This past week....

This past week was spent doing a lot of experimenting.  I made quite a few plaster molds. I attempted to cast cupcakes and a cookie, and so far it seems like it worked! Now that the molds are set, I will pour slip into them. I'm anxious to see how the forms turn out.

I also made several small plaster cake molds. I want to slip cast them at different thicknesses to see what will be best for baking in the oven with.  I'm running into some problems with the molds however...they still have a lot of moisture in them and it has almost been a week since I made them. This has made it difficult for the slip to set up and dry in the molds. Perhaps they still need to dry out more?

In the critiques on Thursday I got a lot of feedback on how my work and concept lends itself to a performance element, whether that be with the viewers interaction with food or me eating the foods I create.  For me, baking is both intimate and public. The process of baking is very therapeutic and personal to me and in sharing the foods I create, I am in a way sharing a part of myself.

I think the similarities between art (particularly ceramics) and baking is something that I really want to focus on. The process of mixing glazes and plaster by following a recipe, working with clay and "decorating" forms to have detailed surfaces and texture is so similar to the baking process. I like the idea of making molds because it is yet another connecting element. Most of the baking I do for my dessert business is making decorated cookies and cupcakes.  I always make dozens at a time, which is why I like the idea of making many multiples of ceramic forms. Now that I've started making cake molds, I'm not quite sure if that's the direction I want to go in. I really like the idea of having multiples of something that can be shared with the viewer.

Stephanie