an artist a day (not really) : Adam Frew

It has occurred to me that the majority of the potters I feature here are female. This is totally by accident, for real. (Granted there is probably some unconscious thing in my brain where I am searching for a lady role model....cuz I am a lady, etc.)
In truth, what hooks me is the work, not the gender. Something grabs hold of my eyes and I say "YEAH! THAT'S THE STUFF!"
....and so I see Adam Frew as his work and say, "YEAH! THAT'S THE STUFF!".

simple sweet drawings on simple sweet forms

that, and I am a jar addict.....but his non jar pieces are lovely as well!

Just pure playful imagination and joy in making lines.

 

an artist a day (not really) : Sara Paloma

I like how Sara Paloma prefers to sell her work in sets, not wanting to break up such a happy (and plump) little family.

 

 

With exception of the occasional loner....who, while still very lovely, looks a little sad on his own.

Poor (sweet) fella.



 

an artist a day (not really) : Young Mi Kim

A ceramic artist and designer of books, pouches, and say-er of pleasant words like these,
"Like all artists, I am always excited that something is absorbed into my body and it is brought back out into the world with clay. I sincerely hope that my works can be a start of a ‘warm echo’ for
someone."...Young Mi Kim

 

an artist a day (not really) : Chang Hyun Bang

I'm drawn to the spaces Chang Hyun Bang's work creates. Odd and beautiful little plateaus inhabited by wild/traditional ceramic textures and tiny pigs...what a world!

 

 

 

an artist a day (not really) : Gwyn Hanssen Pigott

As continued testament to how little I know about the ceramic art world, I had not heard of Gywn Hanssen Pigott  until I read in the ny times that she had passed away recently. I can see her influence in many of the contemporary ceramic artists I admire and feel a kinship with her work even if we are newly acquainted.

 

 

an artist a day (not really) : Katharine Morling

While thinking about lines and drawing in ceramic work, the artist Katharine Morling comes to mind. Her sculptures playfully move in between the 2D and 3D. Pieces brought to life by the lines applied to them and lines brought to life by the object they decorate.

 

 

 

 

more lessons in glazing

This weekends glaze firing was full of experiments, some worked (yay!) and some did not (sigh).

Quick recap :

Some (white) glazes DO NOT like to be applied with a brush...inconsistencies in the glaze thickness show up very clearly. When it's too thin, see below.

 

When it's too thick, see below

 

 

So next go around, I'd like to try dipping. The blue does well with painting so I'll keep that rolling.

 

Also, I want to play with the thickness and thinness of the masked area. It looks a little too thick to me. I would also like to keep the "motif" farther away from the Celtic knot and have something closer to a scribble or string. I wonder if the thickness of the line is the key.

an artist a day (not really) : Margrieta Jeltema

Incredibly luminous and fluid, like a silk handkerchief floating through the air.
Margrieta Jeltema works in photography as well, which makes sense considering her ceramic work looks like a still from a 1000fps shot.

 

 

 

soft hard lines...?

As I said...glazing is the hardest part (for me...currently anyway). One way to try and make it easier to move forward is to "stick with what I know".

So, what do I know...

- I like drawing
- I know that the edge of a glaze is often more interesting than the glaze itself
- I like spaces between things
- I know that masking tape will stick to bisque ware
- I like a mixture of softness and hardness
- I know that glazes are like watercolors...until you apply heat. Then they become themselves.

 

 

 

So...let's apply some heat and gravity and see what happens.

an artist a day (not really) : Guðný Hafsteinsdóttir

Icelandic artist Guðný Hafsteinsdóttir references poems, myths, and the comforting objects of childhood in her work.

 

subtle kinks...light(and heavy) touches of color...simple (yet whimsical) forms

 

 

 

cracked up

So it turns out that seasons change and temperature/humidity changes too (what?! I know!!!). For some reason I had forgotten this primal piece of information and treated my Tuesday throwing work as if it were February, rather than June.

Results?

Three bowl sets...in the recycling can.

Shoot.

 

Fortunately, the pitchers were resilient and, despite my neglect, came out ok. I can't wait to fire them and test out the pour!

 

 

So today, I will work like it's summertime!



an artist a day (sort of) : Virginie Besengez

Virginie Besengez creates little cities with her work.

Simple forms clustered together, making space.

 

A populated example...

 

 

And a ghost town...

 

 

 

 

throwing day : prep bowls

Starting small...for real.

12 small prep bowls. 12 oz. each.

 

 

 

Such small pieces are best centered with one hand, something I have never tried before.

*Look, Ma! One Hand! (?)*

We shall see.



an artist a day (sort of) : #3 Marie T Hermann

 

Marie T Hermann

 

This image got me.

 

 

and then this one...

 

 

and then all the others.

 



an artist a day (sort of) : #2 Anne Drew Potter

Well, the "one post a day" has already been derailed by life (a baby with diarrhea and a fever) but I never claimed that as a realistic goal...just a plain old goal. Perhaps one day I'll get there, that's what goals are for...right?

Meanwhile, I found a rather appropriate artist given my current mommy struggles.

Anne Drew Potter , an American sculptor who works mainly in ceramics and haunting cinematic scenes.

 

Take a look and let her worry you a little bit.

 

 

...while I continue to deal with the baby problems at hand.

 

an artist a day : #1 Teresa & Helena Jané

*As an exercise in blogging, I'm going to post daily (yeah...ambitious) an artist who interests me. It's an effort to keep things moving blog wise but also force myself to take advantage of the great big inter-web and see the ceramic world. A mentor/friend once said, "You can't drink from an empty well.", so I am attempting to fill it...daily drop by daily drop.*

Teresa & Helena Jané struck me immediately with their colors but in reading more about their work (as much as I could, much of their website in in Portugese) I was very attracted to what they were making...drawer pulls and door handles. The tiny things that we touch all the time and never think about...my favorite!!

http://ceramicknobs.blogspot.pt/p/prototypes.html

The beads, pendants, just about everything they do is stunning.

black ware

My neighbor Joe, an incredibly interesting (and interested) nonagenarian, tossed out the name Maria Martinez while we were discussing pottery. I am embarassed that I had not heard of her before...but better late than never.

and Wow.

random act of kindness

On Saturday I received a wonderful surprise in the mail! Little knives from my friend Christina Boy's collection of wooden treasures! The giver chose to remain anonamous which is surprising, intriguing, fun and uplifting!

Thank you to my kind nameless friend!

 

I hope this is a link in a chain of random surprise gifts.

It's too good to not keep going.

 

 

 

Museums...hey, they have learning in them!

Today Baby Drew and I visited the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts with the intent of finding some fun animal pictures and squealing at them. While chasing a kitty cat through some Japanese prints, I found a tea bowl...black and lovely and described as a winter tea bowl.
Tea bowls have seasons...!

More and more on tea bowls here.
http://teamind.wordpress.com/2008/05/16/what-to-look-for-in-a-chawan-part-1/

And there is a part 2

and next?

The next big production push will be starting in June for the Edible Fest in August. I have a good sense of what/how much I want to make and I feel good about my forms HOWEVER I want to continue to explore glazing.

Glazing is the hardest part of ceramics (for me anyway) because it only takes two seconds of careless glazing to "ruin" a pot. So much time goes into every stage of making -wedging-throwing-trimming-finishing-firing-and it can all be in vain if that very last step isn't approached thoughtfully.

All of the failures and accidents become lessons though, so a couple of pots should be sacrificed in the search of something new.

Just needed to remind myself of that...now, let's destroy some pots!

Facebook and I aren't getting along at the moment so I think I will test out a blog. Also it would be nice to have something a little more direct on my promo cards than writing out that ridiculous facebook address. I will still use facebook as a posting bulletin board but I think the blog will work better as a working journal. So...here we go!