Tyra Forker

mmmhm… pie!

tyraforker — Sun, 02 May 2010 15:49:08 +0000

Artists in Residence Exhibition

tyraforker — Sat, 01 May 2010 14:47:56 +0000

Armory Art Center Artists in Residence Exhibition : showcasing the work of 2009-2010 Armory Artists In Residence including Doug Crocco, Tyra Forker, Bethany Krull, Jill Oberman, and Stepahnie Stuefer

April 22 – May 14, 2010 @ The Armory Art Center 1700 Parker Ave, West Palm Beach, Florida 33401

Gallery Hours: Monday – Friday 10am-4pm, Saturday 10am-2pm

left to right: Doug Crocco, Bethany Krull, & Stephanie Stuefer

Jill Oberman’s soda fired wall pieces in the upper left, Bethany Krull’s “Homeless Hermits” and “Starter Pet Adaptations” and my “Family of Dishes”

… a detail of one soda fired dish from the family

left to right …”Storage Jars (Landscape Series)”, “Striped Charger”, “Family of Dishes”, and “Sauce Boat”

“Striped Charger” …soda fired stoneware + glaze, 19″ across

…yes, I love those lil’ irregularities

“Sauce Boat” …salt fired porcelain + glaze

A view of the gallery with work by Stephanie Stuefer, Jill Oberman, and Bethany Krull…

… Stephanie’s teapots, pitchers, and cups & saucers.

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stew-dio update…

tyraforker — Sat, 01 May 2010 10:20:33 +0000

…a lil’ of what’s been happening in my corner office.

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A series of porcelain cups…… all similar, but different.

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Sketches of jars…

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Two 20″ plates in the process of being glazed for soda firing…

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A series of new planters in a black stoneware clay body, most likely destined for the soda kiln… and then my patio!

… one of my favorites so far, upside down & still only greenware.

More greenware… cups, jars, and bowls.

soda kiln no.9 (?)

tyraforker — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:46:25 +0000

I think I’ve lost count of the number of soda kiln firings now, but this one filled with work from the students at the the Armory was as beautiful as many of the recent past. And the top cone pack let out this drip of a m a z i n g all the way down the brick it was perched on.

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The things I forget…

tyraforker — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 21:56:35 +0000

I was just re-reading a section on “Feet” for bowls by Clay Illian in A Potter’s Workbook:

Page no. 54: “Choosing the right tools and catching the clay at the perfect degree of wetness allows the metal tool to speak with its own voice, with its own gesture. Treat even the insides of foot rings with respect. When bowls are turned over they should reveal pleasing shapes fashioned with bold strokes of the turning tool. The difference between the thrown surface and the turned surface is subtle but enhancing. Sometimes glazes react differently to the two surfaces, and this can be a wonderful thing. Polishing the surface after you have turned it so that it resembles the thrown surface is usually counterproductive.”

She puts it so well. I think it was just maybe the unexpected reminder I needed before heading to the studio to trim some porcelain bowls…

soda kiln no. 8

tyraforker — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 21:34:52 +0000

Just before Christmas we loaded the soda kiln at the Armory for the last firing of the year! The stack was a little loose but Kara (Armory ceramics instructor, photographer, and ray of sunshine) had plenty of pots to help fill the space (above, right). The photo above, left shows the addition of a skinny stack of 5″ x 24″ shelves in front of the two deep 12″ x 24″ shelves. The skinny stack helps maximize stacking space in the kiln and leaves about three inches for circulation between the front and back kiln walls and the shelves. There weren’t too many small pots for this kiln, but it will be a fun space to fill with mugs, tumblers, and cups for future firings.

Above: The top cone pack and some of Kara’s pots (still too hot to unload) in the kiln. Her raw stoneware surfaces turned out beautiful with the soda!

Ta-da! Kara and the almost unloaded kiln …with some pots still too hot to unload.

soda kiln no. 7

tyraforker — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 02:35:14 +0000

....

These two bricks were part of the bag-wall of the soda kiln at the Armory. The kiln’s north bag-wall had started to shift and lean toward the wall of the kiln through recent firings, and during firing no. 7 they had finally moved enough to fall into the firebox during the firing. (I was trying to wait a few more firings and for the Holiday break to work on it, but… and it wasn’t major at all and was very easily repaired!)

The bricks became fused together in the direct path of the flame and the soda solution spray… add the heat and accumulation of soda from many previous firings (as part of the kiln’s interior) and the form, texture, color, and surface changes into something rather amazing.

soda kiln no. 2 & no. 3

tyraforker — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:01:24 +0000

(soda kiln stack no. 2)

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(pots loaded and waiting in the kiln… and starting to unbrick the firing with Ms. Bethany Krull)

(No.2 stack, post firing)

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(a drawing found in the youth area at the Armory.)

(No.3 loaded and ready to go…)

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(above: pots loaded and ready to fire, below: spraying in a solution of soda ash & borax)

(No.3, the fired stack)

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See more pots from the last two firings in “portfolio” or click here…

soda kiln no.1

tyraforker — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 02:30:08 +0000

Last week (September 23rd) we loaded the soda kiln at the Armory Art Center full of student work, resident artist work, and some tests. It was my first time firing the soda kiln here and I was pretty amazed with how many pots it gobbled up, having started off thinking that we might not have enough to fill it. ha!

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Glazed flower arranger and a plate diptych ready for loading… I love the characteristics of raw glaze on pots. Sometimes it is more interesting than after they have been fired.

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They were making fun of my business-professional apron! ha! Spraying the soda solution into the kiln when cone 9 was very soft… we introduced 4lbs of soda ash and 2 lbs of baking soda with hot water into the kiln in two 15 minute rounds.

Stephanie Steufer, fellow ceramics Artist in Residence at the Armory, spraying in soda solution. Team Red Head was super efficient pumping in the soda solution… we rotated in and out of spraying position every few minutes to get a break from the heat. The sprayer made the whole event pretty exciting…it is hooks up to compressed air and and feeds solution from a hanging 5 gallon bucket. (It was as fun as it sounds, and really effective!)

A M A Z I N G. This is way better than the old garden sprayer method, there is no clogging, no fussing, no melted tips, no pumping… (After using this I never want to use a garden sprayer again!)

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Curious toads hang out in cat bowls outside the dry cleaner’s down the street from the Armory every night like clockwork! We stopped by to say hello post firing.

The front view of the fired stack…

Overall, it was a good firing and am I looking forward to becoming good friends with the kiln…

Some new jars…

Little rocks glasses fired in the front of the stack…

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My latest endeavor… rectangular serving dishes (destined for the next soda firing). Today I started a series of small serving dishes (oval and almond shaped), some more small cups, small bowls, and sundae dishes… Trying to finish a lot of small pieces so I can fire the kiln again sometime late next week… we’ll see what happens!

PBS Video Online (!!)

tyraforker — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:22:22 +0000

I recently discovered that PBS posts full length episodes of some of my favorite series! @ (http://video.pbs.org/). (Discovered after having the desire to watch some television and not receiving a useful signal with the inept digital converter box!)

I just watched a great episode from the NOVA series on the Last Extinction the other night. Besides having great video, there are lots of extras on the site about related subjects…. like these Clovis stone tools and artifacts.

Hooray!

p.s. (they have Julia Child too!)