Ceramics Workshop Induction - Session 4

So last week was our last session, gotta say I felt kinda sad (Since I can come back here whenever I want for two more years), I even got around to properly introducing myself to a friendly school staff named Rupert (What? I like making friends!) whose shift always ends around 9am, who I always happen to see since I come in way too early.

Anyway, I came in even earlier this time round, hoping to get some work done on my clay head (Since I was having problems with it in the previous session), unfortunately no one was in until much later so I ended up poking and prying about the room instead while waiting for Donny or someone else to come in and help me find the tools.

Yay our plasticine models!

Goodness.

Our babies.

I decided to put her arms back into a T-position, I didn't realize until the end of the day that some plasticine had come off her right armpit, which I quickly tried to fix up, I will have to fix up the textures too when I bring her back to my accommodation though.

Donald was surprised by how hard and dry our clay heads had become, unfortunately some of the others'  clay heads had also broken apart over the week (But this gave them the chance to try out a different type of clay that turned out to be easier to use apparently) and so to smoothen out the hard surface, another tool had to be used…

Here Donald shows me how to burnish the surface of my
clay head with a spoon.

Next he shows me how to shave off some extra clay fat
with a cheese grater (I'm sorry… I forgot what this tool is called, really)

Before I headed off for a talk, Tabitha's head was wrapped up in
some wet paper towels and left to moisten up.

I was also given this tool so that I could fix up the shape
of her eyes and cheeks a bit more, it's just careful carving overall.

Donald teaches the same thing to David, and
apparently I find it necessary to take a shot of them.

After the talk, I spent most of the afternoon smoothening her scalp,
fixing up some parts of her face and shaving off some fat
from her eyes and cheeks.

By some miracle I was able to make some decent hair bangs for her, though I made a huge mess out of the table when I was flattening out a piece of clay and cutting out the bangs with a knife. I was also able to make her bandana which unfortunately cannot be seen here, but yeah it's there. Also I did try to make some eyebrows for her, but in the end, I thought she looked better having carved in ones.

Seeing as I was mixing dry and wet clay together, I was told to wrap her up in some moist towels so that she would normalize over the week, it wasn't safe to fire her up just yet (I still call it baking… but eh, I just won't say it around Donald).

I'm going to pray that my head doesn't break apart while I'm away…
May it stay safe in its moist paper towel wrappings and continue to be
mistaken for a cabbage...

Unfortunately, if Donald is able to book in an extra session for next friday (For firing up our clay heads as well as glaze them), I won't be able to make it since I will be heading back to Singapore by then, I will have to find a man named Andrew once I get back from our Easter break.