Back to the Bog

So I’ve started working on building a bog for carnivorous plants. I’m starting with a Venus flytrap but I’ll be adding sundews soon. Carnivorous plants are sort of like most orchids in that their soil needs to be moister than most plants, so you don’t necessarily need a drainage hole in the container for them.

I’ve tried doing something similar to this last year, but unfortunately it died off because the bog dried out while I was away during the first part of quarantine.

I’ll try to post updates on how it’s going, but until the sundew is here there’s probably not going to be much to say.

Next week I’ll talk about the different types of carnivorous plants and which ones are better for beginners. See you then!

It’s been a wild 3 years

I’ve been neglecting this website a bit, mainly because it’s been a very busy 3 years what with my minor being more difficult to complete than originally expected, and my work commute being made much, much more difficult; and the plague of course.

Once things have cleared up a bit, I plan on doing more shows; but until then, I’m going to try to update this website and show off some of the projects I’ve been working on. See you guys soon.

Working on something new, as well as adding the final touches to the chubby baby

Given that my attempt to grow several plants from cuttings met with more success than I originally thought, I'm working on marathoning a Peryton planter to get back in the practice of making large pieces quickly, mainly since I don't think I have enough time before I start school again to both start and finish the other large project I have planned. 

I'm also working on putting the final touches on my chubby dragon. This of course means I'll be posting more pics of that adorable little monster very soon. 

The Artistic Magpie, or how I'm getting ready for my senior show.

While I already have a few pieces that I've set aside for my senior show next semester, I've got a couple more pieces that are still in the design stages. While I'm not going to be able to get to the "fun" part of most of these pieces over the summer, I'm going to try to get most of the grunt work out of the way so that I can focus on the ceramic elements of the sculptures in the fall.

Unfortunately this is also going to involve hoarding a lot of random junk so that I can glue it together. My current plan for my show is to investigate how mythological creatures would interact with the modern world, based on not only on old folk tales but on pop culture, as well the behavior of animals similar to the creatures themselves.  For instance one of these pieces is going to be a dragon sitting on a hoard of glass bottles.

The inspiration for this piece actually comes from the fact that I have a bad habit of hoarding glass bottles myself. I'm not entirely sure why I do this, but I think it's because I just think that they're pretty, and because glass (soda) bottles used to be less common before hipsters brought them back in style.  I'll admit that my main reason for even thinking about doing a piece like this is because my hoard of glass bottles was starting to get out of hand, and I figured that this would be a good way of getting rid of them without actually throwing them away. Unfortunately I forgot that my parents talked me into getting rid of most of them, so I'm going to have to indulge that habit again. 

Like I mentioned in my previous post, I'm getting ready to move most of my stuff to Indiana, which means that my need to hoard weird shit and buy large pieces of wood to glue said shit to is going to be even more awkward, but hopefully it won't convince my parents that I'm going full hoarder on them, and that they need to stage an intervention.

Why being the only artist in the house when you are getting ready to move sucks ass

Currently my family is in the process of getting our house ready for sale, as well as putting anything we don't need at the moment into a storage unit in Indiana. Since our house in Indiana is probably going to be smaller than our current house (mainly because housing prices are even crazier than they are in the cincinnati area) this also means that we have to start weeding out what we want to keep and what is either going to charity or the dump now.

While the increase in the amount of space we have here in comparison to the last house we lived in lead to everyone accumulating more junk in general, most of the blame seems to have fallen to me, mainly because I have problems letting go of art I've made, even if it isn't as successful as some of my other pieces. Most of these pieces (as well as my canvases and my portfolio) have been sitting in my dad's office, which has lead to most of the blame for the clutter in their being put on me.  I had taken this mostly gracefully, because me cluttering the area actually HAD been an issue when I was taking painting, so I had assumed that I had left more of my painting supplies in that area than I'd thought.

However Lo and behold, most of the stuff in there was actually NOT mine, but was, in fact, the various boxes leftover from assorted amazon purchases (which I usually toss), gift bags that had been stowed there after Christmas and forgotten, boxes of books that had been moved in there after the garage had flooded, and a bicycle rack that my dad had yet to put on his car.

While I will admit that I have a little bit of a hoarding problem, I'm still a little pissed that this apparently gives everyone carte blanche to put the blame on me when a room gets cluttered.

Because I procrastinated posting this until the exhibit was closed

Name, Place, Date of Lecture/Exhibition: Exploration of Color, March 1st, NKU

1.            Briefly describe the content of the lecture/exhibition and what was being communicated:

From what I could tell, It was mainly what it said on the tin, Basically an exploration of color through painting, as well as the various emotions evoked by them.

2.         Describe what inspired you about the lecture/exhibition including how it will affect your work as an artist:

I’ve always been a fan of a slightly impressionistic style, even if it doesn’t show very often in my sculptures. It’s nice to see someone take that sort of style and play with it successfully, as my attempts to do so myself haven’t gone particularly well.

3.         Describe the weaknesses of the lecture/exhibition and how it could be improved or executed differently:

I would say it would probably be the blue woman painting (I can’t remember it’s name), but that’s mainly because it made me deeply uncomfortable for some reason. However seeing as this painting on the flyers that were distributed was what made me curious, it’s sort of a catch 22.

4.         Describe your personal feelings when listening to the lecture and/or viewing the exhibition:

It was fairly calming. Like I said, I think most of the works were slightly impressionistic, and I’m always happy to see that done right, especially considering that I have the issue of figuring out what is too little and too much when I attempt that art style

Plants and Pottery, a word to the wise

Learning how to make a pot is probably one of the first (and often times only) ceramic lessons people get, and for good reason.  Whether you are hand building or working on a wheel, pots are a fairly simple thing to make.  This is probably because there are a wide variety of vessels you can make that can still be considered a pot, and (unlike 99% of pottery) they don't necessarily need to be able to hold water to be considered successful. 

However once we get down to functionality of a pot things get to be a little more tricky.  Granted a pot doesn't necessarily have to be used as a flower pot or a planter (I have several that I use just to keep pottery tools in) but I'd argue that if you are actually going to try selling it as such, you should actually put some effort into making something that you can grow plants in without killing them. (This is probably going to devolve into a bit of a rant so be warned)

A good rule of thumb when you are making a pot that you plan on using (or selling) as a planter is that it should have at least 2-3 inches of space inside of it. Even if the plant you plan on putting in there is currently in a much smaller pot than that, you are still probably better off giving it a little room to grow, if only to make it easier to prune or repot if it gets bigger.  It's also a good move to drill or carve a drainage hole in the bottom of the pot before you bisque it regardless of the plant species you put in there. Some species (such as pitcher plants, bonsai, and orchids) are better off sitting in a small tray or bowl filled with water rather than getting it via watering can, and others(like rosemary) can easily get root rot, or be overwatered without a drainage hole.

Granted there are exceptions to every rule, and in this case said exception would be most cacti, succulents, and airplants. Due to the fact that these plants don't require a lot of water, soil, or fertilizer, they can survive in smaller pots without drainage holes. However this can also cause the plants to drown, so having a drainage hole at the very least is recommended. 

Mainly I mention this because any time I plan on buying a cute or fancy pot for a new plant I'm getting, I'll usually wind up just making it myself due to the fact that every single unique or creative pot you can buy online is either rediculously overpriced or built specifically for airplants. This isn't just an issue for sites like etsy, as the trend has spread to amazon as well.

Granted writing a single blog post on my own website isn't going to do a lot to change that, but I'm hoping that it will at least convince a couple of art students to drill a hole in the bottom of a vessel they are planing on putting a plant in for final critiques, mainly because there's a good chance that it will just be a pot full of soil and plant mush in a few months otherwise.

Burning House

Name: Kathryne Hanks

Location: Cincinnati Area

Occupation: Ceramcist

List:

Willow Leaf Sabre

Laptop

Laptop bag

"Nikon Tesla" Nikon DSLR in camera bag

Dead Mann Running

Ripper

Wallet containing IDs and various odds and ends

Cursing wall art

Dice Set

Peasant knife

Wrist wrap

Iphone

any friends or family that may be in said house

Strangely, collecting all the things I wanted to use for my burning house project photo was far more difficult than I expected. 

Part of it's probably because I wanted to take a photo of my family and our pets to show on my phone as a sneaky way to incorporate them into the assignment, but actually getting them to do it was basically like herding cats. In the end I only managed to get my dad, my little brother, and our dog to pose for me, because my mom doesn't like getting her photo taken and the dog is terrified of our cat. 

I also couldn't find my dog earred and duct taped copy of the lightening thief (a book that was very important to me as a kid)  so I substituted with Dead Mann Running, which is a really good book that (while it has less sentimental value) is horribly underrated. 

I also had a lot of issues getting a halfway decent photo, as I started to understand why my surprisingly nice goodwill tripod was at goodwill in the first place (the platform doesn't have any way of locking into place when you tilt it), and issues with the family photo meant that I wasn't able to shoot until after work, which meant I had to do it indoors. 

I might actually re-do this photo after midterm, because I'm not really satisfied with this. 

Anywho the meaning of the objects in this photo (aside from the ones I already explained) is pretty simple really. The iphone, camera bag, laptop, laptop bag, and wallet are because I'm slightly addicted to technology and my wallet has all of my IDs; The pheasant knife is good for cutting through though materials; The dice are there because I like to play d&D, and these are my favorite set (even though the d20 rolls horrible); The wrist wrap is there because I get tennis elbow surprisingly easily; The small framed woodcut ecard painting with the words "I'm fluent in three languages, English, Sarcasm, and Profanity" is there because I love it and people are always surprised when I actually let fly a stream of profanity in a variety of languages, including a few fictional ones; The blanket is there because it's one of the first things I bought with my own money.

The sword, of course, is there because my dad collects historically accurate swords (because he's a nerd), and this one is my favorite. While the broadsword is a very pretty weapon, the willow leaf sword is a lot easier for me to wield, and (and in my opinion) has a much nicer cutting edge.  Finding a similar replica is on my list of things to do when I'm financially stable, along with adopting a cat and/or dog, and going house hunting. 

A quick talk with Adam Erwin

Today I interviewed Adam Erwin of www.designerwin.com.

Who inspires you the most?

I'm a fan of John Cantino's work

What do you do to procrastinate?

I watch movies on the internet

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Ireland

What show are you currently binging?

Black mirror

What do you like to listen to while you work?

I usually listen to a pop/punk playlist I made on spotify.

What is your favorite medium?

Digital, I've always felt like it's sort of an infinite canvas.

What do you plan on doing after college?

I plan on doing freelance work and trying to get a job in graphic design.

Why I am not a teacher

I was originally going to make a vlog on how I make my porcelain dogwood flowers, but I couldn't find my porcelain, so I made this thing. Probably another reason why I shouldn't be allowed to have a video camera

Why time management is important, Or how I learned to stop worrying and love my ADHD

One of the things that really pisses me off is when parent groups argue that ADHD is a fake mental disorder.  Given that most of these groups are also of the anti-vaxxing and healing by prayer persuasion so I'd guess this belief probably comes also comes from a lack of research and education. I think the biggest issue is that people tend to think that ADHD's symptoms are exclusively limited to hyperactivity and attention problems, and that it's a mental illness exclusively diagnosed during childhood.  This is probably what has lead a disturbing number of people to think that ADHD is just a symptom of a hypochondriac culture that doesn't understand how to raise kids, and that medicating them all the time will turn them into drug addicts etc, etc. This completely ignores the hoops you have to jump through to show that you actually have ADHD and aren't selling your meds on the side, but that's besides the point. 

What I'm trying to get across here is that there is actually a lot of things about ADHD that the average person won't understand unless they actually HAVE it.  One of the more surprising ones is probably the fact that one of the more annoying symptoms of ADHD is Hyperfocus.   Hyperfocus is basically exactly what you think it is, and, in the right circumstances, it can be kind of awesome.  But while being able to zero in and focus solely on the task at hand can be useful, it can also be incredibly annoying if you don't have a lot of control over what you are actually focusing on, or how much time has passed while you are completing that task.  

Even if you're lucky and the thing you are so focused on is something you are actually supposed to be doing, there is always the chance that you will get so caught up in that task that you neglect something else that is equally important. When you also pair that with the fact that I have a disturbing tendency to even procrastinate on things I actually like to do, you can see how this can be a bit of a problem.  I've noticed that while planning everything to a T can help, being reliant on other people for rides can sometimes negate that. 

While it's not perfect, my solution has been to just plan everything in my life around being early. Granted it can be a little annoying to be sitting around for a couple of hours waiting for a class to start, but at the same time it seems to work for me. 

Introduction to my blog

Hi there this is me, posting my first blog post. Not entirely sure what else to say here except that you should expect a lot of ceramics related posts.