The Murder: Black Birds in Progress

I am trying to make as many of these birds as I  can before the CCACA ceramics conference at the end of April. Last year's conference was amazing to visit. I was attending Ventura College at the time and we did not participate in the Student Show. Now I am attending CSU Channel Islands and this will be CI's first time showing in the Student Show. This project is an extension of  the Black Birds project I did last year. Here are some progress shots:

 

Altered Bowls

A while ago, I posted a how-to guide for these bowls. They are whimsical and they get a lot of compliments. As my how-to guide shows, they are also not that difficult to make! These bowls all use the same blue-rutile glaze. Right now, I am trying to make baking dishes using the same technique.

Cups and Bowls

These are just regular bowls and cups that I made last semester, but I wanted to document the glaze combinations and shapes.

Demonstration Project

Our latest project for ceramics was a Demo-Project. We had to come up with a presentation to explain to upper-division and lower-division students a technique that they might not already know. I taught the class how to alter the surface of a vessel to make it look "upholstered" with buttons. Feel free to use this demo, but let me know what you think about it in the comments!

For whatever reason, Blogger won't let me upload PDF files, so I'm stuck showing you screenshots of the PowerPoint Presentation. Check out the rest of the pictures after the jump!

New Stuff

So this is my first semester at CSU-Channel Islands, and I gotta say, I am loving it! So far we have done textiles and a demonstration project. I haven't been so good about posting regularly, sorry. To make up for it are some pictures from the past few months.

 These are some textile pieces. I basically put as many different glaze combinations on there that I could possibly keep track of.

 This is the beginnings of my demonstration project. The objective was to teach both the upper division and lower division students something clay related that could help them with either surface decoration or construction. I decided to teach everyone how to alter the form make this billowed/upholstered-look. It doesn't have to be specifically for throwing, but that is what I demonstrated with.

 

Here are some bisque (first) fired pieces, ready for glaze. Some of these are the fruits of my demo-project labors.

Santa Paula Art Museum Next Generation Student Show

First Museum show was tonight! The Santa Paula Art Museum was packed! What a fantastic turnout. Here is a picture from the show and the invitation. The reception was tonight, but show is until October 21st so there is still plenty of time to see all of the great student work!

 

 (Black Birds)

 

I've been published!

My piece, Black Birds, that was in the student show, was also included in the student magazine, VC Voices 2012. How exciting!

New Website!

Hi Everyone,
Just wanted to let you know that I have a new website! Here is the link:

http://crahimzadeh.wix.com/artist#!home/mainPage

Thanks!

Black Birds

Very pleased with how these turned out! They were entered into Ventura College's Student Show and won for non-functional ceramics! I also won an award from Ventura County Friends of the Arts! Very exciting night.

Here are some detail shots to get a good look at those little guys.

 

Crow Wall Pieces

These were fun to make. Creating all of the different shapes turned this into structural, step-by-step project. These are unfired, with charcoal on raw clay. The next post will have the birds fired and glazed.

Ceramic, (sizes vary) 5"x8"x5"

Crow Mask

Ceramic wall piece/mask

Ceramic, 6"x13"x6"

Tall Rectangular Vase

Soft slab construction with lots of texture.

Stoneware. 14" x 6" x 3"

Orange Bowl

There is not much to say about this bowl, except for that the glaze details definitely make it. The glaze on this bowl is very interesting and I am very happy with how it turned out. The orange even turns to a hot pink in some spots.

Stoneware. 6"x 4"

Hand Held Vase

I made this one a while ago, but it's still worth sharing. It was apart of my A.P. 3-D Studio Art Portfolio. It was one of 6(?) in a series of hand and vessel sculptures. All of the hands in the series were painted with the same designs and all of the vessels were glazed in a similar fashion.

Earthenware, glaze and acrylic paint. 14" x 6"

Small Lidded Jar

A cute little jar, just big enough to hold bobby pins.

Stoneware. 3" x 4"

Green Square Teapot

Here is another teapot. It's green, rectangular, and textured. And just a bit sassy with that handle, no? It was made around the same time as the Triangular Teapot and is supposed to be it's opposite. The triangular teapot is a triangle (duh) with a square intersecting it, and this teapot is a square intersected by a triangle. Pretty nifty huh?

Stoneware 10" x 13" x 2"

The Orb

My orb is very new. I just got it out of the kiln yesterday! I am going to expand this into a huge (secret) installation  project, so this wont be the last you hear of Orb. It would be a cool wall piece, a neat vase with flowers coming out of it sideways, or even just sitting by itself on a table. Or maybe with about 30 to 50 giant and mini Orbs... oops did I just ruin the surprise?

I tried to capture all of the different colors that come through in the glaze, but all of the colorful spots were too reflective. Take my word for it when I say that those dark spots are pools of purple and blue. Not the "gills" or the inside, though. Those are a matte black.

Stoneware.

Small Bowl with Spotted Inside

A nice, small bowl with nice, shiny glazing and a cute, speckled inside. Porcelain. 4" in diameter.

So shiny, you can see me kneeling to take the picture in the reflection!

Triangular Teapot

Teapots are so much fun. They're the best! Put on a handle, spout, and lid and you can call it a teapot, whether or not it's functional. So here is one of my variations on the ever-versatile teapot.

PS- I know that there are not any actual triangles on this teapot, but it looks like a pyramid did a face-plant somewhere, am I right? Hence the name, Triangular Teapot. Stoneware.

Soap Dish with Hand

I made this out of a project that took me forever and failed miserably. So as I was smashing it to pieces, I thought, "I should probably get something out of this thing that I sunk 4+ hours into." Viola! A soap dish/ring holder. Stoneware 8"x5".