The beginning of first term was quite a tough time for me. But I can only say this now reflecting back on it. I was having the time of my life during Freshers but back at home my Dad was suffering with a critical brain abscess which was diagnosed just weeks before I left for university. And as a family we really didn’t know if it was getting better or worse… The actuality of me understanding and coping with Dad’s illness came by me choosing to do my positive negative project about his brain! Discussing my ideas really evokes my emotions, from back before Christmas, during my formative assessment with Duncan to my group tutorial with Claire-which was only a few weeks ago! But that’s the beauty of Art isn’t it? I wanted to make a conceptual piece, and the very essence of making and working with clay has been my therapy. And through the course of the year, I’m delighted to say that my Dad is pretty much back to normal! Funnily enough as I type I am actually sat in a hospital bed myself waiting for an operation (I have a long term medical condition too!)
It’s amazing actually, looking what I’ve done this year, I have accomplished many things! Not only have I learnt to live by myself in a completely new city, I’ve also had to juggle a degree along with the stress of organising where I’m living next year and then towards the end of term finding a job to experience new opportunities and friendships.
Focusing on Ceramics as a skill now, I’ve learnt how to operate kilns, for example the importance of the temperature and how it’s vital it’s at the right degree to enable optimum glaze firings. And how things can go wrong pretty much all the time, but one just has to find an alternative. Like on Friday, I had a doctor’s appointment which meant I couldn’t be present at the morning raku firing. I asked Chelsea and Aaron to fire my pieces for me, which they did and I’m very thankful for! I wanted lots of little sliced pieces glazed with a copper gloss, they had to go on a tray, so it would be a simple process of getting them out of the kiln, but still with all my preparation one of the trays split, so all the tiny slices fell to the bottom of the kiln! And then some of the slices even fell off the other tray! Sometimes there is nothing one can do! C’est la vie! In life there are unexpected outcomes. Luckily, Chelsea kindly offered to take my fallen pieces out of the kiln today, and put them were I wanted for my final display… It’s great that I’ve got some fab people on my course and that we will help each other out in times of need!
Ideally I would have liked to do more throwing, but then whilst people were throwing during first term I was busy in the glaze room, feeling like some sort of chemist concocting potions! Throwing, at present I feel, is still my weakest skill within Ceramics. It’s funny as I was planning on throwing a lot more for my positive negative project, but I veered more towards hand building and sculpture; that’s just the way the project naturally progressed, and I don’t regret that. But I am determined to change this during second year. I want to completely immerse myself in throwing… to spend hours and hours every week until I can make the ‘perfect’ mug… Or teapot! A perfectly brewed cuppa in something I’ve created: fancy that!