Studio Update: Week 6 and 7

Week 6 was spent finishing up one of my bigger pieces. I 3d printed some more extruder dies and made some fun discoveries. The cross sections of the shapes I'm extruding can pair nicely with my larger forms. They can create a flat repetitive pattern if I would want to use them in that way. The end of the week was a closing reception for some studio neighbors so I attended that and then helped them de-install over the weekend.

On another note I have been having a lot of mixed feelings about my studio practice lately. I can't pinpoint when it started but I have had a toxic idea of productivity lately. I feel really guilty, anxious and unproductive if I don't spend at least 5 hours in the studio everyday, which is unrealistic. If I get off work and take an hour to relax I feel really guilty and even if I have a really productive day in the studio I still leave feeling like I should have done more. I'm sure that's caused by a lot of things, being in a new place where my sole purpose is to be in the studio could have a factor, everyone around me is making bad ass stuff and while I enjoy their companionship and love their work it's also a little intimidating ( and your girl is competitive so maybe I just want to be the one that does the most). Anyways, that is not how I want to feel and the studio has always been a safe space for me to come and work through my feelings so I am actively working to mentally get back to that place. I think the first step will be to leave the weekends studio free. Knowing this in advance will help me feel less guilty about not making it into the studio after a busy weekend of work. I can rest and refuel for the week and that way I will not feel so burnt out during the week. I think I also just need to actively keep myself in check and try to be proud of a day of hard work no matter how productive my mind wants to say it was.

Week 7 I set up some bases for some more hanging cup sets. The test one I made did not hang well and fell off the wall and broke. I talked with Brian about different ways to hang them and have landed on a solution that I will test out on these. I set up a slump mold for another larger piece and played around with having a slump mold that allows for a negative space in the middle. My hope is to have the inside look like a little kids car set, you'll understand later when you see it finished. I made some more mugs and threw some martini shaped cups for the upcoming cup sets. I also made the drive out to kentucky mudworks to buy 2 hundred pounds of the brown bear clay. The lady asked me if I was buying it for someone else which I thought was odd..and I definitely overthought that question all the way home.

Image 1: I changed the cup orientation on this piece after GH pointed out my other one looked like a nipple, and he was right

Image 2: Extruder dies

Image 3: decorated piece, I added bees

Image 4: Making some mugs, having my taylor swift moment.

Image 5: slump mold forms waiting to be put together

Image 6: a bunch of things waiting for a purpose #relatable