Finished Wall Piece-"Mechanical Repetition, 2015"

I finished my new ceramic wall piece and titled it "Mechanical Repetition".  It is made of Terra Cotta and a cone 6 black bronze glaze.  This piece took awhile to make due to the number of pieces I had to make and fit together.  Pictured below is the piece hanging on the wall.

Ceramic Tile (Wall Piece)

I have been revisiting ceramic tile and design with this new piece.  I forgot how fun it is…and time consuming to put a piece like this together, but I really enjoyed the time spent on this piece.  The work is of a new design and I used two different molds that I created to make this piece work.  I used Terra Cotta and hand pressed all the pieces.  I then used my black bronze glaze and fired the work to cone 6, after I did an initial bisque firing first.  The work was then applied to a piece of plywood.  I dry fitted together the pieces after the glaze firing, so I could trace out the exterior of the form and then cut the wood using a table saw and a hand held jigsaw to mimic the edges of the tiles to be placed.

The piece measures 30" x 38" x 1 1/2", and is held to the wall using french cleats, which I made as well.  All the wood was sanded by hand and then I painted the edges and the cleats, using a black satin latex paint.

The piece is currently on display, so I don't have a final picture to show the work, so I will try to get a final photo after the show comes down.

Enjoy!

teapots! 9th Invitational at Morgan Contemporary Glass Gallery

I was invited to be a part of a teapot exhibition at the Morgan Contemporary Glass Gallery in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  The exhibit runs from April 10-June 13, 2015.
I was honored to be asked to participate in the exhibit and those who know me, know I don't usually create pottery, or much functional work.  So, I had to sit down and create a teapot for the show.

It took me some time to figure out what type of form and then how the surface would later be developed.  I wanted it to be functional, although that was not necessary.

If you are in the area (Pittsburgh), you should stop by the Gallery to check out the show.  Here is the website for the gallery:  Morgan Glass Gallery

Below are some images of the teapot that I sent to the gallery.

SouthWorks 2015, 20th National Juried Exhibition

I had a piece recently accepted into the SouthWorks 2015 exhibition.  The show was juried by Will South (Chief Curator for the Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, South Carolina and Chief Curator at the Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, Ohio).  The exhibition takes place April 10-May 8, with the opening on April 10 from 6-9PM at the Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation, in Watkinsville, Georgia.

There were 425 entries for which Mr. South had to choose from, for the exhibit.
Pictured below is the piece selected, "Fossil Fuel".

For more information about the exhibition:  www.ocaf.com

New Work-2013 ("Possibilities", Circular Hand Saw)

I finished up another piece and photographed it with the other new work recently.  This piece is titled, "Possibilities".  It is hand made using slabs of earthenware as well as press molded additions.  I fired the piece to cone 6 and used glazes, tool dip, as well as enamel paints for the surface.  I'm interested in exhibiting this piece, but haven't decided which exhibition I should try to enter it yet.

New Work-2013 (Remnant)

This piece is titled "Remnant" and is hand built using earthenware slabs, with press molded additions as well.  I fired the piece to cone six and used glazes as well as enamel paints.  I'm glad it's done so I can update my portfolio on my web page as well as concentrate on new work I'm creating at the moment.  I fired this particular piece multiple times.

New Work-2013 (Technological Dependence)

Here is an image of a new piece I finished up recently.  The piece is titled, "Technological Dependence".  I hand built the mechanical form using terra cotta slabs, along with press molded additions.  The phone is slip cast porcelain, which I Raku fired, with a Raku glaze I made.

Raku Test Tiles/Cell Phones-Update

Well I have been working on refining the placement of my phones in the kiln I'm using, as stated in an earlier post.  As that work continues... I'm still working on my cup, vessel,  and a plate I threw earlier.  So, as those pieces are going through the drying stages, I'm getting ready to hopefully put them in a bisque firing this weekend.  Here are some images of those tests I did.  I didn't sieve the glaze I made up, so I'm assuming the glaze could look smoother without the larger particles in the glaze.  I've also made up a white raku crackle glaze, but I'll have to take a picture of those phones and post them in my next post.  Enjoy.

                                                              This glaze test was applied with a single thin coat over a black slip.
The more "copper colored area",  is a result of a thicker application.

This glaze test was applied with two
 "normal coats" of the glaze over a black slip. 

Here I applied two normal coats over black slip,
notice the larger glaze particles within the glaze.

Here is another test, this phone also has two
coats of glaze.  Notice that each of these phones
pictured have been placed in different areas of the kiln
and how it affects the glaze (heat differences).

This phone also has two coats,
as stated in the other tests.  With these tests
I tried to keep the application process the same.
The tests are also about location(placement) in the kiln.

This phone has the glaze applied the same as the others.

Here are the glaze tests all together,
as well as some phones that are without any glaze.

Fl3tch3r Exhibit: Social and Politically Engaged Art, National Juried Exhibition

I just found out that I had a piece accepted into the National Exhibition, "Fl3tch3r Exhibit:  Social and Politically Engaged Art",  (November 1-27, 2013).  The Juror of the exhibition is Michael Aurbach, Vanderbilt University and former President of College Art Association (CAA).  The Exhibit will take place at ETSU Slocumb Galleries, Tipton Gallery, in Johnson City, Tennessee.  The opening reception will be November 1, 2013 on First Friday at Tipton Gallery.  Hope to see you there!
 

Cell Phone-Test Glaze Picture

Hi everyone,

Sorry for not posting anything since May.  I have still been making work and working on finishing up the five sculptures in progress.  The last bisque is going into the kiln today.  Below is a piece showing a glaze test on a form I am creating in porcelain.  It will become a wall piece with the other forms I have slip cast.  There will be about 70 cell phones for the piece and I can't wait for it to be done!  I'm trying to get all the pieces done and photographed by the end of the month so there will be more photos of the works in progress.  Yesterday I made three hundred pounds of clay so I can start on some new work.  I have sketches for the ideas that I did over the summer and will be starting the new pieces after the five other sculptures are done.

Fun with Raku-2013

Sometimes while creating you step away from the norm and create for the pure enjoyment of creating.  This year in my mold making class we fired to cone 10, cone 6, and did Raku, for the surface treatments of the students work.  I had a piece that I had thrown on the wheel back in grad school and I never knew what to do with the surface, so it just sat on my shelf of bisque ware.

Well I finally decided to "just do it", and decided to Raku the pot.  The image below shows the finished piece.