Jenna Bloodough

Well to start things off,

Our first assignment was the questionnaire/essay we had to write introducing ourselves

We had an entire class to create one thing

Then we had the forty words to illustrate

from those words we had to create four drawings

from the drawings we had to cut out a line segment

watch a video on Maya Lin

had to visit the gallery in the lobby to write about Waynes piece

then we had to create four model, things.

after that we enlarged one or two models depending

worked on that for weeks

glazed those with several different techniques

watched them die in a kiln

watched a movie on Louise Nevelson somewhere in here, fabolous

As well as isamu Noguchi

next we create a perfect box with slab techniques

Had a cone 4 glaze test

built a house to hold forty illustrated words

Then we created a pedestal

Mahlon and Wayne presented their work via slide show

afterwards we had to merge an organic and made man object

created press molds

pressed eight molds

Had a Raku firing

all laced together with blogging

to finish it off we had to destroy whatever was not destroyed

and re-attached in a loud way

I think my worst moment was finding out my large piece toppled over in the Kiln. That really upset me because I really adored the way I glazed it. I researched poppies, and tested out different brush strokes so the flowers appeared delicate and involved line work. Not to mention it was interesting to build, the piece was so top heavy so I was certainly proud to have it stable and standing. The one good thing that kept me from being furious was the way the clear glaze came out on that piece, it really didnt add to it in anyway infact it looked rather terrible so that eased the pain. From that though, it all makes sense now why Wayne wasn't too concerned about losing pieces, especially that one because we took quite some time to work on it.

I guess my best moments were after that big piece fell. My favorite video was Louise Nevelson, I really thought she was a great women. In my facebook I even have a quote by her "I always thought, bluntly, that I was a glamorous, goddamn exciting woman. I wanted to have a ball on earth." she was amazing. Aside from that I put together a pedestal that I enjoyed, tried out piping techniques which were fun and then the glitter. You know you did something right when you come home at the end of the day and youre covered in gold glitter. The final project was interesting, it was addicting once you got going you could not stop flocking on glitter-izing a segment. I enjoyed how flashy it could be. I think that project was something I wouldve never done myself unless it were presented to me. The materials used werenot anything I wouldve found, like flocking, and glitter seems so elementary school was much as I love it but Ive found other more 'mature' ways to make something gaudy than glitter. Normally when something breaks if it cant be glued back together, like my big bilateral piece than thats it I wouldve tossed it..not with the final piece, it was broken, you broke it, you remade it. I thought that was a nice ending touch I have to admit.

I feel as though I didnt walk away with a lot of work but to be honest I learned so much from Mahlon and Wayne, more than any other studio. After that big piece broke Nick really put it into perspective for me that Sophomore year isnt about work its about the process and that was where Mahlon kicked in a lot and since Nick said that I just stopped caring about the way assignments ended up but more as to how I worked to get them at the end point. Slab making, the materials such as flocking and glitter, mold making, raku, all new experiences that I have a solid grasp on. I guess ending with that despite how much ive complained about that infamous big piece, I dont really care that it broke I only pin point that as my worst moment because it was pre-realizing what Nick said and because it made me most mad.