MJ Hill

Little brother [mobile] account!

2011-03-19T11:16:00.000-07:00

I got my old gmail account back up and running so I can update from my phone. It would be nice it wasn't so stuck on only working with gmail accounts. None the less it should be an interesting blog to follow. Im sure there will be plenty of random snippets from what im working on at any given time. The adress is simple enough. Its the same as this one but with "-mobile" at the end.

Like so......http://mjhillartist-mobile.blogspot.com/

Enjoy
MJ

2011-03-17T11:03:00.000-07:00

Its been a crazy week. I ran back to back firings during the night when I was working on my sculptures. Needless to say the week submissions for student show are due is a very crazy one with very little sleep. Im not too satisfied with the pieces I fired for the show, but im still learning how to use the washes.

First one loaded

End of first one

Cids Piece [awesome]

Second firing

Second firing end

2011-02-26T10:05:00.000-08:00

So the semester is moving along okay. Its exhausting. Spring semester is always the crazy one. It seems like everything happens at once. Clay conferences, Sloss, all this scholarship business, and all at the same time trying to keep up with your work. I will say its always the most interesting and rewarding semester though.

I made some maquettes for my sculpture. They were pretty quick and raw, but it gets the idea across. It probably saved me a lot of time, but at the same time its not as fun as going at it blindly.

I started cutting up the five pound pots I was throwing. This piece im working on, is made of pots cut in half and putting the pieces together.

Then this piece is made from two pots I threw down at an angle and connected. I then added one of the half pots from the other piece and cut a slab from a pot. I enjoyed how spontaneous this piece was. We were talking about honest work in critique. I would have to say this is a pretty honest piece. It feels like the clay just made itself into what it wanted. I don't feel like I made it at all, but then again thats what I like about it.

First glaze firing! Finally.

2011-02-14T09:49:00.000-08:00

The first critique is over. Things got a bit crazy, but it all worked out in the end. Which brings me to the importance of the process in my work. The photographs below are in chronological order, showing my last project developing. These are just the high point, but I still think its interesting.

New Semester!

2011-01-24T20:50:00.000-08:00

So its a new semester and things have been pretty productive so far.

*I've been finishing some small things on the cupola im building for Sloss this year.

*I've also started to fab up the base and pieces for my next metal sculpture.

*Apparently I figured out how to throw around ten pounds of clay during the break. I've tried to throw large forms in the past, and had little to no success. So i am proud of this sudden progress.

Here are some pictures of what i've been doing.

My cupola on the left and the base & materials on the right.

Some of vessels I've made these past few days.

And something random I made to finish off the set. [sassy figure]

Some recent work

2009-12-06T23:50:00.000-08:00

Metal compositions from combining smaller works.

Ceramics

Iron Pour Images

2009-11-24T16:13:00.001-08:00

The Tower

The Molds

My Crew Pouring

Line drawings with the left over

Dropping the bottom

...dropped

Fresh product

Sculpture crit

2009-10-20T09:57:00.000-07:00

So sculpture critique went well.

I think there was actually a noticeable improvement in the work.

Im glad I worked small.

It feels nice to be able to rough an idea out in an hour or so.

But now that that's over its all about the iron.

Iron pour Nov 14 and quickly approaching.

I think that all of my work for the next critique is going to be in iron.

Im shooting for around four pedestal pieces.

Other than that im not sure what will happen.

We'll see.

Anywho, sorry the pictures are so busy.

This actually during critique.

When people start taking their stuff down I plan to get some cleaner shots.

And also some good shots of my first project from this semester.

Unloading Woodfiring

2009-10-13T11:46:00.000-07:00

So the kiln cooled nicely and we were able to unload it yesterday.

Some pretty nice things came out.

I'm personally satisfied.

Ill get some better shots of my stuff soon.

Were shooting for another wood firing the weekend after the iron pour. Nov 20-22

This one is supposed to be student run.

So thats a fun little tidbit.

Picture time.

Woodstoke 09 [finish]

2009-10-10T17:08:00.000-07:00

So Friday night went pretty smoothly.

We finished firing around 2:30 AM.

A good number of people showed up towards the end so it wasn't as exhausting.

So now its all bricked up and cooling until...late Tuesday hopefully.

Overall it was a pretty fun experience.

I like the hands on approach a bit more than gas firing.

Wood firing day two

2009-10-09T12:58:00.000-07:00

The sensation thats sweeping the nation....

What has become officially dubbed Woodstoke '09.

The firing of Mark Rigsby's wood kiln

...with the aid of USM sculpture students and staff of course.

So day two we finished loading the kiln and started the firing.

It seems like we will be able to finish up sometime Saturday morning.

So yours truly is getting ready for that 5pm-6am finish up shift.

Wood firing day one

2009-10-08T10:34:00.000-07:00

Fall break. Time to relax, go out of town, or.....fire a wood kiln. o_O

Luckily Mark Rigsby is getting together with some students to do just that.

So luckily the rain held out, but the sun was pretty ruthless.

There were a couple no shows.

But things still went pretty smoothly.

All in all, its been a pretty awesome experience so far.

And now im just gonna throw some pictures at you so I can go help finish loading the kiln.

Updates & Ceramic crit

2009-10-06T11:20:00.000-07:00

Guess who got a new battery for his camera. *points to self* This guuuy.

So now I can provide what really matters...massive amounts of photographs.

Upcoming events?

-In progress critique in sculpture today
-Wood firing at Marks house fall break
-And the oh so important iron pour next month

So there will be frequent updates in the next few weeks.

___________________________________________________

Pictures from our recent ceramics critique!

Laura's

Ken's

Christa Nelson's work in the foreground

A few of my tall bottles on the wheel.

One of my pieces in progress

For Torres

2009-08-20T14:39:00.000-07:00

First post. Updates shortly.