eynzly

[eynzly]

Here's a wip shot of a piece I started last night (I'm most excited about the contrasting light coming from the dimming window and my lamp). I'm making a few new iterations of past studies in an attempt to strike a balance between complexity and reproducibility. While I am enjoying the super detailed pieces, they've also become quite a time sponge that has me obsessing over every nook and cranny (and not in a productive way).

This style here is a bit different because it's an additive process. This challenges my patience a bit more because I can't just keep adding and editing and layering. I need to take time and let the pieces harden then carve then smooth before moving onto the next layer.

Hopefully once finished this will rotate 180 degrees and become a tiny base.

[eynzly]

Now that I’ve begun stock-piling some of my studies, I’ve encountered a new challenge: documentation. I find myself pondering the best way to capture these pieces. Is it a zoomed out shot of the whole piece? Or maybe a group of pieces photographed as an ensemble? Should it be in the studio or at an abandoned warehouse for added texture and risk of tetanus?

I spun the pieces around (literally) while I pondered and landed on something a bit different. Ultimately I'm drawn to the detail - it's why I made them in the first place. The bits of glaze mixing together and layers of nooks and crannies is so engaging to me. It’s in these small moments where light shines through a cavity or at the intersection of components which abstracts the piece beyond its function (a vessel) and becomes something outside of its own scale. These could be buildings or planets or strange landscapes when studied up close.

Speaking of which: if you look closely at the bottom left image, you might notice five 'chips' in the glaze. They are highlighted by tiny 'bubbles' in the surface. These imperfections came from the glazing process. Because glaze will melt and stick to the kiln shelf during the firing, I used metal stilts to suspend the piece in the air and keep my piece and shelf safe. Unfortunately, the glaze ran onto the stilts. The only way to remove them was to give them a gentle tap which, in turn, took off some of the glaze. Sometimes this happens. It's a shame because I quite love the piece, but I have to remind myself it's all a learning process.

[eynzly]

My attempt at a yarn bowl 🐾

[eynzly]

I got a batch of pieces out of the kiln yesterday and am absolutely in love with the satin matte glazes I just tested. My favorite might be the chartreuse. It's been applied over speckled clay, and the glaze is still light enough to let those dark spots pop.

I'm really excited by how stable these glazes are. A number of these smaller pieces had developed tiny cracks from inconsistent drying, and I was worried they would be worsened by the glazing, but the opposite occurred: because the glaze is so stable, it actually filled those tiny cracks (this is my working theory). While I'm workshopping how to improve my drying, it was a huge sigh of relief to see the glaze didn't exacerbate the cracks in these early pieces.

The two blues were also nice, but I wasn't as happy with the coverage. The glaze itself is quite thick, so I tested both dipping and brush application. In the future, I'll either definitely dip or apply 4+ coats for the darker glazes. Both of these buddies are going to get re-fired. Fingers crossed the saturation improves.

[eynzly]

Now that I have a few pieces I like, I'm beginning to test photography set ups. If you ignore the giant seam and flecks of clay on the canvas, I think this has some potential. I've quickly discovered that any direct lighting shows poorly with the glossy glaze, so I'm focusing on indirect natural light. This gets tricky when aiming for consistency though perhaps the best way is just to shoot a batch of pieces all at once.

[eynzly]

After months of studies, I think I've finally narrowed in on a concept for a full series: a combination of my organic carvings with vessels. What's made this possible is that I finally sat down and learned how to throw on the wheel last week. These are all pieces I've managed to make on the pottery wheel and then layered on my hand-built style.

I'm really excited with some of these. Now the tricky part: picking a glaze. This feels far more terrifying than any step in the process because it really can't be undone. I've been obsessing over different glazes and finishes and have been really indecisive about it. Hopefully I don't simmer too long; there is not enough space in my apartment to be storing in-between pieces.

[eynzly]

Picked this buddy up today. It is exciting to have gone through the full firing cycle with one of these pieces. There's definitely a few cracks and faults, but I think these can all be worked out through a few more iterations. I already know to expect them on the next piece I made, but hopefully I'll be able to intervene/implement a couple changes to my process moving forward.

Separately, I really really love this glaze color. I've been working with speckled clay, so the dark spots are just a natural part of the clay body. Some of the edges of the glaze are a bit thinner, and I've contemplated dipping the next piece for longer, but for the moment I've decided I actually quite like the 'worn' look at these edges.

[eynzly]

Here's a wip shot of a piece I started last night (I'm most excited about the contrasting light coming from the dimming window and my lamp). I'm making a few new iterations of past studies in an attempt to strike a balance between complexity and reproducibility. While I am enjoying the super detailed pieces, they've also become quite a time sponge that has me obsessing over every nook and cranny (and not in a productive way).

This style here is a bit different because it's an additive process. This challenges my patience a bit more because I can't just keep adding and editing and layering. I need to take time and let the pieces harden then carve then smooth before moving onto the next layer.

Hopefully once finished this will rotate 180 degrees and become a tiny base.

[eynzly]

I am very behind with my editing. Given that this challenge started on Feb 01, you can guess by how many weeks, but that's ok.

I’ve played with templates a couple times now, and this was the first time a piece came out close to the original design. One obvious difference is that I started with a 3D model that was then unrolled into the individual pieces. In my previous attempts, I had drawn the templates by hand based on my own calculations. It’s a sure sign that my math should never be trusted. 

I quite like the design of this mug, but I prefer smaller cup sizes. I think I’ll try again with a scaled down version of the template. Though one factor will be shrinkage when it’s fired: maybe that will be enough.

[eynzly]

wrapping up a new piece

[eynzly]

week 08, 2024

[eynzly]

Pebble content no one asked for

[eynzly]

I quit my job this year. When I graduated university it was a dream job, but something I've discovered in adulthood is that dreams and feelings and interests change and transform and shift. At least they did for me. So I left my job to pursue a bunch of 'something else'-s for a while.

This was one of those 'somethings'. It's a storyboard about a potato.

I don't have a lot of experience hand drawing. I did some in school, but my bread and butter is drawing the perfect technical detail of a custom aluminum wall assembly in a CAD software. It is NOT drawing potatoes. But I've always loved telling stories, and if I was going to do 'something else', I wanted that 'something else' to force me into something new and different and wildly uncomfortable.

One of those discomforts has always been about posting my works, so naturally I had to take that on, too.

[eynzly]

charcoal series by eynzly

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wip charcoal by eynzly

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Telephone pole by Xiaohan Yu

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Art by Philipp A. Urlich