Start of a New Cycle

 Point of view vertigo...

Looking in the damp box tonight.

It's good to feel the push of a new work cycle.

 This is working towards a build-up of a whole kilnload of the good stuff... this time it's going through cone 10 reduction. Armed with a newly cut swarm of stencils it's time to get busy.

Still a lot of question marks with this load... Much of the uncertainty is dealing with current firing logistics. I'm trying very earnestly, to be happy about crating up my greenware to take to another kiln. The best reason so far has been that the situation makes me more actively cull though what leaves the ware boards and ends up in the kiln.

Surface Interrupted

Like most potters, I live for the gems that come out of the kilns.

One of my major problems is that the surfaces that I enjoy exploring are surfaces that are...

well, a bit crunchy.

 These are 4 works that came out of the last kiln load underfired... The longer that I look at and handle these though, the more I absolutely love them as they sit. The unexpected edges engage the hands as they are handled and visually I enjoy the look of an object that looks like it's been stressed but now appears relaxed.

Personally, I can relate to that.

Knob'N'alls and AgateWare

I've taken a working week off to get projects moving forward up in the test garden at Delta Community College. I've had students tearing down fences and digging out Bermuda patches in prep for building new walking paths and beds.
Gardening is a sport...

Aside from all the exercise, I've spent a frustrating amount of time this week also trying to organize my inventories and get a few items posted on my Etsy.

You'll probably recognize a few...
There are knob'n'alls that Ron Philbeck had us all making this last Febuary...
Here in Northern California we are fortunate enough to be able to refer to them as "Stash Jars", but I still prefer "Knob'n'all".
And there are also a few AgateWare yunomi that went up too.

On that note, here's a video clip from the not-so-distant past.

My Little Wooden Bitch

Pardon the crassness, but I’m Dutch so I'm guessing it’s ok…  

 My relationship with this little darling has been an developing problem over the past 8 months. Since we met, I’m constantly finding myself looking for reasons to pull her out for a quick round about.

 Pop up out of bed in the morning… push the kids to the door at a generously early hour knowing that once they are dropped off at their new school (private happy dance) I get to explore the acoustics of downtown Stockton at 7:30 in the morning… (This might not be a good idea, but hey, a vibrant downtown thrives on character). If I skip playing downtown, then I find a reason for an 8:15 coffee break on the neighborhood street corner. I gotta get it in because it’s a good long wait until I get to spend another 15 minutes with the case open again. 

After just 2 weeks of picking the kids up from school, I’ve gotten into the habit of loitering just down the street down from their school for another quick round. Hey… the parking space is paid-up for 30 minutes so a once through will happily burn through another 15 minutes free and clear then it’s back to sitting on my hands until after homework is done for the kids and then it’s up to the park for a good solid stint of 30 to 90 munities of tackling new passages. Mmmmmmm…

Why am I feeling guilty about this?

Vignette

I was clearing the computer off and thought I should pin this up on the virtual cork board before it gets lost...

This is my Mom and Dad with my 2 critters,
Gotta love those Golden Moments.

1st Ceramics Annual of America 2010

Caught a ride into San Fransisco with Bruce. The skyline is buried in fog and it's a lovely crisp 75 degrees.... mmmmmm nice... kind of set the tone for me.

The 1st Ceramics Annual of America was at Fort Masion. A vast enclosure on the Bay. Absolutely perfect to host a ceramics sculpture salon. The place was filled with so much beautiful works and so many amazed and delighted people. We were there for nearly 4 hours and had a mad ball of looking at works, meeting the artists, and meeting new faces.

Case in point. 

This is one of Bill Albright's pieces that we found as we walked in.

I got nose to surface to take in the skin on this one... lots of work can lose it as you close in, not any of Bill's work. It just gets better and better as you zoom in. 

Just a brief Pot-Parazzi of images from the exhibition...

Bar Shacterman

Andy Ruble

It was an airy gallery space the size of a football field... filled with sculptural works leaning favorably towards the large.

Esther Shimazu

 

 Lauren Ari

While the caliber of work was as astounding as I had hoped for... It was the breath and variety of visions that the show brought together that  made this a flat out fantastic show...

  Wanxin Zhang

Margaret Keelan

The 10 bucks needed to get in the gate was the funnest 10 bucks I've spent in a long while...

2 thumbs-up!

Dash to the Ceramics Annual of America Exhibition

CERAMICS ANNUAL of AMERICA is this weekend in San Francisco.
Exhibition Dates and Times
September 10th – 12th, 2010

Friday September 10 & Saturday September 11, 10:00 am – 8:00 pm

Sunday September 12, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm

Last minute opportunity with Bruce is taking me over the pass into the bay... YIPIEE! San Francisco here we come!

Trent Burkett at the Reynolds

 Surface... it's all about the skin of an object.
Form is fantastic, balance is a must... looks... well that's a matter of taste, but when you touch something, it's very much about the skin.


Hands enjoy their unique sense of taste just a much as the mouth or nose.

Potters develop a very specialized feel for their craft that shadows their personal  work. There is a top shelf... and getting to actually pick-up and explore this quality of work is a real treat.

Surface, skin, form, and balance...

Imagination and inspiration...

And a touch of the kiln gods...

Local Professor Trent Burkett makes "Potters Pots"... Magnificent!

These are a few "Pot"perotsii shots from show this week at the Reynolds Gallery here in Stockton California.

Pots and Prints

Tonight is the opening for the local ceramics teacher at University of Pacific, Trent Burkett and print maker Monika Meler.
Hope to see a few of you there tonight.

Clay'n Blogs Submissions

 

It’s been a bit of a challenge selecting works for this show... 

I guess it is rather encouraging to realize that I’m not exactly sitting on plies of work to choose from, (although the hammer of judgment did find an opportunity to accompany me while I was browsing and did manage to make the pile I could choose from for this show a bit smaller). Despite this minor setback, pulling 5 works that  all can in found somewhere in the pages of this blog was really a hoot. Most are seen in posts as greenware, but one was a recent stop motion anime. Another is one of the last 2 yunomi found tucked away in a very spooky corner of storage. They are from a whole kiln load of crackle orange that plagued me last spring, (my jaw dropped when this turned out to be a hugely successful load). One has a dreamy GhostBlue surface I just can't seem to capture in photo's yet... and one is a piece that simply embodies where I want to go this next year.

If you get out to see the show... please PLEASE feel free to pick-up my work and give it the twice over and let me know what you think...

Richard Yongjae O'Neill - Corelli Violin Sonata No.2 'La Folia'

Anyone that's got 11 minutes to burn and secretly fantasizes about being able to play viola at this level... well, this is the bomb! I am so taking notes.

Throwing my 2 cents on the pile

I’ve been packing up works to send out to the Clay and Blogs exhibition at the Campbell House in Southern Pines, North Carolina in October. Generally speaking, packing for a show is usually a detached activity, but this time it feels different for me…. It’s much more personal and introspective. The Clay and Blogs show has a particular relevance to me, the crust of the show is not necessarily about the work that we make… The show is more about how and why we blog. 

This is a big thing…

We are so quickly changing the way we reach out and communicate. The internet has provided us with an incredibly large classroom for hundreds of practicing and professional artists, a golden source for information, discussion, and networking.

It’s a huge pond to wade into and it’s getting bigger very quickly.

When I started posting just 2 years ago, these “Blog things” were generally photo diaries. I know now that there were a few other clay bloggers out there, but at the time, I couldn’t find a single one. I just started posting what I felt was fun… a visual diary of day to day studio life… studio notes… a few lessons for my kids… links (lots of links) and correspondence to and from other far away landlocked islands.

It was a convenient and fun to interact with… and I knew that generally nobody was watching for the most part, so it was for the pure fun of it.

It all changed the day I met Jim Gottuso online… all of a sudden there was someone else wasting time doing this blogging thing… and he was evidently enjoying himself as much as I was. Cool!

Honestly it’s snowballed since then… now there are hundreds of clay bloggers with more on the way. I feel like I know dozens and dozens of individuals of this community pretty well and I know that for better or worse a whole lot of people know me darn well now.
I enjoy sharing the ups and downs of studio life. Even more important, I enjoy following the day to day personal insights of a nearly a hundred other ceramic artists. The interaction feeds my enthusiasm to continually keep diving into the breach over and over despite the odds.

For these reasons, and oh so many more, I have to shout out…
Thanks everyone! It’s been a fun 2 years…

Time to get work… stay tuned!

2010 Visions In Clay Round-A-Bout

(unofficial version)...