"In Transit", Nov. 29-Dec.3, 2010, Northern Illinois University

The show titled "In Transit", was held at The Northern Illinois University Annex Art Gallery, Dekalb, Illinois.  The show is a collaboration between Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, Illinois.  Graduate students from Edinboro had the opportunity showing art work at the gallery in Illinois.  The work of the graduate students from Northern Illinois University will be shown at The Bates Gallery after the Christmas break.  The piece pictured is the piece that I entered for the show in Illinois.  This piece was created my first year of graduate school, last year, and is titled "Found Love".

Images of my new work at the show, "Intermediate Perception"

"Precious", Terra Cotta, 2010

"Untitled", Earthenware, 2010

"Spare Parts", Earthenware/Wood, 2010

"Excess", Slip-Cast Porcelain/Wood/Straw/UPC Bar Codes, 2010

"Linked", Earthenware, 2010

The final push to get all the work done in time was definitely worth it.  Here are some images of the final pieces that I have been working on this semester.  It's really fun to look back and see what the pieces looked like from the beginning to the end result from my past posts.  Hope you enjoy the new work.

"Intermediate Perception"-Opening Night Dec. 3, 2010

 These are just some photos before the opening of the gallery space.

The opening night of "Intermediate Perception" went well, and was enjoyed by all.  The artists showing work included:  Chris Hill (Painting), Parker Seward (Painting), Caitlyn MacDonald (Sculpture), Jason Thompson (Sculpture), Hiromi Katayama (Painting), Scott Porcelli (Printmaking), Angie Seykora (Sculpture), Kevin Rohde (Ceramics), and myself.  All of the artists are graduate students at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.  The show will run until December 20, 2010 at the Ferraro Gallery, 1020 E. Holland St., in Erie, Pennsylvania.  The gallery hours are Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 1-4pm.

Final Push Before the Show

Here is just a sample of one of the pieces that I have been working on currently.  It is actually the base to a large sculpture I have been working on for awhile.  I really like the results of the glazes that I overlapped to create this look.  The piece is a five section assembled piece that I will post later from the show tonight at the Ferraro Gallery in Erie, Pennsylvania.  The title of the show is "Intermediate Perception", and is a group exhibition involving nine graduate art students from Edinboro University.  The show should be enjoyable for all, since there will be a wide range of media:  Sculpture, Ceramics, Painting, and Printmaking.  The show is at 1020 Holland St. in Erie, PA.  The opening is at 6:00pm-9:00pm this evening.   I'll post images of the show on my blog later this weekend to showcase the type of work being presented.

November 2010-update on work in progress

Well, I'm sorry for not updating my blog in awhile, I ended up having my camera break during a halloween   party.   So now that I have a new camera, I'll be updating my blog more regularly.  So the last blog I posted I had posted some pictures of a new slip-cast form that I am working on with a porcelain casting slip. I only chose to create one with the "nodes", the rest that I have created are straight from the mold without the additions of the "nodes".   The slip cast line left from the mold was left alone intentionally, to show the process of the form as well as to reference mass production in the society in which we live. The slip can be fired to cone 6 or cone 10, which really opens up some possibilities with glazes on my work... I'll have to work on that next semester.  So in the meantime, here are some new images of the pieces fired with a white glaze recipe that Jason Stockman let me have.  It's great and doesn't run at all!  I also have been working on a wall piece and have just finished carving out the backs of the tiles to help with shrinkage, firing and weight.  Hope you enjoy the images and I'll have more coming soon.

New work after the bisque firing

Well... I bisque fired the new slip-cast form that I mentioned in my last blog, and also the earthenware sculpture with the chain, that I showed in the bone dry stage in my last blog as well.  I received the cone 6 glazes that I ordered from Coyote Clay and Color and hope to do some glaze tests on the porcelain clay body that I'm using for the slip-casting as well as the earthenware clay body to determine how they will look before I commit to using them on my new work.  Today I slip-cast another form and also made up five new glazes to also test.  The range of the glazes that I made up are cone 06, cone 04, and a couple of cone 6 glazes.  I also am working on a wall piece, which I just started yesterday.  I have an idea on what I would like to do with the design, but I'll have to see how many I can produce...I'm currently working on five new pieces, so I guess we will see.  I only have five more weeks before I present the body of work for my candidacy in the MFA program of Ceramics at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.  I'm going to be extremely busy!!!  I'll keep you updated with photos of the work as it comes together.

Slip-Cast Work Fall 2010

In my last blog I mentioned about the cone six porcelain casting-slip and the new piece I am working on with it.  Well, I did my first cast with it and had some minor problems with some undercuts in the mold, but I managed to save the piece with a little work.  I'll have to fix the undercut problem by shaving it down to an angle that will hopefully create the removal of the piece from the mold easier.  In the photos shown of the form, I am starting to apply "nodes" to the conical shape of the form by hand. I'm going to make a gang press mold that I can pour slip into, to help that part of the process go faster.  I am going to be doing some work on the flat circular side opposite the conical side, but I'll have to post those photos once I reach that stage.  I plan on using this form to create a larger sculpture by exploring repetition and scale as well.  I'll keep updating the work on this piece as it comes along.

Mid-term work Fall 2010

The first picture is of a piece I was working on since mid July and went under more heat than I wanted, but I guess that's part of learning how the different gas kilns around here work.  The second and third photos are of a piece that is in the bone dry stage and will be put in the electric kiln for a bisque firing next week.  I have ordered some commercial glazes that are cone six.  I decided to order the glazes versus making them so I could save some time and work on my work.  The last photo is of a large sculpture that I am working on.  With this piece I am exploring scale as well as repetition to create a larger piece.  The glazes fired on the "grate" area is a cone 6 glaze that I made up from one of our shop glazes.  All the pieces were fired to cone 6 in oxidation (electric kiln), after their initial bisque firing in which I fired them at cone 08 in oxidation.  All the work is built by hand using slabs, except for the screws on the outer rim of the grate area, which were made using a press mold and then attached to the form after scoring and applying slip to the scored areas.  I also made up a cone 6 porcelain casting slip that I plan on casting next week.  I'll post images of how that goes in my next blog.