Wood Fired Cups

I know it has been some time since I've posted anything...almost a year, so I thought I would try to keep up with what's going on in the studio on a regular basis.
I have been creating new sculptural work and have also taken some time to explore functional ware.
I have also been working on reorganizing/rearranging the studio to make it a little more efficient with what I am working on currently.

Below is a picture of a finished wood fired porcelain cup that I have been exploring surfaces with.  I designed the cup from hand and then created a three piece mold for the basic form of the cup.  The handle was created using another mold.  I had issues with the handle and slip casting it, so I had to use the two piece mold as a press mold and then created the handle using the two parts.  By doing this it helped to give more stability to the handle as well as a nice balance of the weight, in regards to the weight of the cup form.

I will be posting other glaze experiments over this form until I find a combination that I will explore in producing further down the road. Enjoy.

This is one of two cups:

This is cup #2:

20th San Angelo National Ceramic Competition

I found out recently that I had a piece accepted into the 20th San Angelo National Ceramic Competition.  I mailed out the piece a couple of days ago and it arrived yesterday.  The Juror for the exhibition is Leopold Foulum, from Montreal, Canada.  There was a total of 764 pieces of art submitted for jurying and a total of 123 works were chosen for the exhibition.

The exhibit will take place from April 11- June 26, 2014, at the San Angelo Museum of Fine Art, San Angelo, Texas.  For more information you can check out the website link posted here:  www.samfa.org 

Posted below is a picture of the piece accepted for the exhibit.  The title for the piece is, "Technological Dependence".

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.

Raku-Firing Underway

I have been working on some glaze testing for my cell phones using raku glazes and will post some images soon.  Here are some images of the kiln I'm using at IPFW and the reduction chamber I'm using as well.  I'm starting to figure out the kiln and how the areas in the kiln, in relation to temperature, affect the glazes I'm creating.  I really love the process and how you the control is really out of your hands in reference to the reduction process.  I'll post some images soon of what the test glazes look like on the cell phones and test tiles.

Cordless Drill Batteries

Here is an image of the cordless drill batteries I have slip cast.  I created the prototype, from images I took of a real battery charger, and then created a five piece mold to use for slip casting.  I didn't want to ruin the battery, so that's why I took pictures and then made the prototype.
I created a porcelain slip-cast clay body and then went to work.  The chargers took a while longer because I was only using one mold to create the form.  I didn't mind though, since I was working on other work as well.  Here is an image of the slip cast battery chargers on my shelf.  I've done an initial bisque firing and will fire them to cone 10.

Why attend Graduate School?

Since leaving graduate school at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, I've had students ask me what it's like and why should they attend graduate school.  I have had the pleasure to answer any questions they may have, and try to explain the different reasonings one may choose to attend.  It's no easy task and one must understand the dedication needed to succeed.
When I was at Edinboro I had the opportunity to be interviewed about graduate school.  I thought I would share the link of the youtube video explaining graduate school at Edinboro and what I came away from it.  Hope you enjoy the video and I hope it helps to understand at least a little bit more of the reason why I felt it was beneficial.

The link is posted below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEBXSqBvAV0


This image shows work I made prior to the installation of my thesis exhibition, back in 2012.

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.

Petroleum Paradox Opening

Artist Opening for Petroleum Paradox at Denise Bibro Fine Art  Please Join Us! Thursday, May 24 6-8 p.m. 529 West 20th Street, NYC. Denise Bibro Fine Art is pleased to host the Women's Caucus for Art exhibition Petroleum Paradox: For Better or For Worse?, juried by Eleanor Heartney, on view May 24 through June 23, 2012. Opens Thursday, May 24 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. at 529 West 20th Street, NYC. Co-President for New York WCA, Marcia Annenberg, states: "this exhibit seeks to raise awareness of the imminent danger of uncontrolled climate change, caused by an excessive dependency on fossil fuels... It is our generation that has been called to this task."  To paraphrase Eleanor Heartney, "... the thoughtful works that comprise this exhibit present questions, such as 'How do we balance economic development, environmental protection, and geopolitical stability in an ever more precarious world? What are we willing to give up today to avoid catastrophe tomorrow? Where should we commit our resources? How should we define our social and economic priorities?'" The variety of perspectives of the artists involved employ photography, video, painting, and sculpture. These artists reinforce the paradox at the center of our environmental predicament. Heartney notes, human creativity and innovation are at the root of our difficulties, but they are also the source of our potential salvation. Artists in the exhibition:  Elaine Alibrandi, Scott,Anderson, Marcia Annenberg, Krisanne Baker, Ulla Barr, Kristen Baumlier, Cheryl Bookout, Paul Bouchard, Tracy Brown, Lois Bryant, Allegra Burke, Donna Catanzaro, Rachel Clark, Janet Culbertson, Michael D'Antuono, Derek Decker, Sherri Denault and Margie Glass Sula, Liz Dodson, Alice Dubiel, Sally Edelstein, Johnny Everyman, Trish Foschi, Pam Foss, Terri Garland, Catherine Gilbert, Carla Goldberg, Maeve Grogan, Livia Gus, Karen Gutfreund, Andrew Hamill, Aimee Hertog, Suzanne Hodes, Roxane Hollosi, Shelah Horvitz, Patti Jordan, Robin M Jordan, Vesna Jovanovic, Noreen Larinde, Amy Larsen, Molly Magai, Paho Mann, Brandi Merolla, Barbara Milman, Mitzi Mize, Andrea Morganstern, Sandra Mueller, Rosa Naparstek, Patty Neal, Rob Neilson, Lynnda Pardoe, Bonnie Peterson, Sara Petitt, Roxanne Phillips, Stefani Rossi, Soledad Salame, Loredana Sangiuliano, Samuel Scharf, Debbie Schore, Manju Shandler, Lynnette Shelley, Katherine Sifers, Simone Spicer, Greg Stange, Deborah Mills Thackrey, Linnea Tober, Lucy Traeger, Michelle Waters, Margi Weir, Jenifer Wightman, Roscoe Wilson, Helen Zajkowski, Patrcia Zalisko.    Notes from Karen Gutfreund, Exhibition Director:  Art can be a powerful, productive force and instrumental in sparking change or critical thinking.  The Women's Caucus for Art is committed to supporting local, national, and global art activism.  Art can produce a visceral response and can provoke, inspire, or disturb, and opens your eyes to worlds other than your own. While the artist may not consider themselves to be a revolutionary, by bringing to light issues and concerns, art can effect change. We need of works that help us to understand what is happening in our society, who we are, where we come from and where we're going.   With Petroleum Paradox: For Better or For Worse, we asked for works that stir emotions, discussion and debate about our petroleum-dependent world. Examples include, but were not limited to, works that address the impact of collecting, processing and delivering fossil fuel on the environment; global warming; the power of big oil companies to control countries and governments; an imagined life without fossil fuel; and life forms that were the origins of fossil fuel. The discovery of oil, in 1859, in Pennsylvania, transformed our way of life; we are enveloped by petroleum products-from the shoes we wear, to the materials our clothes are made of, to the way we heat our houses, to our modes of transportation. Oil dependency pollutes the environment causing respiratory illness, endangers wildlife, and necessitates the large scale loss of life as we search to secure sources of oil overseas. How do we initiate change with this rush to grab dwindling non-renewable energy assets, instead of focusing on renewable energy and the prevention of global warming? This exhibition manifests the artists response to the Petroleum Paradox and what is happening in our oil dependent society and world.   Eleanor Heartney, Contributing Editor, Art in America and Artpress, chose 72 artists for Petroleum Paradox with 31 works in the gallery at Denise Bibro Fine Art and an additional 43 featured in the catalog. This show is in collaboration with Denise Bibro of Denise Bibro Fine Art.  We are honored to work with these artists and to showcase their work. We believe in the power of artists to create, connect, and change the world.        We hope that you will join us in our celebration of 40 years of women and the arts! Regards, Karen Gutfreund Vice President and National Exhibitions Director Women's Caucus for Art