Tag: Life In The Studio

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Make Your Mark

A few rebels have already done it. A few regulars are really tempted.

Now, it’s time for everyone to TAG the TABLE!

Join us at the Annual Spring Studio Sale and get a chance to make your mark!

Saturday April 30th 11 – 4

Make Your Mark | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculptureAbout the Studio Table aka: Joebob Mesa (yes, my studio table has a name):
At 8′ square, this table dominates the space in my studio and has held up well considering all it has been through over 12 years of use. My husband Nate is over 6′ tall and he designed and built the studio table, which is why it is the perfect height for an over 6′ tall man. What he didn’t realize was that my 5 and 6 year old students were about eye level with the table top, (whoops!) so we ended up getting some very tall stools for these little guys to teeter on. Next time, a lower table is definitely in order!

A few years ago we cut the table down to about 8′ x 7′ to make more walking room around the table. When we started to take it apart, I realized that the side boards had been burnished by hundreds of students hands running over them, it was honestly amazing to look at as a symbol of my time teaching art. And it actually inspired me to invite everyone to sign their name to the table as well. Hope to see you at the studio April 30th from 11 – 4!

Fun Fact: It is very common for clay artists to name their kilns, ours is Fireball, but we also named the throwing wheels; Thing One and Thing Two, the slab roller; Slabby Mc Slabberson and as mentioned above the table is Joebob Mesa. We would’ve named the extruder when it joined the studio this past winter, but it came with the name Super Duper Clay Extruder written right on it and everyone agreed that it really didn’t get better than that.

A Great Art Teacher

I sat in my car by the cliffs on a very wet morning, half watching the waves pummel the coastline and half scrolling through my phone while I contemplated taking the dog out for a walk in this unpredictably drizzly day. I came across this post on NPR about A Great Teacher, this particular article was about an elementary school art teacher.

After reading through the quick and cute illustrated article, I took the dog for a walk (despite the rain) and while we walked I thought about all the great art teachers I had. I tried to remember back if there was a moment that they boosted me up or that they let me down, a defining moment that led me down the path to become an artist and art teacher myself.  But all I could remember was that they were my heroes, they were in charge of the space that I wanted to be all day long: the art studio.

A great art teacher | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculptureAs all these thoughts were mingling in my head, I found myself crouched down in the mud trying to get my camera to focus on these beads of water lined up perfectly on the blades of grass along the path. They were beautiful and tiny and so easy to pass over. I was reminded of a very early art lesson that started with something to the tune of train your eye to see everything, then train your hands to create what you see which was a more poetic was of saying, “We’re sketching landscapes. If you don’t see lollipop shaped trees, don’t draw any.”

What if I hadn’t had great art teachers to train my eyes or my hands, where would I be? From elementary to high school to university, this group of talented misfits gave me a safe, creative space to enjoy who I was and become who I am. I am forever grateful.

Awhile back I wrote a post about Why I Teach Community Clay Classes and after 15+ years of teaching, I hope that I’ve done (and continue to do) justice to my responsibilities as an art teacher.

Making Kiln Stilts

I have a decent selection of store bought stilts for the occasional need to glaze a project completely. Most of the stilts are for something at least 3″ across so that the object balances evenly on the stilt, but one of my students wanted to make marbles- smaller than an inch across sized marbles. While I thought her plan of designing and carving these tiny sculptures was a great idea, I also explained that if she wanted to use glaze on the entire surface, I had no way of supporting them in the kiln on my existing stilts. She took a second to think about it and then asked if she could make her own stilts with the nichrome wire that I use in my work often- and she did. We bisque fired her tiny stilts and marbles and when she glazed them, each one was propped on its own individually made stilt and placed in the kiln. They worked brilliantly and since then I’ve started making all of my own stilts.

Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture | the dirt | making kiln stilts

I roll out a slab of clay on my slab roller and use cookie cutters to cut out as many shapes as I can fit on the slab. Then I use nichrome wire and cut it into short lengths, trying to be as consistent as possible with the size and also trying to cut the wire on a sharp angle so that the pointiest part is what will touch the glaze and I stick them evenly spaced into the clay shapes. I use a medium gauge nichrome wire for this, if it is to thin, they tend to sag in the firing while supporting your piece or wear out quickly, too thick and they leave a heavier mark in the glaze for you to grind out afterwards. If you have left over element pins, these work great too for holding sturdier pieces. Each piece is dried and bisque fired and then you are good to go. My stilts get a lot of kiln time and eventually wear out but then I just crank out a new batch and I’m set to go again.

I love that the ingenuity of my students, not only made me look at my existing supplies in a new way but they also don’t let the studio limitations limit their work. #mystudentsrock

Studio Tour

If you’ve never been to the studio or you haven’t visited me in awhile, now is your chance to check out all the new and fun things going on at my studio in the redwoods. Click play on the video to take a virtual tour of my studio. You are always welcome to make an appointment to tour the studio in person too!

New Video!

I’ve just launched a new video on my You Tube channel! I’m making these pieces for a custom order and thought it would be a great opportunity to share the process. This is a quick time lapse video of me making a sprout form in the studio, the video is less than a minute long but the piece took about a 20 minutes to make. The next steps are for it to dry completely, be fired in the kiln for about 10 hours, then glazed and fired once more. I’ve made hundreds of these little sprouts to be used as the inside pieces of my Nest Series. A few of these pieces were also featured in the Fire & Water In the Field Series. I hope this helps you understand all the work that goes into making even the smallest of pieces. Enjoy the video and let me know what you think!

Studio’s Closed ( just for a few weeks!)

Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture | the dirt | Studio's Closed (just for a few weeks)Just wanted to let you know that you won’t receive The Dirt in your inbox for the next few weeks as I’ll be on the road exploring through Spain and Morocco — Wahoo! I promise to share my adventures and photos of all the amazing Gaudi art and ceramic tile work as soon as I return- Inspiration through Exploration!

Also, just a reminder that the studio will re-open for classes the week of Sept 28th. Adult classes will be offered on Tues nights from 7 – 9pm and Thurs mornings from 10 – 12pm. Private classes for kids, families and home-school groups are also available, but space is limited.

And mark your calendars for Open Studios 2015!
October 10, 11, 17 & 18
Studio is open 11- 5

Nina Graduates!

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If you have been to the studio or your kids have taken a class here, you probably have run into Nina. She’s helped me in the studio and with classes since she was about 12 and she took classes with me before that. In the past few years, she’s also started to photograph most of my work (almost every shot on my website is hers!). Not only is she talented, mature and capable but she is also just about the kindest soul I’ve ever encountered. She graduates from Aptos High School this week and will be pursuing a focus in the arts at Cabrillo College next fall. I’m so proud of her and can’t wait to see the mark she makes on the world!

Congrats Nina!