'.

I will see about uploading videos next week.  For the life of me I can't figure it out.  So much for trying to be tech-savvy!

See you next week!

Starting Small with Flasks: a how-to!

I write this while sitting on my bed, sipping tea out of the handmade mug I've decided to keep. (Blueberry silver tea, pinkie-out style: I need to drink more tea to clear out toxins and junk.) 

Our kilns don't usually fire reds well, so this mug is reminiscent of a murdered cow.  Pleasant for tea!

As I contemplate this past semester (as it's almost over), I realize that I should probably show you a few things that I've made.  First thing's first: flasks.  I'll be glad to take you through the entire step-by-step process of hand-building one of your very own!

Step one: Get your pieces ready!  You're going to need a hollow coil about an inch and a half think (I used an extruder for this, but you can hand-roll these and hollow them out later.) and two rectangular slabs, one a thinner rectangular shape than the other (these will be the main sides.  You can make these as tall or as wide as you like, as long as they are the same height as what you make your coil).  I used a slab roller for the slabs, but you can use a simple rolling pin on top of two rulers. (Note: the thickness of the clay should be at least a couple of centimeters wide.  Anything less than a centimeter will break very easily!)  Shape the rectangles so it has a slight bump or curve to both of them, and the small piece can fit on top of the big piece (if you're having trouble, look at the picture below of all the individual pieces).  Note:  If the clay dries past the stage you need, you can always wet it with a damp sponge or spray bottle.

Step two:  Wait until the outside of the clay is at a leather-hard state (that's as far as being pretty stiff but not as far as the clay starting to change to a lighter color).  Cut the coils with your wire tool, straight up the middle and being careful to split them evenly.  If the coils you made are not hollow already (like using an extruder), now's the time to hollow them out.  Take a round-shaped trimming tool and gently and carefully take the 'guts' out of the coil.

Now, you should have pieces that look like these:

These pieces will be enough to make five flasks.

Step three: Now it's time to slip and score!  This is a very important part of the process, and you need to be very careful on how you join these pieces together.  First, score the sides (the widths of each piece) with either a needle tool (don't be afraid and criss-cross the lines, but don't get too deep!  You also want to keep the shape of the sides as well) or a scoring tool.  then, before we add the slip (slippery mayonnaise-like clay) I usually like to re-wet the surface of the scored parts, just in case.  Once the edges are slipped, it's time to join them together!  This gets tricky, too.  remember, you're joining a half-coil to the long side of the big rectangle (so the bump is on the outside) and the long side of the skinny rectangle (so the bump is on the inside).  I usually like to stand all of the pieces up for this part, because I find it easier to keep everything together.  Truth be told, they're going to want to fall apart on you.  Note: it's good to press firmly, but you also need to be delicate with leather-hard pieces.

Step four:After the sides are joined by slipping and scoring, you're going to want to take another, non-leather hard piece of clay and press it into each side (inside and outside) of the joined parts of the structure.  If there's too much slip, wipe it off before pressing.  Rub the clay in, smoothing it, so that it gets into all the parts you couldn't join together before.  I usually like to finish it off by smoothing it with a slightly damp round sponge.

Step five:  Now that you've got your structure, it's time to make the top and bottom.  Roll out another slab big enough to make a top and bottom.  What I do here is trace my structure lightly with a needle tool and then cut it out.  Repeat this again until you have one top, one bottom.  Bring these pieces, being careful not to smoosh or stretch them, to a warm, dry place to get leather hard (and it might be a good time to put your structure into a plastic bag so it doesn't get past leather hard).

Step six:  Slip and score the edges of the structure and around the sides of the top and bottom as in step three and attach them in the same manner as steps three and four.  Put it back into the plastic bag.

Step seven:  Take a long, thin rectangular shape of slab (not leather hard - yet) and wrap it around something small and round, like the end of your bigger, round trimming tool (that's what I usually do).  Slip and score the edges that meet and attach them together.  Wait until it's leather hard, then score the edges of one side of the loop.

Step eight:  Take the structure out of the bag, and place the loop in the center of one flat end.  Trace the inside circle, then cut it out with the needle tool, being careful not to let the circle of clay drop inside.  Score this part around the empty circle of the top of the flask, then wet and add slip to attach it together, after adding clay like steps three and four again.

The finished and smoothed flask in its leather hard stage.

Step nine:  You now have your basic flask structure.  It may be a bit bumpy on the outside.  This is when I take my large round trimming tool and run it over around the structure gently, to remove the lager of the bumps.  Then, I take my slightly damp sponge and rub it over the flask, removing excess clay and slip.  At this point, you can leave it out to dry completely and get the finer details smoothed out by running your damp sponge over it again, or you can leave it leather hard to add a design, making a step ten.

Step ten (optional):  you can add designs now, if you like.  I've carved designs out of the front, and I've added some designs out of other slabs and carving them as well.  Here are some examples of designs I've made:

This is my boyfriend Ryan's flask he will be receiving to use at the Steampunk World's Faire 2012.  Has not been bisque fired or glazed.

Another flask I've made simply by carving out of the front.  As you can see I've made my own pattern so I can recreate it.  This one has been very popular with my friends, so good thing!  Has not been bisque fired or glazed.

Happy flasking!

Personally Defining an Ever-Changing Term: Part Two

One person I met within the steampunk subculture, Justin Stanley, known in the steampunk world as the Emperor of the Red Fork Empire, has created an entire world (rather, a fabric of worlds) based on allies inside of the community.  An artist working with illustration, graphic design and found-object art, he is associated with people such as Dr. Grymm and the Wandering Legion.  The stories as well as the aesthetic behind Stanley's individual creations reveal a high level of imagination and creativity.  I've had the pleasure of meeting this Emperor, along with his trademark logo and mechanical fist he has named 'the Will of the People', at the Live Steampunk Chess Event at the Essex as well as the Steampunk World's Faire 2011.  Ever since then I've been browsing his website (and I mean, that stuff's got a -lot- of content!) and I'm happy to say that he serves as one of the inspiring members of the steampunk community for me.

Justin Stanley, a.k.a The Emperor, kindly posing for me after the Mad Tea Party event at the Steampunk World's Faire 2011

I also have to mention Vicente Garcia, another artist who has been an inspiration to me ever since I transferred to a four-year college.  While he may not entirely be considered a 'steampunk' artist, he happens to currently be my professor and works with steel as well as clay.  I consider his aesthetic within the forms (which are mostly vessels) to be lightly linked with the aesthetic of the steampunk genre, though when I first communicated the term to him he didn't exactly seem to know what it meant (then again, who knows -exactly- what it means?).  As an artist, he displays unbelievable craftsmanship (I mean, this guy could make throwing giant vessels look like a two-minute job.  Can you throw a giant vessel in two minutes?).  As a professor, at first I thought he was very demanding.  But as it turns out, being an artist is indeed a very demanding job, and he should know.  Pushing us students is just his way of saying something to the effect of "listen, it's a tough world out there, so you have to show them that you're a committed hard worker."  What results after this semester should be very interesting.

One of Vicente Garcia's clay-and-steel forms

Personally Defining an Ever-Changing Term: Part One

I certainly do not claim to know all there is to know about steampunk.  After all, I had just discovered what it was two years ago, at an anime and video game convention.  Besides, I truly believe that there's much more to discover about this genre in it's lifetime - which I'm proud to predict will be very, very long indeed!

However, I do perceive steampunk a certain way - a way which many may or may not agree with.  Let me just start off with an overall list of what types of items or symbols I have come across that seem to represent the genre to me:

• Gears and Cogs (this one's a big one!)
• Leather
• Brass, copper, and to a lesser extent, silver, gold, iron, or any other kind of metal you can possibly imagine
• Corsets
• Bustles
• An octopus (Or Cthuhlu - steampunk fans seem to get a kick out of H.P Lovecraft)
• Top hats
•  Monocles
• Mustaches
• Goggles
• Vests
• Nifty raw-looking mechanisms
• Pocket watches
• Brass keys and locks
• (Arguably) Gas masks
• Upcycled bits
• Steam!

There you have it.  My version of steampunk at a glance.  Now of course, there may be things I still need to add on to this list.  However, these items are recurring themes that I have seen in my travels these past two years that relate to the genre.

I've come to find out that the whole subculture of steampunk actually originated as a type of literature.  Essentially what steampunk was made out to be was Victorian science fiction.  Writers, sometime between the 1980's and 1990's, imagined a place during that time period where steam-powered inventions ruled the day-to-day lives of its citizens.  I'll admit that I still have yet to get the exposure I want to these books, but as soon as I get the means to find them, I'll be going through them like crazy!

So what exactly have I seen to get me exposed to this kind of aesthetic?  Let's start off at the very beginning, where my boyfriend Ryan and I attended our first con.  Now, as I've said before, it was at Connecticon, which is basically a sort of generic 'B.Y.O.G.' (bring your own geekiness) type of convention.  I mostly went because I was a hardcore gamer at the time (Ryan and I love the Zelda games!) and I've seen one or two animes in my lifetime, so we decided to see what these things were really all about.

Ryan and me as Link and Malon from Zelda: Ocarina of Time.  Probably the dorkiest pictures of us of all time.  Thanks to our friend Josh for showing us around our first Con and taking this picture!

Of course, I had to dress up in a costume.  HAD to.  I used to go to Renaissance fairs all the time (mostly the one in Tuxedo, NY) and for me it was the only way to go to have fun, actually be a part of it all.  So, me in my makeshift Malon costume and Ryan in the Link costume I had made for him at the beginning of the summer, we stumbled across a panel that had a certain amount of intrigue.

There was a panel by a group called The Wandering Legion of the Thomas Tew, a band of energetic charismatic people who create web videos having to do with the group's imaginary shenanigans between each others' alter egos in a steampunk setting (usually aboard their ship).  They certainly had a thing or two to say about what steampunk is, may be, and how to capture the aesthetic via costume or props.  From their presentation I learned many things, including how to reuse and recycle old trinkets around the house and that as long as you have the right tool for the right job, anything you can imagine can be created from almost anything.  Ever since I have been such a fan and even had the honor of briefly working with them to help open a show at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts with Steampunk Chess! (At the Man Ray/Lee Miller, Partners in Surrealism exhibit in 2011.)

Logo for The Wandering Legion of the Thomas Tew.  Check out their awesome videos by clicking the link above!

After the convention, as we were driving home, Ryan mentioned to me that he would like to do something with the steampunk aesthetic.  I completely agreed with him.  We mentioned the idea to our friend Josh, who we met up with that day (as it was our first convention, he kindly showed us around) and he got very excited as well.  "Let's all be airship pirates!" he exclaimed.

Fast forward through about a year after all of the costume-developing and arrive at the Steampunk World's Faire 2011 in Somerset, New Jersey.  As only the three of us were attending together (at the time we didn't quite know enough people interested in steampunk like we were) we weren't quite what we set out to be.  Also, Josh and Ryan looked more like gentlemen than pirates.

Ryan checks his pocket watch while 'smoking' a copper pipe, possibly unaware that there is a completely functional watch upon his left wrist. :D

And Josh checks his pocket watch while awaiting patiently for the convention looking most reminiscent of Charles Dickens in attire.

Nonetheless, we all arrived in full-costume, ready to absorb the atmosphere.  Along the way, we had the pleasure of meeting Dr. and Mrs. Grymm from Dr. Gymm Laboratories, who are popular in creating and curating steampunk art and organizing special events (and even contributed to a number of books including 1000 Steampunk Creations by Quarry Publishing, and was featured on the show 'Selling New York').  Ryan and I recently attended two of their events, the Steampunk Bizarre and the Steampunk Bizarre Halloween Masquerade Ball, both of which were at the Mark Twain house in Hartford, Connecticut. We also found out that Dr. Grymm a.k.a Joey Marsocci and his wife Mrs Grymm a.k.a Allison DeBlasio, the proprietors of Dr. Grymm Laboratories, have been called streampunk experts and gurus, playing big roles in the development of the Independent films such as "I am Steampunk" (watch the trailer!).  It was such an honor to get to meet them at the convention!

Dr. and Mrs. Grymm (Marsocci and DeBlasio) posing for us at the SPWF 2011 in their vendor booth.

The three of us definitely gained a perspective on steampunk after that experience.  The entire atmosphere created by the community was completely and overwhelmingly welcoming and friendly (and that's a big thing for a wallflower like me) and we saw so many people with the most creative costumes and contraptions.  We learned that most steampunkers who put themselves out there have alter-egos that allow them to become an entirely different person at the conventions, and that inspired us to try and develop the sorts of back stories we're still working on today.