Marina Nebro: Arts and Culture

Ceramics!

During my Fall 2015 semester, I took a Ceramics I course with artist and professor Matthew Nolen. It was a great experience, and something I looked forward to every week. The last time I played around with clay was elementary school, can you believe it!? It was a definite challenge, and required patience, planning, and learning new skills – pottery wheel, soft and hard slab creation, coiling, and glazing! I definitely would like to go back to exploring the potential of clay at some point, but for now, here are some of my creations!

Coils
The technique of coiling can help build structures such as cups, bowls, and even vases! This was the first method we learned, and I was able to create a mug, a decorative bowl, and a vase!

This was my first attempt at coiling, and as you can see, I wasn’t able to get the surface to be perfectly smooth. I had to master the art of touching – knowing when to leave the clay to dry, and when to come back before it got too hard to work with. For the glazing, I created the ‘M’ by using newspaper to block some of the glaze as I painted it on.

The first assigned project was to mimic your favorite mug. We were able to use either the pinching technique or the coil technique, and I chose the latter. This was a very difficult assignment! I chose a mug that was gifted to me from the Queens College Pottery Sale because I love the look of dripping glaze. The original mug was most likely created on a potters wheel, and the firing process was different than the one we were to be exposed to. In order to get my mug to look drippy, I had to paint it that way. I used clay to create the three dimensionality and texture of the dripping glaze. Can you tell which is the original?

Our second project was designed to have us further practice our coiling. Titled ‘Organic/Inorganic,’ we were asked to create a sculpture that encompassed both organic and inorganic aesthetics. I decided to sculpt a vase, inspired by the steel beams of construction and the gnarly trunk of a tree.

I had a lot of fun experimenting with stenciling (to create the inorganic structure) and glazing (to create a more metallic/matte finish for the “steel beams”).

I also learned some valuable lessons about timing when it comes to ceramics. Because I wasn’t in the studio every day, I found that my work would sometimes get too dry to manipulate. Originally I had planned to carve out all four sides to look like steel beams, but in the end was only able to tackle three. The leaves on top of my vase are all at different heights due to the fact I could no longer mold and bend them into a shape I wanted. Ultimately, I am very happy with the end result and look forward to see it in use!

Slabs
When you take clay and pound it down into an even sheet, you have created a slab. There are many ways to achieve this end product, but in our studio we have a slab roller. I found the creation of slabs to be quite difficult because they were very hard to manipulate and carry – I’m tiny and they’re big! There are two different types of slabs – soft and hard. Soft slabs are used to create more organic looking forms, such as heads or busts. Hard slabs, on the other hand, can be used to create more geometric forms, such as pedestals.

The third project was to create a head and pedestal out of soft and hard slabs. Originally I thought I would pick a historic woman, such as Catherine of Aragon, to commemorate. Wouldn’t a Tudor headdress be awesome to recreate? Ultimately, I decided on creating an Elf Goddess! I designed the pedestal to look like a Celtic shrine, and now I use the duo (head and pedestal) as my own personal shrine, placing small knickknacks (a tiny Ganesha, a miniature cat, etc.) next to my goddess.

Pottery Wheel
Need I say more? I’ve always wanted to get my hands on some moist clay and go to town on it, but working on a pottery wheel is not as easy as it looks! I am definitely no master! It requires a lot of strength, coordination, patience, and practice. For our last assignment of the semester, we were instructed to create a dining set – a plate, bowl, and cup – and design them in a way to pay homage to a piece of artwork. I discovered that I had an easier time with smaller amounts of clay spinning around on the wheel, so my final products turned out to be tiny, just like me! I drew inspiration from Picasso and his pottery and designs. My favorite piece is definitely the little bird cup!