friday i checked out the first warphaus show of the semester.  galen olmsted’s installation of ceramic components seems to be taking over the gallery, generating out of the floor and toppling anything in the way.  i love the wall of storage containers hemming in the uncontrolled ceramic material.  they give you a clue as to where everything may have come from and, should someone try, where the bedlam may be contained.

school is in full effect and it was a great first week back.  i’m really amped about all my classes.  they are all studio courses (ceramics seminar, sculpture seminar and performance and installation a.k.a. intervention).

i had a great meeting with my professor to talk about my research plan for the semester.  as mentioned earlier i’m planning to tackle philosophy of aesthetics and beauty.  i also plan to explore the idea of wonder and how it relates to art and science.  i’m getting really excited to read about what all of these great thinkers believe and eventually be able to articulate my own position.

for my intervention course i’m going to be working collaboratively on several projects, one of which we hope to be able to share with people at nceca…..will keep you posted.

as for sculpture seminar, which is focusing on relational aesthetics, i’m not sure quite what i’ll be tackling.  i’m interested in challenging myself to work outside of the ceramic medium and….. i signed up for a february 1st crit so…….i’m going to get cracking!

i felt like i was in the ministry of magic in harry potter, all the rows and rows of jars and lockers of dry specimens.

check out this crazy squid.  the collections manager informed us that there was a 24 foot giant squid in the collection.  unfortunately it was housed off site:)

this slightly blurry image is of a sea cucumber (in ethanol).  i love how the pattern looks like crystalline formation in glaze.

they mentioned that sometimes the pigments in animals is alcohol soluble so it leaches into the ethanol.  i don’t know if this guys purple stripes will leach out but in the mean time it was quite beautiful to see.

love these interlocking patterns.  they are organic and random but they still seem to fit together.

this armadillo was displayed up front.  there were several displayed but this one’s glistening, perfect, pentagon shapes were stunning.

this was my messy drawing of a strawberry urchin.  they actually took them out of the jar for us to draw.  i was able to feel the ends of the protrusions and they were fuzzy!  like flocking!  thanks carrie for pointing this little guy out:)

remember these little cuties?

i’ve been anticipating this moment with excitement and trepidation.  though i’ve had plenty of time to prepare, my syllabus and assignments are approved, demo materials are pretty much prepped and my class blog is all set up, i’m still a little worried.  that’s normal right?   mostly though i’m excited to dive in:)

i’m planning a speed building activity tomorrow to help everyone get comfortable with the clay before we tackle any content associated with the first project.  we’re going to do timed relays pinching, making coils, coiling and slab building small items.  has anyone ever tried anything like that before?

my goal is to get everyone hands in clay without any worry or anxiety as to whether their thing will be “good” or not.  after we finish we’ll fire the objects and use them as test tiles through out the class.

i’m going to play this song for them.

warning: this story is ridiculously cute.

draaaaa-ma.

anyone who lives in gainesville know how many squirrels there are everywhere.

so friday, we all met up at the studio to get some announcements, divvy up shelf space for classes and, of course, CLEAN.   while i’m sweeping up in the kiln room i decide to open up the bay door (on the left in the picture above) so i can sweep the leaves out.  (whoops)  i got a shower of grime and noticed a bunch of spanish moss jamming up the works.  later when someone else went to close it, 3 tiny bald squirrels fell out!  their little  squeaks made it pretty clear that they were not down with the situation.

everyone sprang into action.  ray put in a call to animal control and mama squirrel came barreling over.  she grabs one of the babies in her mouth and starts (we thought) gnawing on it.  somebody (it was all a blur!) quickly shuts the solid door to protect the rest of the babies. for good measure jon scoots the little guys onto a piece of cardboard so that they wouldn’t get cold so quickly.

i guess i figured the babies didn’t stand much of a chance anyway and if mama squirrels are supposed to eat there babies then who are we to mess with nature?  but i also had the image of the the squirrel that lives in my roof (another squirrel story) in my head so i just didn’t think she was munching on her baby.  so i went outside to scope the situation and she she seemed to be bundling the baby up so she could hold it by it’s arms and legs.  once she had it secure she ran up a big tree and put it in a nest we could see from below.

while she was running that little errand we opened the door again and moved the squirrels outside.

on her second run up the tree this giant FALCON swoops out of the sky and tries to grab her.  i kid you not!  mama strikes out against the falcon and the baby falls from the tree into the soft pine needles below and starts squawking.  the mom runs back to the other baby and brings that one up the tree.  at one point we were literally running after the falcon to discourage it from attacking the squirrels (don’t worry, no falcons were harmed).

finally mama came down and found baby number three and brought it up to the tree tops as well.

BA-NANAS!

needless to say i didn’t have my phone on me so was unable to document all this action but that just makes it more fun to tell.  and everyone was so cute, acting on behalf of the little squirrels:)

i start teaching monday!

i’m reading a lot right now about beauty and wonder.  i’m interested in understanding more about beauty’s role in art and nature and the separation of beauty and aesthetics.

i probably should have listened more in undergrad when they were talking about greenberg and modernism right?  some of the sources i’m looking at talk about beauty being removed from aesthetics way before modernism by philosophers drawing a stark like between anything that elicits desire and anything aesthetic.

i’m more inclined to side with plato’s take on the whole thing (which i am currently interpreting as) beauty makes you feel all awesome and that makes you want to understand and that leads to knowledge.  or something.

i think work should be able to hold up criticism or evaluation that can take longer than an instant to be fully realized.

but is that hook so bad?  (schopenhaur thinks so)  maybe beauty can be the neon sign that brings somebody in closer, a means to an end.  but where does beauty end and wonder begin?

“the wonder of the aesthetic state of wonder is the play of te mind over the details of the object itself.  aesthetics is part of the mobility of attention, interest and delight.  its lingering over the widest range of details so as to prolong its pleasurable contact…”  phillip a. fisher

thanks to mia familia for all this green inspiration.

honeycomb brittled

ingredients

• vegetable oil, cooking spray
• 1 1/12 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon baking soda

directions

coat a 12-by-17-inch rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. bring sugar, honey, and water to a boil in a medium saucepan, stirring constantly. reduce heat to medium-high. cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer reaches 300 degrees. remove from heat, and whisk in baking soda until combined and mixture bubbles. gently pour mixture onto baking sheet without spreading. let cool. break into pieces.

brittle can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

basic brittle recipe

ingredients

• vegetable oil cooking spray
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• mix-ins, according to variation

directions

1. coat a 12-by-17-inch rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. bring sugar and corn syrup to a boil in a medium saucepan, stirring and brushing down sides with a wet pastry brush to prevent sugar crystals from forming, until sugar dissolves. cook, swirling occasionally, until mixture just starts to turn golden around edge.
2. stir in mix-ins. cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is pale amber, about 8 minutes. pour onto baking sheet without spreading. let cool. break into pieces.

brittle can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

add-ins (slightly modified by yours truly):

cashew and cayenne:
2 cups whole raw cashews
½ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp sea salt flakes
extra salt to sprinkle on top

coconut and spice:
¾ cup large unsweetened coconutflakes
2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp chinise five spice powder
¼ tsp salt

pepita and lavender:
½ cup petites (green pumpkin seeds)
1 tbsp dried lavender (and extra for sprinkling)
¼ tsp salt

peppermint m&m bark:

• melt 12 oz. of  white chocolate in a double boiler (aka bowl-in-a-pot).
• spread over parchment on a sheet pan.
• bash up a large package of peppermint m&ms and sprinkle over the melted chocolate.
• cool and break into pieces.

peanut butter crunchy two tone bark:

• melt 125 oz. of white chocolate  in a double boiler.
• add  3 cups of puffed rice, stir.
• spread over parchment on a sheet pan.
• melt 6 oz milk chocolate in double boiler.
• add ¼ cup creamy natural peanut butter and stir.
• mix in 1 cup crisp rice.
• spread over white chocolate.
• cool and break into pieces.

chocolate of choice and nut of choice:
as above, with whatever you’ve got hanging around

hope everybody enjoyed!