A LINA KIM UPDATE (see previous post)

                                         

                               Lina's Nude Torso from her senior year 2018- 2019 in Ceramics II

               

                Lina shot me an email today to say how much she enjoyed her post from 2 days ago.  

                                                  And here is her most recent yearly update. 

                                                     She has declared a Major in Sociology 

                                 concentrating on Law, Crime and Justice along a pre-law track. 

                                                                        Now get this, 

                                she is Minoring in Banking and Finance, Art History and English.

                                                                     Is Lina nuts?

                                                           Nope she is just that capable.

              Plus she will be headed over to the Cleveland Art Institute for more Ceramics classes!!!!!!

                Liz Ackert, she loved your comment but her mother says, "No, her pieces are not for sale".

                                          Sorry...if it was up to her she would gladly sell you a piece.

      What was striking to me is I haven't seen her in two years since she was a senior in my class,

                          and this is the first time I'm displaying her Nude Torso she made for me.

                 Then she sent me those pictures last year from her first semester at Chase Western

                    along with a newsy email of her life updates that still sounded so very youthful.

                                 But a year later, today, her email sounded so much more grown up.

                                                                I wonder if I'd recognize her?

                                                                      They grow up so fast.

                                   I look forward to next year's update Lina, and I wish you the very best.

                                                         You are going to be a busy girl, ha ha

                                                              Love you to the moon and back!

                                                        Now let's see more of that Nude Torso

                                                                                       

Lina's torso was so very tall that we could barely put the lid down, 

and I had 2 very large kilns. 

Also we were deathly scared it would tip over during the firing

 due to the shrinkage that occurs at 1800 degrees,

bisque firing temperature.

We were both on our tip toes as one of us held it in place 

while the other put those heavy posts all the way around it.

We were also scared of cracking;

that often occurs when you build a piece this large over several weeks 

due to the uneven shrinkage of the plastic clay as it dries out.

But we got lucky,

I believe there was just one tiny hairline crack.

But I could be wrong,

it's been 2 years after all.

Ha!

Here it is back into the kiln for it's glaze firing.

You can plainly see that Lina has layered and dripped 3 different glazes over the body,

then brushed on Cobalt Carbonate Oxide over the spikes so they would turn blue.

And it did.

Woo Hoo!

Sadly here you can see that the glaze and Cobalt mixture melted down thru the middle of torso 

and adhered her piece to the bottom of the kiln.

Yes, it was permanently stuck!

This happens frequently to all the students because glazing is a very tricky process.

If it's a tad too thick it will drool because we take the kiln up to 2500 degrees for this firing.

Glaze has a Silica base and it becomes completely molten at that temperature,

and when it's placed on a vertical surface

gravity takes over.

Look out! 

Lina had to masterfully chip away first to get it unstuck from the kiln shelf,

then even more skillfully chip the excess off the base of the torso.

In the process some of the base was also chipped away 

but miraculously it still stood without falling over,

 sort of.

The pix was taken leaning it against a wall,

just in case!

And some close-ups.

We were so thrilled it came out as well as it did.

Well,

 maybe it bothered Lina way more then me because she is a perfectionist.

I am too most of the time,

but this was such an incredible piece to begin with that the drool was only a minor detail for me.

I believe Lina glued the base down to a wood block when she brought it home for more stability.

I want to take this opportunity to once again thank my Art Assistant,

Alyssa Olea Morales,

for the wonderful pictures she shot for me.

Speaking of Alyssa,

I just wrote a letter of rec. for her application into Cal. State Fullerton's Teacher's Credential program.

Only one more year till she is officially a full blown Art Teacher.

Way to go Alyssa!!!