Wednesday, June 9, 2010

3 hours too short




As mentioned in the previous post, I took the Rio Grande Certification class this past weekend.
Right from the start Tim McCreight said it was not a race and it was okay to finish up after the class was over. I took that to heart.

I decided not to try to get everything done and stress myself out. So, I didn't push myself to get my tetrahedron finished. (Which I regretted every time we cheered for someone who did complete them all in the alloted time.) But, that was my choice.

I have Level I and II Certification through PMC Connection. It is amazing how different Rio's class is. Both programs are valuable and both teach similar but different things. I'm glad I've taken them both.

We had seven projects to complete. In the next several posts, I'll share my thoughts on all of them. This post deals with the tetrahedron which I'm still working on (all the other projects are done.)

The tetrahedron is "the dreaded" project (which is why I chose to postpone it..... silly me!) We had to make our form out of isosceles triangles and it really wasn't that difficult. The part that most people dread is giving it a mirror finish.

Half of the tetrahedrons warped during the firing process (and of course mine was one of them.) The warping lead to hammering it back into shape and lots of filing to even the planes before we could start the polishing process.

Since I brought the piece home I had to go buy a big metal file (which I've needed for a long time now.) So, in that sense waiting to finish it was a plus.

As I've been polishing the piece, I realize how strong the form is.

On the down side of bringing the piece home, I feel like it will be scrutinized more closely when I send it to Tim. Just when I think I've got it highly polished, I see fine scratches. Maybe everyones else's pieces had these fine scratches too. I don't know. In the quick review at the end of the class they may have been overlooked.

My piece does reflect images like a mirror. So, in that sense I've achieved my mirror finish. To complete this piece it needs to have a pin back soldered on it. That, I am comfortable with.


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