Land*

The reference photo is from the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum. I loved it so much — if you’re ever in Tokyo, it’s absolutely worth a visit. (Apparently it’s one of Hayao Miyazaki’s favorite museums! He designed the mascot for the museum) I loved the houses in this museum (as well as this building specifically) because they all felt like an extension of the landscape around them. It felt like the buildings were built to appreciate and admire nature rather than treating indoor spaces as distinct from the landscape around them. I loved this perspective in particular because it was so surprising to see the foliage through the glass of the walkway around the house. The foliage almost seemed like it was “inside” the house from this view

Still trying to find my own style with watercolor! I’m working on being looser and trying to capture the feeling rather than copying the reference photo. I’m still a little too stuck on the idea of “paint what you see”. But it’s art! It about feelings, not being precise! The reference photo is from a really beautiful courtyard at Good Nature Kyoto

3. Label the back of test prints with what I did! I almost forgot what I had done by the end of the night, but it was useful to see what worked and what didn’t so I can make adjustments next time

I just took a printmaking class! I’ve been trying to figure out how to make simple patterns. I think the lines might be a bit too thin to work for Lino block printing, but I want to give it a try

I haven’t made this shape in two years. The whole time I was throwing, I was sure that they would end up the same size as last time. But they weren’t! They are twice the size of the grey/black vases that I made two years ago in the second picture. I used the same amount of clay (1 pound), and I made the glaze myself this time. It’s exciting to see how far I’ve come

I’m SO happy with the lighting in the top corner of the building! It still makes me feel happy to see the wistfulness and tension in the transition of sunset reflected in something I made. No clue what’s happening with the lighting in the section of the building underneath it, in real life or my painting. Ah well, you win some, you lose some

First painting I’ve finished in a while. I used watercolor for the sky and gouache for the foreground. I didn’t really match the reference photo with the sky, but I’m still pleased with how that part of the painting turned out

I sold a set of mugs plus a vase at my studio’s show! Also, I finally glazed my first sculpture. I’m a real artist now!

And the reference photo I took! I wish I could paint the greens I saw

Experiment with acrylic gouache

Original sketch

I am excited to try to make things that are less functional. (I can’t stop making things functional! I had hoped the bowl would be positioned so that the piece would tip over if the bowl held anything substantial, but I suspect it will not be the case) My studio had an extruder, which was SO useful. It made the process of making the piece so much more enjoyable. I really, really, really hate rolling coils, and I’m not patient enough to try to make them even. Luckily I didn’t have to!

I’m really happy with my vase! It’s one of the first pieces with a narrow neck that I was able to successfully trim with a chuck. The project was based on a suggestion from the book “Carve Your Clay”. I liked the book a lot because it pushed me to think about surface decoration beyond glaze/underglaze. I also found Florian Gadsby’s video on throwing and trimming with chucks very helpful

Repotted my Haworthia into a planter I made myself! Plus I made the tray too.

Plant sketch