New Work, "Ingenuity", 2015

My time is usually spent working on sculptural pieces, but for last four months it seems all I have been working on most of the time is wheel thrown work.  I finally took time away from the wheel to get back to my first love…sculpture!

This piece, "Ingenuity", is a sculpture that I had been working on for a short time.  It took me seventeen hours to create this piece, minus the multiple firings I put it through and the build up of multiple glazes. The piece is hand built with press mold additions, and is made from earthenware clay.  It is hollow and was built "life size".

With my exploration into the "object/artifact", I came upon an old 1921 gasoline welder, that my dad had found up in his attic above the garage.  I instantly fell in love with the piece and found it to be perfect to try and create with clay.  I used slabs, coil, and the pinch pot method to create this piece.

The piece was fired to cone 05 bisque and then I used glazes that I created in graduate school, at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.  I hadn't had an opportunity to use the glazes, beyond test tiles, and was happy to finally find a piece that I thought the glazes would compliment.

The glazes are low fire as well, cone 06, and really help to make the piece look like the real thing, only with more rust and decay.

Pictured below are pictures of the piece in different stages of the making process.  Enjoy.

KACA Material Mastery Exhibition-2015

I just wanted to let everyone know that I will have some work being displayed at the Kansas Artist Craftsmen Association National Juried Exhibition, Material Mastery, in Wichita, Kansas.  The exhibit was juried by Margaret Bohls.  The exhibit runs from November 2-November 7.   The Exhibition takes place at the Grisham Marilyn Fiber Studio, in Wichita, Kansas.

Pictured below are the pieces being exhibited.

 

Remnant, Terra Cotta, Glazes, Enamel Paints, 2014.

Manual Labor, Terra Cotta, Steel, Wood, Plastic, Glazes, and Enamel Paints, 2011.

Some New Wall Work

I've been working on some new work and have multiple pieces being constructed at the moment in different stages…it's finally summer!

Pictured are three new wall pieces I put together recently, revisiting my tile work and incorporating some slip cast work.  I played around with glazes and surfaces, but stayed true to the form and idea.

I'll be posting some work in progress tomorrow.  I'm glazing tiles for a new wall piece and have to get them into the kiln tonight before I go to bed.  Enjoy.

Hand Building with Molds

I have been busy with work, but in my studio I'm creating new molds for new work, along with creating new sculptures.  I had a bunch of stoneware clay, so I thought I would create some sculptures with it.  The images posted are of some things happening in my studio.  Enjoy.

I will update the progress of this work as it is created.  Pictured are five different pieces being worked on at the same time.

America's Clay Fest III (April 17-May 30, 2015)

I recently found out that I had a piece accepted into "America's Clay Fest III".  Formerly known as "Feats of Clay", the exhibition is an international juried ceramic exhibit.  The Jurors for the exhibition are Tip Toland, ceramic sculptor, and Peter Held, Chief Curator at the Ceramic Research Center at Arizona State University.  The exhibit will take place at Blue Line Arts Gallery in Roseville, California.

For more information check out these websites:  www.americasclayfest.org and bluelinearts.org, for more information.

Pictured below is the piece "Possibilities", which will be in the exhibit.

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

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 ("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.