Sunday, February 1, 2015

Making Things


I'll start this post with an awesome sunset that happened a week or so ago. It was a beautiful day, 60 degrees, and Paul and I went to go eat enchiladas and play frisbee at a park. I really liked that day because Paul and I made something really good out of something really small. Instead of just admiring the nice weather but not really doing anything about it, we spent an hour at the park just for the heck of it. I like that. It's a good start for how I want this year to go.


And what a year it's been so far. I work on campus as a transcriber and I have breaks between the classes I transcribe. In my spare time, I've been going to the Craft Center in the student union. I got a term pass, and I've been making the most of it. I've almost gone through a 20 pound bag of clay! I go at least three times a week, for sessions two hours or more, depending on how long my break between classes is. I have a lot of things there right now that are still getting fired, but this is my first batch of things that I've glazed! I love making things. It's very satisfying to create something with your own hands that you're actually going to use. That's why I love knitting so much, too. You get to do a craft, which is fun in itself, but at the end of the day, it's something useful. So far I've made a citrus juicer, two cat bowls, and a skull.  


I wanted something cuter than the old Nancy's yogurt containers we've been using for the cats' food and water bowls. Also, Joey has a flair for the dramatic, and will sometimes knock over the water bowl, just for fun, and then look at me like I've done something wrong. So I wanted to make something that she couldn't knock over.


Look at the glaze on that! It's so pretty up close.


I also made this skull, which I'm totally in love with. I'm a part of this awesome feminist art pen pal thing called Babes Send Things (check out @babessendthings on instagram if you want to take part next month!). The people in charge of it matched us up with a pen pal, and for this month, we sent that person mail, got to know each other, and then made each other something. I don't think I could have been paired with a better person. She's a funerary archaeologist, did her master's thesis work in Peru, and obviously loves bones. Perfect match! All my favorite things! So I made her this skull. It was supposed to be a luminary and the holes in the back weren't supposed to get clogged with glaze, but I think the thought is still there. I've had such a good time getting to know her and getting awesome stuff in the mail. She made me this amazing journal made of old medical illustrations, vintage pictures, and Mexican folk art. My favorite kind of stuff. I made her this skull because it's hard to be a lady in a traditionally male field. And as girls, we grow up being told that certain things aren't for us, especially science, especially bones and dead things. But I love science and bones and dead things, and in my life when I've met ladies who love these things too (talking to you Sam) it's turned out very well for me. 


I currently have eight more things at the Craft Center that I've already made and am waiting to glaze, so expect another update soon! I'm kind of obsessed with ceramics. It's very calming. I have a thousand more ideas for things to make but am worried about running out of room in my own life for them. I'm thinking of maybe maybe maybe opening an Etsy store? But for now, it's therapeutic being in the ceramics studio, so I'll keep going just for that.

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