Category Archives: Growth Mindset

Final Reflection

Posted on by under Blog, Growth Mindset, Teaching

It is time to end this part of my inquiry. I feel like I learned a lot and am finally accepting that I am not going to achieve my goals without studying them for many years to come. In fact, I may not achieve them in the same way I originally thought, but will, instead, be content with engaging in the process and sharing as I go along. I am feeling more comfortable with my level of skill because I can operate well enough in a ceramics studio to support my future art-based inquiry.

I really connected with the readings I chose, especially “Artworks as Dichotomous Objects” and Growth Mindset. I feel like I understand better why some art achieves a surreal quality. I had the false impression that creating something uncanny was more of a cheap trick than a challenging balancing act. Pepperell has given me more strategies for my toolkit; I look forward to using them to increase the sophistication of my work and to help my students do the same.

Applying growth mindset strategies and realizing that I need to work harder at establishing constraints are the two main lessons that are going to influence my pedagogy. I have made progress in accepting that life-long learning is about the journey not the destination and that has brought me a degree of equanimity. If I don’t do it now, I can try it later.

I will close with two quotes from Dweck.

Effort is one of those things that gives meaning to life. Effort means you care about something, that something is important to you and you are willing to work for it. – Carol Dweck

After all, “You have to work hardest for the things you love most.” – Carol Dweck

Tile

Posted on by under Art, Blog, Growth Mindset, process

This was one of the bigger challenges I set for myself. I wanted to merge the materials, to create a kind of oscillation between textile and clay, foreground and background, form and line. 

It is still wet in this picture. I rolled impressions of lace into the clay and spread a macramé net that had been soaked in slip across the surface. Then I rolled parts of the net right into the slab. I peeled out the top strands and trimmed them away, transitioning from impression to cast.

After this was bisque fired, I tried both to emphasize and obscure the different forms and impressions, at first following the track of the strings and then meandering away from them. I layed down splotches of colour that passed over and under the net and sponged on other glaze patches that merged and emerged. I feel like this was a good first attempt. Now I need to make about 100 more.

Crocheted Leaves

Posted on by under Blog, Growth Mindset, not ceramic, process

I used normal cotton yarn to crochet my leaves. They were really big and bulky. Not really what I had in mind since I wanted to create something more delicate.

Crocheting is new to me, so I am still looking up stitches and the process is slow. But it is something that it is easy to take with you. You can see my first leaf is laying on a Dungeons and Dragons character sheet; I was balancing making and enjoying time with teenage sons.

So this one didn’t make it to the kiln either.

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
― Thomas A. Edison

Growth Mindset Art

Posted on by under Art, Blog, Growth Mindset, process, Teaching

As a educator, I am really excited about this project. Any time I teach a unit on art, I hope to be able to include this as a companion project.

The assignment is to create an artwork from the “failures” of other artworks. In ceramics, this happens all the time. I started saving my failed pots and turn them into a hand-built sculpture.

Failure is information-we label it failure, but it’s more like, ‘This didn’t work, I’m a problem solver, and I’ll try something else.’ – Carol Dweck

At each stage of this project, the artwork must not be considered precious. After this is fired, I could smash it and reassemble it in a new form. The important part is to put as much effort into the design process every time you create.

“I believe ability can get you to the top,” says coach John Wooden, “but it takes character to keep you there.… It’s so easy to … begin thinking you can just ‘turn it on’ automatically, without proper preparation. It takes real character to keep working as hard or even harder once you’re there. When you read about an athlete or team that wins over and over and over, remind yourself, ‘More than ability, they have character.’” – Carol Dweck

Disparate Parts

Posted on by under Blog, Growth Mindset

I took a step back from the corsets and decided to throw some pots that I would mash together. I planned on throwing different pots, cutting them in half and finding ways to make them look like the different parts belonged together.

Throwing pots is hard. (This is hard. This is fun. – Carol Dweck)

 

I ended up with some I could work with. They were asymmetrical already, so I decided to keep the mismatched matching parts apart together. (Did you follow that sentence? 😉

I like the second orientation better.

Big Doily

Posted on by under Blog, Growth Mindset, process

Well that didn’t work.

What can I learn from this? What will I do next time I’m in this situation? – Carol Dweck

It needed to be soaked more and moved around less. Each of the fragments was very crumbly, so they just didn’t absorb enough slip. I did try painting more on, but it obviously wasn’t enough. I had visions of a giant flower that I fired in pieces and put together like a puzzle, but now I just have doily fired in pieces. Maybe next time.

Anthurium

Posted on by under Art, Blog, Growth Mindset, process

I had the idea that maybe I could create a hollow cord by knitting or weaving.

I learned how to knit a tube and then tried to create a flower.

I tried different ways of stuffing the tube. I jammed little pieces into it through the sides, but then it had all kinds of crumbly cracks. So I tried soaking it after that, but the tube collapsed. If I try this again, I will either wrap a coil or leave an opening for a tube. If I do the tube, then I can pour slip in and see if it will set up. In any case, this project didn’t make it to the kiln either.

Mashups: Ceramacramé and Doilie Windows

Posted on by under Art, Blog, Growth Mindset, Ideation, process, sketchbook

I made a mash up word: Ceramacramé. I like it!

So far it is beyond my abilities. I had all kinds of plans to make macramé knots in shadow boxes, or to create 3D ceramacramé sculptures. 

I forced paper clay through the extruder and made coils. The trouble with coils is getting them long enough without having them break or distort. Except that the clay was softer, using paper clay in the extruder didn’t seem to be any different from using normal clay.

I was considering making a die with smaller holes. I have some of the material that the die is made from, but I struggled with the macramé process as the following pictures show. So I decided to save that project for later.

I will still explore it later on. (Just because some people can do something with little or no training, it doesn’t mean that others can’t do it (and sometimes do it even better) with training. – Carol Dweck)

For now I built, instead, on the frame idea.

My first attempt:

For my second try, I allowed the frame much more time to stiffen up. I also supported it while it dried.

 

process pictures

Weaving Clay Belts

Posted on by under Art, Blog, Growth Mindset, process

I started trying to weave clay today. It is so different from weaving leather because of the plasticity of the clay. In other words, it keeps mushing.

I was using using low fire clay without any fibre added. I tried working very quickly and loosely with thin strips and handled them as little as possible.

I also tried using strands of different thicknesses. So far I like this the best, but the small strands crumbled. I would like to try it with paper clay and see if it cracks less. Also it would look cool with a slip-soaked knitted strand in the middle.

 

 

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