E Course with Diana Fayt

I am currently taking an e-course taught by Diana Fayt on surface design. So far we have done mishima and block printing techniques that have been really fun to experiment with! I haven't actually taken a ceramics course for quite a while so I am enjoying learning some new techniques coupled with great dialogue (via Facebook) between students from all over the world! I am excited to be pushed out of my comfort zone and experimenting with some new styles that I might otherwise overlook. Here are a few of my experiments thus far:

Blessed Bee- This platter was made using cone 5 B-mix which I have not used before but wanted to experiment with a mid-range clay body. The honey bee design was done freehand using mishima. I LOVE this technique for drawing on clay and have about a million ideas! So excited to see where this new inspiration will take me!!

More mishima!!

This handprint is my first attempt at mono printing on leather hard clay, a process that I am less comfortable with/ excited about. I couldn't think of anything to print because I got stuck thinking in terms of silhouettes. So I made a photocopy of my hand and used that for my design. I then added some hand lines with scraffito. I think as I collect more imagery and drawings I will find more exciting subjects to mono print. It is a good technique to add to my tool box, I just need to marinate on it for a little longer.

This assignment was carving stamps on linoleum blocks which I have messed around with before but not made anything that great. I spent quite a bit of time drawing and planning out the designs and am pretty happy with the way they turned out. I am working on a logo for my studio so this is a good excuse to experiment with stamp making so I can eventually make a signature stamp for my work!!

Here's some more mishima! I am working on a dinner plate set as our old ones are mostly broken now!  i got the dinosaur images from a dollar store coloring book!