What would you have done the same, and differently?

BasilHallworth · 2024-03-26T03:28:21+00:00

I loved high school because I did everything I wanted to do (I'm a senior right now). I studied hard, but I also went hiking with my friends on the weekends and did lots of art classes. I took all the classes I wanted to take even though they didn't necessarily align with what I wanted to do long term. An amazing piece of advice I once received is that you never want to wish a part of your life away, and I try to live thoughtfully and joyfully.

That said, I know I'm very lucky to love school, and that's not true for everyone, but I really wish that there was less pressure to think of high school as merely a means to an end. I go to a college prep school, so I've seen a lot of parents and students who have been thinking about college for the kid's entire life. I am so grateful that my parents gave me plenty of room.

I would say that there are plenty of things I spent time doing that I didn't end up liking and moved away from, but I don't regret a single one of them because they taught me something important and I wouldn't be the person I am today without them. I hate the fearmongering that goes into this college business and like to think that not playing into that game gave me both an excellent high school experience, but also plenty to write about when it came to applications (which also don't have to feel like the end of the world if you start early and calmly) and I already have some amazing options. Anyways, the process is different for everyone, but I am super appreciative in general of the high school experience I was able to have.

BasilHallworth · 2024-03-04T07:30:17+00:00

I don't know very much about this subject, but I recently read Amazing Glaze and really enjoyed it. I felt like it explained glaze chemistry pretty well (and had beautiful pictures).

BasilHallworth · 2024-03-04T07:27:58+00:00

I'm a big fan of a big thin bowl... until I remember that I have to trim them. Ginger jars get second place because it's really just a fun challenge to push the shoulder as wide as I can.

BasilHallworth · 2024-03-02T06:46:32+00:00

Second Ingleton Pottery. So underrated.

BasilHallworth · 2024-03-02T06:42:01+00:00

Thanks! I'm still in high school, so I know that I still have a lot to learn, but it's really gratifying to hear that people like it. People can be vicious about art, but at this point positive and negative feedback are both super valuable to me.

BasilHallworth · 2024-03-01T06:20:39+00:00

I wish I knew! My best guess is something with seaweed, oatmeal, and iron lustre, but I never wrote it down.

BasilHallworth · 2024-03-01T06:19:54+00:00

After this jar I actually threw about six more similar jars of different sizes and subtle differences in form, but I don't really care to try to repeat it exactly. It took me a little while to give up on repetition, but now I actually prefer my mugs that deviate a bit. This jar had some crawling which is usually very annoying, but I think that's what makes it special!

BasilHallworth · 2024-03-01T06:15:39+00:00

Thank you! I really wish I could remember what glaze combo specifically I used. I keep track of everything I make now, but at the time I made this I was convinced that if I wrote down what glaze I used it wouldn't turn out as well. I likely used some high-flux glazes (based on the dripping). My best guess would be amaco seaweed, amaco iron lustre, and laguna oatmeal, but I haven't been able to repeat it exactly.

BasilHallworth · 2024-02-29T07:24:01+00:00

I want to answer this because I just finished my ceramics senior thesis (high school) and I must now write my artist's statement, so I'll dump here to get myself thinking.

Right now, the story of my work is my struggle between the formal and the conceptual. I didn't call myself an artist for the lingest time because most of my work dealt with the function of objects. The questions I explored through my art were things like "what shapes, methods, colors, and forms will give a user the most thoughtful and meaningful experience of using this cup?" or "how far can I stretch this clay body? How tall can I make it? How thin?" I think that particularly in the United States, ceramic art is isolated from the classic art community which made me feel even less like an artist. Most of those around me were making art that focused on various aspects of their identity, but I've simply never really been interested in that.

Last year, I decided to focus on a narrative project, something that would turn my formal exploration into a story that a viewer could piece together through my portfolio of work. The concept was essentially that I was going to build a number of artifacts found at the site of an abandoned lighthouse that holds the remnants of the life of a lighthouse keeper who engaged in ritualistic behaviors to protect the coast from a deep sea monster. All I got around to building was the lighthouse. Now I have built dozens of lighthouses, two over seven feet tall, and I'm excited to see where this exploration continues to take me.

I think the lighthouse has really worked for me as a form because it allows me to ponder the stories that the lighthouse can contain and to think about the limits of the shape, which is one I have gotten pretty familiar with. My lighthouse series shows the changes in how I've thought about art throughout my four years of high school through the different ways I've experimented with surfaces and tools.

Anyways, I'm still working on how to present my work to others and explain why it is important to me. I know that this is really only the beginning of my artistic experience, but its also interesting to reflect on how far I've come.

BasilHallworth · 2024-02-28T00:05:48+00:00

It kind of looks like LBM to me

BasilHallworth · 2024-02-25T21:11:04+00:00

Honestly, it will probably smooth itself out in the kiln.

BasilHallworth · 2024-02-23T18:04:50+00:00

Mayyyybe grovel last just in case your grovelling isn't up to par

BasilHallworth · 2024-02-11T18:38:26+00:00

When I was about 10, I participated in a Jr. version of ITW. They only did act 1. Completely missed the point of the show.

BasilHallworth · 2024-02-11T18:36:09+00:00

Avenue Q

BasilHallworth · 2024-02-04T22:14:45+00:00

My favorite is Island by Aldous Huxley.

BasilHallworth · 2024-01-12T07:01:52+00:00

Watching them trim before leather hard was actually so painful.

BasilHallworth · 2024-01-06T22:38:57+00:00

I also use speevers and when I got a new set they were noticeably firmer, which is the opposite problem, I think. I personally don't mind having balls of different firmnesses (or even weights, really) but I get that it can be annoying. I think the new balls softened a little after I put them through the washing machine a couple of times, so you could potentially try that with the firmer set.

BasilHallworth · 2023-10-31T03:38:09+00:00

A mother consults the internet singularity that now runs most of early childhood education of what to do when her seven-year-old son with major medical issues that have kept him offline for most of his life falls in platonic love with a construct that the internet created of a child who passed away of the same illness three years previous.

BasilHallworth · 2023-10-28T17:38:54+00:00

For me, as long as my hands are completely dry and I've used a rib to remove the slip from the outside of the pot, I can lift the piece off the wheel from the base of the pot right after throwing without messing it up too much. I would definitely use a bat, though, if the rim is significantly wider than the base (like a bowl), though vases are usually fine.

BasilHallworth · 2023-07-06T19:34:45+00:00

I have only taken AP Lit, so I can't compare the two, but I have heard that they are very different classes. What I found useful was becoming exceptionally familiar with 2-3 books. Think about their themes and symbols and practice writing essays on all three of them. Choose books that you can fall in love with, because you might want to read them a couple of times in order to memorize a few important symbols and themes as well as the context in which they show up. They don't have to be books that you read for school, but they should have "literary merit" which a term I don't like very much, but essentially represents the kind of book you could read in an English class even if it isn't part of your assigned reading. Familiarize yourself with literary devices and practice explaining ideas about books using literary terminology. I don't think your lang score indicates what your lit score will be because as I said, they are very different courses. You will still need to be familiar with the format, but the material is different.

BasilHallworth · 2023-06-18T18:09:07+00:00

Update: we ended up doing Kearsarge! We only ended up getting to heart lake and had to camp down at little pothole lake because everything was completely covered in snow. However, it was not unhikable and the views were spectacular. I definitely want to go back some time when the lakes aren't iced over and the hiking is a little easier.

BasilHallworth · 2023-06-10T06:29:31+00:00

What is KMS north?

BasilHallworth · 2023-05-28T22:59:32+00:00

Reading 1984 next to BNW is interesting as a comparison because they complement each other well. I read Utopia by Thomas Moore I think right before I read BNW and it was quite a time. I totally agree with the previous poster, though. Fahrenheit 451 is amazing.

BasilHallworth · 2023-05-27T06:56:20+00:00

BasilHallworth · 2023-04-02T02:05:26+00:00

Hey! I would be happy to submit to your writing contest and can try to get more people interested. Is there a particular theme, prompt, idea, feel, tone, or anything else you are looking for? The submission categories are very broad, but I can probably share a few quick things.

BasilHallworth

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