November 21, 2009
The pottery show at David Smith opens tonite, hope to see you there! The secret code word is ‘pumpkin’. Here are a few previews:
Part of my display area, mui rustico.
Here is the charming Deb Schwartzkopf with Seward Park Clay Studio board member, potter, and all around swell guy Art Passette.
And a glimpse of other people’s pots. Yeah!
November 20, 2009
I am heading up to Seattle today to set up this fabulous show. Reception on Saturday 6-9 at David Smith & Co (link). Here’s a preview!:
November 18, 2009
I just shipped work to Portland, Maine for my show with Warren Mackenzie (link) and Paul Heroux (link) that opens on December 4. The show is at June Fitzpatrick Gallery, link here, which is in the Maine College of Art building.
FYI my new website is soooo closed to being hatched! Soon there will be integration between my site and this blog, I’ll be able to post new images of work on my site (which I can’t do now), and you’ll be able to shop shop shop!
In the meantime, here is a preview of some of the peices that will be in Maine:
I am loving these bowls! Or as I heard yesterday, I am putting the lovin’ on these bowls! Hard to tell from the photos, but they’re bigger than ever, about 14″ in the long dimension, and totally scupltural – the bottoms are almost better than the tops. I love the cut outside relative to the soft thrown inside, and the way the wall changes thickness as you touch it is totally sensuous. It’s like putting your arm around someone’s waist when doing a tango, when you don’t know their name.
These lilting tulips are a little out of season, but still on my mind. Washington is a big tulip producer and going to the tulip fields a few years ago was seriously dis-orienting. But if you’re interested in someone who really thinks about tulips check out Sanam Emami.
November 16, 2009
John Levesque writes about the upcoming pottery show at David Smith in Seattle here.
Hope you can join me at the reception this Saturday 6-9pm!
November 16, 2009
Unloaded yesterday, which means today is sorting day. The kiln looked nice overall, which means that the ugly things are my fault, rather than something going on with the kiln or materials. It’s amazing how many ways there are to mess up pottery.
Unloading is always a little rough emotionally regardless of how the work comes out. If I get too excited or too down about something either way I end up a wreck. This is my opportunity to practice non-attachment my partner would say. I split up the loading into before and after Korean barbecue to moderate and reward my mental state.
It’s odd that after all these years I still get so wound up about encountering new work of mine. Hopes and disappointments all around. The worst thing is that sorting the work is even harder (which is why I am avoiding it by being here).
Sorting is harder because the day after it comes out of the kiln I have to evaluate it: decide if I should send it out, not send it out, where it should go, who it should go with, etc. I really have to force myself to do this. Evaluating work is Kafkaesque: things look different all the time, and shift with the lens I use to look at them: my lens, the gallery owner’s, the juror’s, the curator’s, one type of owner’s, another type of owner’s. Of course I have to return to my lens as the ultimate arbiter, but these other lenses definitely have a role. This is what it means to make usable objects, and to support myself from making them.
All that aside, there are some really sexy pots in this firing. Here’s a preview:
November 15, 2009
It’s the day to unload kiln load #2. I think this is number 2 out of 3, though I’m not sure if I’ll be able to pull of a third one. Here’s a peek:
I can’t believe I’m sitting here rather than pulling the pots out of the kiln, but I know that once I get going I’ll abandon the computer. These tall round ones in the middle I’m very curious about. I’ve made tham as groups actually, of 2 and 3, and I’m not sure how they’re going to come together.
Today’s a busy day. Baby Isaac all morning (and the head bonk I had been dreading for months), unload kiln, pick up work in town, Korean barbecue date, make teapot handles, photo new pots.
These two kiln loads are mostly for my show with Warren Mackenzie and Paul Heroux in Maine (gallery site here), for the show this weekend in Seattle (link here), for orders I’m sending out, and for my studio sale. And for posting on my web site.
I’ll post a full list of shows and places where my work is available in a few days, but in the meantime you can check my website (here). Pics of the work coming soon too.
Time to put the gloves on!
November 13, 2009
Right now! the Witerfest 2009 opening is taking place at Baltimore Clayworks. If you’re there and looking at this on your BlackBerry/iphone, show it to the cashier for 10% off a purchase of one of my pots before the end of the reception. They don’t know this but tell them I’m good for it.
The show continues through December, so if you’re not there now you can still make it.
Bon Apetit!
November 13, 2009
I promised a brush post a few weeks back, and I have to start it out with some sad news. Keith Lebenzon, brushmaker extraordinaire, passed away unexpectedly about a year ago. I’ve used Keith’s brushes for years and years. His brushes have been instrumental in me discovering what types of surfaces I want to make. We used to see each other at craft shows, then I started just calling him up and asking him to send me brushes about once a year. So I learned of this only recently. Thanks Keith, you were great!!
Here’s a photo of my glaze decorating/painting table with brushes. Keith’s brushes are the ones with the nice bamboo handles. I use(d) his elk hair ones mostly, and love them. Because I glaze so many pots at a time, I keep a few brushes dedicated to each material.
On the banding wheel: red iron, rutile, an amber ash glaze, black underglaze, and a white glaze. Off to the side is a black glaze (the hummus container). Wax resist and a few wax brushes are on the right. We all need a good wax and I love Cer-A from Clay Art in Tacoma, my local fabulous ceramic supplier.
The nicest brushes I use are Keith’s elk ones. Those are what I make all/most of my longer lines with. I frankly am not sure how I’ll approach the absence of his brushes when my current ones wear out. Denial. I also use sponge brushes and cheap 1″ pig hair brushes to cover wide swaths. Inexpensive sumi brushes fill out the mid-zone; I use different sizes from tiny to 2″ long. Finally, I use brushes I’ve made over the years. I learned from the wonderful Kent McLaughlin (link here) at Penland ages ago. The bent-handled one is squirrel tail, and one near the pitcher is samoyed dog hair that is probably older than my assistant.
And that pitcher, I might add, is an old Chris Staley cast off from a workshop at Haystack ages ago. I’ve used it all these years as my water pitcher for glazing. I generally hate having other people’s pots in my studio (I can barely stand my own) because I find it so distracting. But this pitcher is like an old dog that sleeps in the corner. The only other contemporary pot I have in the studio is a Michael Simon teapot. If there was a forest fire I’d grab this teapot (and my baby boy). There are a few old Chinese and Japanese pots around too.
The hard thing about brushes and brushwork is, well, everything. Unearthing what kind of lines you want to make, and then figuring out the combination of glaze material and brush takes years. Each brush has its character – a type of line it makes best with certain materials, adn a way of releasing that material. You can work with or against that, but it’s good to know. The other key thing is to recognize when your brush has lost its tip. You can choose to keep using it, but if you can’t recognize when you’re using a dead brush you will have no control of your mark making. Which is like having dysentery – no fun for anyone.
November 11, 2009
I’ve been glazing away the last week or so, and had enough to fill kiln #1, which is about 25 cubic feet. Loaded up:
Check out those tall jars in the center back. This morning It’s cool enough for me to crack open the door for a bit, still can’t really unload it though:
Yum! New pots! I am so loving this yellow glaze. It’s still new to me and I just want to cover the world with it then lick it off.
This cup I snatched hot out of the kiln, burning my finger, and filled with coffee. I love how these lines turned out, first time trying them. It’s the yellow, with resist, then black. I love how they look like a cross between a Clyfford Still painting (link here) and architectural drawings. Still working through the bedroom theme.
You can also see my lovely coaster is a holiday sale card from last year. That means I’ve been on the phone with the graphic designer. Holiday sale this year is Dec 5, one day only, get your tickets now, Sea-Tac is the closest airport but Portland isn’t far either. If you arrive from Europe, Asia or Africa you can come Friday night for a preview.
More glazing ahead, kiln #2 on the way…
November 9, 2009
My cups just went out to Art of the Cup: Functional Comfort at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans, yeah. It’s actually at the Center for Southern Craft & Design, which is part of the Ogden Museum. The fabulous Jan Katz curated the show, so it should be a looker. In addition to being a fine curator, Jan always has the best lipstick.
Southern? You may be wondering. The mission of the Craft Center includes folks who were trained in the south. I was a Penland groupie for ages, so I have just enough southern flair to qualify.
Here’s what I sent:
