Ceramic Direction

I've been experimenting to make the technique of 'mishima' work for me in my ceramics. Basically where one scratches the surface of a fully dried greenware piece and then paints the engraved areas in with an underglaze. Excess underglaze is then scraped off with a metal ceramic scraper, leaving only the line work. I've been loving it! Seems a lot of my doodles can be transferred to the clay this way. Here's pictures of some of my pieces so far.

This one has been fired and the contrast of the writing gets enhanced.

These 3 above have yet to be fired, still in the greenware stage. Metal pieces will get added after the firing. The third piece down just has some metal pieces set on top - I was exploring ideas of what to do with it. I'm excited to see what they look like after the firing!

Next Direction

A couple of weeks ago I read a blog by artist Nicholas Wilton about moving forward with one's work. He talks about looking back as a way to clarify where you want your work to go next.  I'm a big believer in that technique, but realized I haven't done it in a while. Which is weird because I think/worry frequently about where to take my work next.

So I picked up my notebook of all my photos of my work for the past ten years and took a look. As I reviewed it I asked the question, "What do I continue with and what do I move away from?" To my surprise, the answer was crystal clear and immediate.

1. I want to make my work more raw and truthful.
2. I want my work to be more edgy in execution, i.e. more rough edges to make it look old and also have a rawness to it.
3. I want to continue with my mix of ceramic and metal (and found objects in some cases).

Wow. The clarity is surprising to me. Now I need to work toward these goals. I think risk-taking is a huge part of this for me. I'm excited to move forward and hopefully not beat myself up when it unfolds more slowly than I want.

"Sitting Here Risking Being More Me"  from 2013

New Ceramic & Copper piece

The ceramic part of this piece has been hanging around in my studio for several months now. It felt like forever. The head and torso ceramic pieces I really liked one day and then the next thought it was just OK, then back and forth, back and forth. Finally I grabbed it a couple days ago (because I had a tight photo/publicity deadline), and just started moving metal pieces around it. I tried weed seed pods and antlers which I found didn't work with the expression. Then ladders, that surprisingly worked for me! I like it! A miracle. The title is "Visualizing Higher Ground". It will go off to the Patricia Rovzar Gallery for a group show in December.

Full-on Ceramics

This past week I've been starting the process of preparing for my Open Studio sale, the first two weekends in December. Lately I've been enamored with the mix of ceramics and metal, so that will be my focus. Here's a studio photo. Pretty much mayhem. I'm excited about these human-headed creatures that will end up having some kind of metal headdress. Antlers? boxes? plants? seeds? Also some kind of saddle with perhaps something brazed on there…but first, under glazing and the bisque firing.

Head Pieces

I've been playing around with a new way of attaching head ornaments. Basically just using a copper rod that slides through two holes on either side of the low fired ceramic head and then brazing other copper pieces to it. A pretty strong way to support other structures without a lot of fuss. Yes! to no-fuss.

A Real Vacation!

I just got back from a 10 day vacation to Italy. I haven't taken a "real" vacation in quite a number of years (like 15), so this felt very, very precious to me. I unplugged my iPhone. Didn't even turn on a TV. Just immersed myself in a different culture and took in the sights. I took a few pictures on my iPhone, but mostly trusted myself to remember the emotions of the daily journey and wrote about it in my journal. I think this might be a first to not worry how I might be inspired, or how I might 'incorporate' this into my work. Honestly, I have no idea!! And that's OK. I am refreshed and ready to dive back into the studio. That seems like a major gift.

In Venice

Sirmione

Group Show!

A very happy me to have gotten a piece of my work on the cover of the SADA (Seattle Art Dealers Association) Magazine this month! I have a group show titled "Adaptations" at the Patricia Rovzar Gallery in downtown Seattle that opens tomorrow. 8 pieces of mine in the show.

There are 7 other fabulous artist showing with me: Tracey Adams, Susan Freda, Jan Hoy, Rachel Brumer, Rebecca Szeto, Chris Maynard and Brenda Mallory.

Artists' Reception: Thursday, July 2, 6-8pm. The show is up July 2 - August 3, 2015
Looking forward to the opening and I hope to see you there!