Clay In Critique

2008-12-18T17:41:00.000-08:00

Megan's New Stuff

Ewer Set 1
Lidded Box
Ewer Set 2

OK, here's the new stuff!
Technical notes: Everything is cone 10 reduction; pressmolded with some thrown parts. Imagery is mostly silkscreened with some stamping thrown in.

This work is the result of trying a few new techniques (new to me) and running with it. I'm not going to say a lot about what I think because I want to hear what YOU think. But if you have questions, please ask and I will try to answer.

I would really like to hear what's working for you in this work and what isn't. Thank you!!!!!!

Juliane's Work

2008-11-02T07:33:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

I can't believe it is November already! I am still working with installations - porcelain at cone 10. The first images (1-3) are of an installation that I am still working on. Each piece roughly 2.5" x 2.5" x 1.5"; I want to make enough to cover a wall or center them a wall in the shape of a circle or oval. My original idea was to create shell-like shapes and put something in the middle of just one (like pearls) - but now I am thinking of putting in different objects scattered in the inside of some shapes. What the objects should be, I'm not sure.

The next series of images (4-9) are from "Pedestals" (not a very creatively titled work). Each one is roughly 6" x 6" x 3.5". I still want to play around a bit more with cutting into the pedestal forms and changing the environment in which my clay pieces sit. This idea still needs more exploring... I'd be curious to know what it reminds people of when they look at it.

The last shot is of a previous piece from my last post. I took Megan's suggestion on showing the piece with fewer bowls.

Do people still think of food when they see my work? After moving again, the ideas in my work feel a little fuzzy.

Martina's latest...

2008-10-12T20:13:00.001-07:00

Hello Everyone
so above, you see an excerpt from my summer and the start of the new semester. Here you can see how the slab plates have progressed - furthering the layering of surface and working on them as whole image - then cut to individual plates. I am eager for feedback on the new work- for expediency i opted for studio shots this time. i hope they read okay.
Below is my latest technical difficulty. Crazing can be a perennial problem in earthenware - however i've never had it to this degree - where you can actually watch the water be absorbed into the clay. I haven't changed anything that i'm aware of, and it's not happening with every firing. Ideas?

Satoko's Pottery

2008-10-11T08:48:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I’m Satoko Barash and this is my first posting on this blog.
I worked for Hoyman-Browe studio in 2005 for a few months and got to know Megan Mitchel there.
I received a BA in Studio Art from Sonoma State University in 2005 and continue working with clay at home while taking classes at Mendocino Junior College in Ukiah. I started Wood-firing with Doug Browe, Jan Hoyman and Megan in 2004 and participated in building a two-chambered wood firing kiln with them in 2006. Currently, I work in my small home studio with three outside kilns. The third kiln is a soda-kiln and I have not quite finished with its construction. I’ve been renting a soda or a salt kiln at Mendocino Art Center and firing my pieces there since 2006. Megan taught me how to fire these kilns. I took a workshop with Chris Staley this summer at the art center, also. Recently, I was accepted as an exhibiting member for ACGA: Association of Ceramic and Glass Artists in California and plan on taking part in the ACGA Palo Alto Show in July 2009. I alternate between sculpture and functional craft, feeling pulled back and forth between the two poles. I still take classes at Mendocino JC, but since I graduated Sonoma State, I don’t get much critique opportunities. I’d appreciate any feedback.

Here is a little story behind the two leg teapots: I grew up in Japan and when I was older, studied for two years in England. In both counties, tea drinking is very much a part of one’s life. When happy, tired, sad or upset, tea provides us with warmth and comfort. A teapot holds something hot, warm or cold. It is, for me, a symbol of human relationship such as family, friends and lovers, thus, “Tea party Inside a Teapot.”

stacking bowls
(soda fired)

leaf serving boat
(wood fired)

round serving dish
(salt fired)

mugs
(soda fired)

bowl
(wood fired)

tamari dispenser set
(soda fired)

Candice's Woodfired pottery Sept 08

2008-09-21T14:54:00.000-07:00

Well Here I am again in my most favorite time of the year!I just got back from two wonderful weeks at Anderson Ranch. Charity Davis-Woodard and Lorna Meaden were the instructors and the focus of the workshop was the burry box alterative. It was a fantastic experience and I have to admit I felt a bit manic the first week I was there because I was making pottery again, and learning.... Here I am with my new friend Amber at 4 in the morning getting the burry box going. I also did a woodfire in Aztec, N.M. earlier in the summer so these pots that you are about to see are a mix of the two firings.

These are some woodfired bowls from A.R. I was really excited to work with some colors and a little less ash/debris from a typical woodfire. These are porcelain fired to 1o or 11.

I found this stencil of a bird and am using it on everything, immediate gratification if you will but I like using it in the woodfire with Barnard Slip because it bleeds out and gets softer. Porcelain mugs woodfired to cone 10/11

These cups are some of my favorite things to make right now. I learned this dry-thrown technique from Ayumi Horie last summer and it really goes against the super rigidness that I am capable of. I also really like using this technique for it lends itself to a feminine quality that i strive for in the woodfire. This is a closeup of one porcelain cup

We made a lot of sets in the Anderson Ranch workshop and I was pretty jazzed about that. Woodfired sake set. I really look forward to the day when I learn to take better, clearer photos, sorry ladies..... the tenmokou glaze on this is really pretty, lots of variations.

Heres a little Ewer set that I made, not really my style but a very good jumping off point. Again working to get a little color into the woodfire.

Birdee jar fired from the wood kiln in Aztec.

Birdee Bowls are Porcelain and fired in a soda kiln at Anderson Ranch. The two views are the same bowl, I just wanted to show you the inside and out. I like applying the stencil so it looks like the swallows are going to run into each other because thats how they appear in the sky sometimes.

Woodfired porcelain tumbler.

Porcelain woodfired jar.

Id love to hear from you all and hear all about your current adventures. I am back in school and frankly having the most uninspirational time at it. I got denied to N.A.U for this year so i am at the community college wading my way through general education with not a ceramics class in sight. If you ladies have any kind words of support as far as pushing through school goes let me know, again Id love to hear them. I hope you are all wonderful and happy love candice

Alicia Mack

2008-07-20T20:46:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone=) I am new to the blog, and this is my first posting of images. I think this is a wonderful forum for feedback! Thank you in advance for any input!

My work is inspired by volume, breath, and I work to achieve a fabric-like quality. This first piece was inspired by succulent plants, and is a salt and pepper set.
In each piece, I make an effort to hide edges, so that i can maintain the illusion of softness in a hardened substance.

This one is an egg cup set where each stand for under each cup is an individual salt shaker. the center piece is a flower brick.

The last shot is from my Mfa show this May. This is a jump in pics, but i havent studio shot these yet. I hope to get some shot and up sometime soon. It is a setting for 16. The color pallette changed. I dropped temp due to the losses from the high temp and the folded forms. I made a glaze that was a little more fluid as well. I liked how it settled into the textures. Heres a closeup...
Hopefully everything posted ok.... Thank you everyone for your time=) best wishes!

Megan June 2008

2008-06-16T12:15:00.001-07:00

Wood fired shot glass

Axe mug - Reduction fired

Doorway box - wood fired

Chair mugs - wood fired

Ewer - salt fired

Ewer set - salt fired

Salt fired ewer set
..................................................................................................................................................................
Hi,
These are images of work that I made during April and May. I've made a whole boatload of pots, and these are either favorites or ones that reveal ideas I am interested in pursuing. As you can see (and know from NCECA), I have returned to making functional work. I am interested in incorporating some slab and press molded forms into this current body of work, particularly for the trays/ holders. I like the sets and enjoy the potential for communication between multiple pots.

I don't want to say too much more because I want to hear what you have to say -- what is working and what isn't? Wood fired vs. glaze? I blissfully have not touched my artist statement for five months so I have no update on that end.
Thanks!!!!!!
-Megan

Martina Round III

2008-05-16T16:52:00.000-07:00

coverlet plates - front and back

"fun and games" - first plates post -NCECA

side plates - back of left below

dinner plate - front and back

pitchers - all about 10" to 12" tall

So here is my post – I have postponed posting since I’ve been trying to formulate a new artist statement. I am struggling to find a way to articulate what I do concisely and include the inspiration that is arising from my research in school. These pots indicate the focus I had through the last semester in school. The plates have allowed me a certain freedom in surface exploration. The challenge remains how to put what I enjoy about the flat surfaces into a more 3-d form. A resolution for the decoration of the pitchers continues to elude me. Right now in the studio, I am focuing on the plates and have begun to appropriate decoration from English medieval tiles and Persian ornament. I am altering mugs and working towards a bowl form that echoes some of the sensibilities of the pitchers in the altering and scallops.
I would appreciate feedback on both the form and decoration of all the pots and suggestions for the following statement.

Thanks, and I hope everyone is enjoying the summer,

Martina

The pots I make by hand are intended to be used daily. Thrown mugs and hand-built plates are my sketchbook. Not bound by a particular ceramic tradition, I am able to appropriate ornament and form from a multitude of sources. Referential of English Medieval Slipware and Italian Renaissance Majolica, I decorate combining historical ornament with ubiquitous text, and drawings of personal narrative. Inspiration comes through the act of making. As my work develops I begin to recognize the cross-pollination that occurs between surface and form.

A similar correlation may transpire between the objects I make and their domestic environments. As I work in the studio I imagine the pots I create in use. I remain aware that the intended utilitarian role of the object has the capacity to evolve. I aim to create objects that foster relationships with their owners that develop and deepen over time.

Ruth's 2nd Post

2008-05-05T22:09:00.000-07:00

this bowl is about 12"x4" and is woodfired. the inside and lip have been glazed with a celadon

This tumbler is made of ice (the way too expensive translucent clay) so you can see light through it. I created the upper design with wax and fired it in salt kiln.

This tumbler is glazed and fired in salt.

Rainbow mug a freak woodfired surprise... bmix clay

Fancy ice clay, glazed and soda fired

helmer clay, waxed over stamping and
glazed the rest of the piece, fired in soda kiln.

same as the tumbler above

Hello Everyone,

This is what I have been working on, still working with my stamps but creating new form by pushing out the clay and using the form as part of the decoration. Still need to update my artist statement but I have realized with these newer pieces that organization of space is very important to me. I think you will all see how these have evolved from my last post. Let me know what you think, enjoy....

-Ruth

Juliane's Work

2008-04-22T19:27:00.001-07:00

Plate 1Squiggly Plate (no title yet...)

Tie

Unequal

(Intended display of Unequal - plates side by side)

To Have or Have Not (Installation)

Exploring different arrangements....

Hello everyone! A lot of these images are works in progress. Nonetheless, it would be helpful to have your feedback.

I use the plate forms to "frame" their contents and tell a story. "Plate 1" (untitled) will have gold luster painted inside the ball that has been cut to reveal the interior. "Squiggly Plate" is particularly interesting to me as I am moving the forms off the plate. I imagine the creation of a whole army of forms wanting to get onto a plate (which excites me because I love making multiples)!

"Unequal" carries out my original intent in throwing plates that look alike. By setting two similar plates next to each other, I wanted the viewer to be aware of the difference in serving size (or to be able to look at a freshly presented plate in comparison with one that shows traces of a meal).

"To Have or Have Not": These photos show different arrangements of an installation piece. I am still trying to figure out the spacing. I have a thought about putting the bowl full of knot-like forms near the edge of the table and stringing together the pieces so that they look like they are spilling over the edge. What arrangements do you care for the most/least?

I am using food as a metaphor for the feelings of fullness or emptiness that one can experience in his/her relationships with other people.

candice's pots

2008-04-04T13:24:00.000-07:00

Hi beautiful lovely ladies, well here I am in all my glory. Again it was so awesome to meet you all in Pittsburg, I felt like I had made a wonderful connection with you all! So lets see...... The first pots at the top are my newer wood fired series. The teapot and cups are a dry-thrown technique that I learned in Ayumi's workshop last summer at Haystack. I am incorporating a lot of the dry thrown into my work right now; trying to find the balance of organic and refined to go into the wood kiln. I am developing my color palette so eventually I will have a fair amount of color demonstrated.

The Platter is one of my favorites. I am incorporating a lot of birds into my work lately also. I love Bernard slip in the salt because it bleeds and gives a little softness to it all.

I LOVE to make jars. I love to make sets of things. These are a little rough around the edges and the lighting is horrible but a good example of what I am working on. I make a lot of these in cone 6 with runny glazes that come out pretty nice and sell pretty well.

These funny little gourd-shaped jars are my favorite jars to make right now. These are cone 6 with vintage decals. This is a stock shape I make right now and I find they are versatile when decorating.

I make these nesting flowers bowls that I really enjoy. As a potter I really enjoy making my objects fit together well. I feel that I lean towards the vintage style but with a contemporary flair. I am not going to post an artist statement right now because I still pulled in too many directions, part of the reason I thought a formal education was a great idea. I can say for sure that I love pottery with all my heart!

monica's pre-nceca post

2008-03-15T18:08:00.000-07:00

the first two images of beakers are an idea in process. the three teapots are in various stages: the first finished, i was looking for degrees of white. the second teapot is hand built from thrown parts. the third train-style teapot is hardly functional but again looking at new shapes and idea. we obviously are all very busy, am sure i will get plenty of feedback at the show so no pressure to comment.

Kip III: Lowfire Adventures

2008-02-09T22:14:00.000-08:00

Hi ladies… Here is what I’ve been up to for the past while. I think I’m ready to say I’ve embraced the low fire direction. Most of the developments you see here feel like movement toward a more coherent body of pots, and it would be great to get any advice as these ideas coalesce in my work and into an artist statement (hopefully by NCECA!!).

Below you will find a list of things I am pursuing and why they are feeling important to me. It’s not an artist statement yet but some of the elements are there.

-Drawing on functional pots is currently a large component of how I’m approaching clay. As I sketch, there is ample time think about what I am illustrating, how I am grouping imagery and what those image combinations come together to express. Because this work is utilitarian I hope the user will continue to contemplate the ideas and the way their meanings change over time. I feel like this fits well into the “constant conversation” framework.

-I like how the drawings essentially become etched in stone once they are fired: little moments of history in a permanent, physical form.

-I’m intrigued by the sides pots have and the impact one side can have on another. The potential to pull a person in with cheerful color (someday soon!) and innocuous ideas, only to show a darker, sarcastic side of the (seemingly) innocent has me thinking a lot. The way that mixing and matching the same group of images can evoke vastly different ideas and feelings is something I’m pursuing as well.

-I’ve been looking at and thinking about graphic novels and zines. I like the method of progressing a storyline with visual frames, and how only through use and handling of these pots is the full story revealed. I’m thinking about working in a series of cups, where it takes multiple pieces to complete an idea or thought.

-Finally, there is the glazing – my great nemesis! But, I have a goal in mind now, which makes things feel more manageable. I know some of you are familiar with Ursula Hargins work – I am really interested in her glaze palate and that of Bernadette Curran as well. I particularly like the way Ursula lays down bright colors that drip and run outside the lines of her drawings. I’m starting to go in that direction, but am still struggling to get the finish I want. I started with following clear glaze:

Frit 3195 - 90%
OM 4 - 10%

But, I’ve had some shivering in areas, and a lot of bubbling over the areas with mason stains. I did some line blends, but I think I need to increase the expansion even more than I did in the blends (I never hit a point of crazing…). I’ve also used a water blue glaze from Julia Galloway and all Frit 3110 with mason stains and all 3195 with MS, too (see Test Cup). I’ve had a little luck with the latter three, but none are really running as much as I’d hoped… any ideas (I’m thinking I should introduce some 3134 for starters)??

Thanks for looking ladies…

What's for Dinner? (view 1)

What's for Dinner (view 2)

What's for Dinner (view 3)

What's for Dinner? (detail)

Gas Cup

Gas Cup (view 2)

Oil Cup

Oil Cup (view 2)

Turbine Tumbler

Pipeline Cup

Wall Tile (6 x 6)

Test Cup

Test Tiles 1

Test Tiles 2

Test Tiles 3

Megan: February 2008

2008-02-02T11:42:00.001-08:00

These first three are slip cast and salt fired.

Untitled, press molded, reduction fired

Table Press molded and handbuilt, wood/soda fired

Seabirds Press molded and handbuilt, wood fired
Rocker, Same as above
World Below, Press molded, soda fired
Cushion, wood/soda fired

Artist Statement

Drawing inspiration from natural, created, and imaginary landscapes, my artwork investigates the physical and emotional interactions between inner and outer spaces.

My work embodies my contradictory desires for freedom and structure. Thus far, adulthood has proved to be a balancing act between my need for autonomy, adventure and possibility, and my longings for community, comfort and nurturance. The result has been an uneasy truce in which home is a fluid concept, and I find comfort equally in the arms of a friend and in the wide expanse of the sky.

The instability and transience of my life have created an appreciation of structure and order, which I impose on my work through geometric form and patterns. The confluence of domestic and natural imagery reflects my uneasy relationship with feminine domesticity, as well as my reverence for the natural world. Windows and fences are dominant images in my work; they serve as boundary and opening, simultaneously inviting and gated. A window references insight and a yearning for new vistas; a fence provides both security and limitation. By creating interior spaces that are inaccessible, I explore the elusiveness of intimacy while also invoking feelings of curiosity and wonder.

I aim to define a personal vision of home through my artwork, and to create spaces that provide challenge, intrigue and solace. I aspire to a better understanding of the inner workings of my consciousness and my surroundings.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi everyone,

Here's what I've been up to for the past few months. The majority of my time has been spent on the sculptural work, but I also have been enjoying playing with the slipcast pieces.

I just moved to Sacramento, and am embarking on a semester as a special student at Sac State. I would love your comments on these pieces, and also your thoughts on directions for the months to come. As well, I welcome your ideas about which pieces to bring to NCECA. Thanks for your time; see you in PA!!!

Martina Round Three

2008-01-20T10:53:00.001-08:00

Hey,

So here is what little I’ve been up to. The mugs are tests of decoration ideas. The batter bowl was the first attempt to move the decoration inside and out with the same freedom of some of the mugs and large test tiles (no photos). The gravy boat was a bit of fun I hope to revisit and the platters are what I’m up to now. They’re quite large – 21” long. The surfaces since these have become more unified. The rough piped edge on the one I want to play with more. I’m making some new molds in varying sizes. I toyed with majolica a little last term, but I missed the depth of the slipped surface under the colored glazes.
The artist statement is just a little revamped. I look forward to comments and see most of you soon.

martina
hard to tell, but piped edge

only an exercise - made in one sitting handle and all
small bowl, thrown foot

white slip, coloured glazes and photocopy transfer
coloured slips and glazes
coloured slips, glazes and glaze pencil

I aim to contain in my pots the softness and subtle irregularity that serve to emphasize the handmade object in today’s machine made world.
I’m searching for forms, decoration and glazes that maintain some of the dynamic crispness that I love while instilling the vitality of the touch of the maker.

In this spirit, I have begun to explore looser thrown and handbuilt forms, less defined decoration and satin glazes to invite the touch. I am learning it is contrary to my nature to allow glazes to run, lines to blur and edges to wobble. It takes me greater concentration to bring an irregular pot into being than a tight one.

As I delve deeper into the overlapping of slip and glaze decoration in various colors and surfaces, my ideas continue to evolve. The brightness of opaque green against the shimmer of transparent amber and what they both do differently over a colored slip allows the mind to wander. They evoke the boundary between a field and the path, or the sky and the skyline. Inspiration for decoration is drawn from my new surroundings in Halifax Nova Scotia. New forms and an expanding palette are influenced by the geometry of the dockyard and the colors of containers on ships going by.

Function beyond utility remains central to my work. By creating a piece that is both unique and useful, I hope to remind people of the value and inherent qualities of human touch.

Kristin Pavelka's work

2008-01-10T16:14:00.000-08:00

Cups and Saucers--The foot was added and thrown at leatherhard stage. There's a small impression on top of the saucer for the cup to sit. Underside of saucer is trimmed with a small footring and left unglazed so it's the same color as the bottom of the foot...the beautiful brick red.

Teapot--this pot showcases and idea that I'm most excited about...breaking up the space to allow other imagery or memories to surface. In this case, the handle and the upper part of the teapot come together to form a chopper-type form. I also enjoy the idea of layering plain and patterned areas. I have taken this idea little further, although not shown, with a cup in which the line dividing the pattern from plain has been carved a bit to create more dimension for the plain. This handle is hollow.

Quonset Butter Dish-- For a while I would decorate the inside of this dish with matching patterns from the outside, but it was becoming too labor intensive. Now both top and bottom are lined with yellow. Terra sigillata on the roof and base of the dish.

Santoku Spreaders--I've been having fun with utensils...spoons, cake trowels and these. Realistically they probably wouldn't be usable unless they were spreading something really soft such as jam or dips, but as an object, they fascinate me. The handles are hollow, red terra sigillata is on the top part of the handle.

Tidbit Plates--I think of these as "swatches" of pattern. The backside has a small trimmed foot and is unglazed. Around the back rim a little white slip is exposed from underneath the glaze on most.

All work is earthenware, slipped, sgraffito, and layers of different colored glaze. Fired to cone 04.
---------------
Hello and thanks for taking a little time to view and comment on my work. This work is fairly current, and because I am at a crossroad with this line, it will be a great time to get some feedback. Below is my most recently written artist statement, but I wouldn't say it's completely true to what I've most recently been thinking about, including some of the work that is posted, but it will give you a bit of background. So this doesn't become a point on which everyone comments, it's not so important for the pots to reference body, as stated in the statement. Rather the body was a jumping off point for the beginnings of this work and has since strayed. Yeah, the statement needs major updating.

ARTIST STATEMENT

I make functional candy-like glazed earthenware pottery. For me, the making of a pot becomes a celebration of it as an object, as it transcends beyond the everyday kitchen dish and becomes something with more meaning and warmth.

Recently I was diagnosed with a condition that is a precursor for diabetes and was instructed to watch my intake of foods rich in fat and sugar. Since then, many of my pots reference sweets and fatty food through function, form, or surface. They also reference the body. A swelling belly of a pot becomes a full gut, a fat rim being pinched is a lovehandle. I touch the clay in a similar way to how I treat my own body: pinching, pulling, and poking. The evidence of the hand is vital and is seen in aspects of the forming of the pot as well as in the glazing. By confronting these unhealthy foods via art making, my cravings are somewhat satisfied.

Although issues about my health are at the core of the meaning behind my work, I was born a collector and have various interests in objects from primitive wooden tools of the early 20th century to Scandinavian design and kitsch objects of the mid-20th century. I have developed a love for historical ceramics, responding to the fresh handling of the clay in wares from Medieval England and the depth and richness of the surface of the sgraffito wares of 13th century Iran and Iraq. Architecture has been a big influence on my work through both form and details, and my color palette borrows from food and decorative style of Martha Stewart.

Pattern has come to be an important part of my work. I develop my patterns in an orderly manner by use of a grid system, doodling simple shapes that I encounter in everyday life such as those found within a concrete block wall or bird footprints in the snow. By drawing and exaggerating these shapes in different orientations within the grid I am able to come up with endless possibilities for pattern, often starting to refer to something other than the original inspiration.

A balance exists between the rough clay surface and the shiny, colorful glazes, as well as pattern and open space. I want them to look full both with and without food.
----------------
Thanks

2007-12-16T11:46:00.000-08:00

Here are some of my past works. I tried to choose a wide range of some styles that i have tried out in the past.

Ruth's Post

2007-12-06T19:04:00.000-08:00

hello everyone,
This is my most recent artist statement. I hope it give a little insite to what I am currently working on, which is different then my pieces I did throughout college. In the past I have uses geometric designs on large areas. Only recently I have simplified a lot by adding this texture and design just to a stripe here and there.

As far back as I can remember appreciating art has always been part of my family. My mother would bring me to museums for what felt like days at a time. Beauty is what attracted me to the art I found on these trips, like Monet, Chagall, and Degas, but I was only allowed to examine them with my eyes. While in high school I began working with clay and was excited when I discovered that there was a way to create artwork that could be held, used and enjoyed, not just looked at. Having developed my skills, I still focus on these qualities creating dinner sets that are removed from the protective china cabinet. My pots reflect the classic patterns and intricate designs of elegant English china or delicate Greek pottery but are also made to endure the stress of a busy household. To heighten the experience of touch, my patterns are created with stamping, faceting and slip trailing to create interesting textures. In creating attractive and functional ceramic ware, I hope to bring art to the table.

Mel December Post (switching with Kip)

2007-12-02T10:09:00.000-08:00

hey guys,
this is the version of my artist statement that will be going to grad schools, so any help would be wonderful! here are a few of my latest pots, too. i've been thinking a lot about your comments last time, and have been working on trying to make the animals on different pots interact with one another. i made a bunch of tumblers (different heights) that have a scene across all of them (birds on a wire, pink mountains) but don't have a shot of them. they're moderately successful, a good first step i think. but i've been having trouble finding other ways of making the pots and animals interact without everything seeming contrived. i guess that if i want the animals to be interacting, which would be interesting, i don't want the relationships to be straightforward. maybe the animals could be sort of indifferent or something. also, i think some of the these animals work with their forms, and some could probably be on another pot just as easily. so any suggestions about how to make the animals seem like they really belong on the forms would be helpful. i don't think they look like they're just painted on there for no reason- i do think they somewhat relate to the form- but i'm working on strengthening that aspect. maybe the forms themselves need to change? i'm not interested in making sculptural, bernadette curran pots that directly reflect the shape of the animal, but just want a these pots seem like they were meant to be, to sing. i think they sort of hum now. :)

Artist Statement
Drawing on my faith in the innate intelligence of the motion of making, I allow momentum and intuition to guide my studio practice. My work is a balance between thoughtful intention, action and instinct, with room for daydreams. Confident and lively movements are juxtaposed with affectionate attention to surface pattern and detail. The imagery reflects an ongoing inner dialogue regarding the domestication of life, animals, and land. Characters are whimsical, but sometimes melancholy or forlorn. Animals might be caged or freed by the form, and the surface landscape speaks both of cultivated earth and open horizons. Throughout the entire pot, I seek to balance comfort with adventure, and structure with romance and possibility. Overall, my work is a search for a connection to new and shifting landscapes, as well as an investigation of my own evolving relationship with the natural world.

2007-12-02T10:07:00.000-08:00

2007-12-02T10:05:00.000-08:00

2007-12-02T10:01:00.001-08:00

Juliane's work

2007-11-11T19:53:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone.

Hopefully I will be technologically astute and this post will go as it is supposed to. This work is fairly recent; I made it early summer while I was in TN. I am still trying to decipher it. I will include a few excerpts of my artist statement below, but I am really curious about people's reactions to the work WITHOUT reading my statement right away. Are there other visual clues that the work is giving you that aren't evident in my statement? Are there aspects of my work that really seem to mesh/not mesh intuitively with what I write?

My ceramic sculpture consists of a series of multiple ceramic forms that are made with a food reference in mind, be it serving vessels or clay forms that resemble baked goods, candy, dumplings, or pasta. I enjoy the meditative process of throwing or handbuilding the same form over and over. Although it takes a lot of time to create a mass of handmade “food” items out of clay, I am attracted to the nuances and rhythm of these objects as they repeat and begin to energize the space around them. Because my clay food items are made of porcelain and are rather small in size, they remind the viewer of a sweet delicacy or treat. I also find the labor involved in handmade work lends a certain preciousness to each object as no two objects are the same.
Multiples and mass production can refer to consumption. A consumer’s choice in selecting one or several items from a multitude becomes of particular interest to me. How does an individual choose a particular item over others? I consider food, its display, and consumption as a metaphor for human sexuality, taste, and appetite. One might be fortunate to make the right choice in selecting a partner, or one might be tempted to choose based on the appearance of a person only to discover that the inside is a disappointment. In my work, repeated “food” objects signify the multiplicity of choices we have in selecting one from a whole. Repetition of clay forms also alludes to the reproductive nature of our species...

2007-10-28T18:48:00.000-07:00

bonjour-

the slides are obviously not top quality but the house is 65% in boxes. these new pots are my attempt to focus on how the handle relates to spout, the spout to the body, the handle to the body etc. i wanted to continue straight lines, bulbous shapes, and quick decision, not cleaning up connection points but leaving them honest and obvious. the large jar (as well as teapots) will have inset lids. the jar is a new idea, simple shape, to be a surface for very dry direct painting.

2007-10-28T18:44:00.000-07:00

2007-10-28T18:39:00.000-07:00

2007-10-28T18:23:00.000-07:00

Mel's Late Summer Post II

2007-10-03T08:07:00.000-07:00

Here is a new version of my artist statement, based on writing exercises and megan's super helpful comment.

My current studio work is a response to my search for a connection to a new landscape and environment. In the past, I made pots from local clay and fired mainly with wood and those pots were descriptive of the land from which they came. A rocky Maine coastline, a tangled California mountainside, and a bald North Carolina hill bore natural, earth-toned pots, with deep, yet simple surfaces. Here in central Pennsylvania, the earth in my small, square garden is tinged red. Instead of raw, rough clay dug from the ground, smooth clay with a uniform consistency feels more natural in a town where the commercial has overcome the local and the landscape is less dramatic and wild. I am interested in finding tension between the more austere, rough, physical pots that I have studied in the past and the intimacy of the pinching and line quality I am developing now.

Drawing on my faith in the innate intelligence of the motion of making, I allow momentum and intuition to guide my studio practice. My work is a balance between this action and instinct, with room for daydreams. Confident and lively movements are juxtaposed with affectionate attention to surface pattern and detail. The imagery reflects my current thoughts on the domestication of life, animals, and land. Characters are whimsical, but sometimes sad or lonely. Animals might be caged or freed by the form, and the surface landscape speaks both of cultivated earth and open horizons. Throughout the entire pot, I seek to balance comfort with adventure, structure with romance and possibility.

Mel's Late Summer Post

2007-09-30T06:53:00.000-07:00

hey everybody,
hope you’re all enjoying the beginnings of fall! i'm going to post images from the early summer, the pots i made at anderson ranch. (sorry megan- you've seen these already). i don't have any images of what i made at haystack or what i’m doing now, and would like to complete some thoughts before i start putting those pots up. next time. i will say that i'm currently using this same basic decorating method, but with some improvements that come with more practice. i'm also making more complicated forms- pedestalled serving bowls and trays, teapots, and some stranger things too. its all sort of an expansion and variation on the theme you see here.
also, i'm not including a new version of the artist statement. i haven't rewritten it since the last round, but have been doing a lot of writing exercises. here are some of the things that have been recurring, and perhaps those of you who know me well will have something to say about them. i really hope so, anyway. :)
1. why am i driven to paint more domesticated animals, be they chickens or magpies? first of all, the animals themselves contain beautiful and hilarious lines. i enjoy drawing them. but there is something else, something i am really trying to articulate. it has something to do with how people interact with them (in real life, not on the pots), and how we both (humans and these animals) affect one another daily. but there is also something else, something more vague. it involves the confluence of nostalgia and possibility. i spent some time on a farm as a kid, and for some reason everything i came across while i was there really resonated with me. there are specific places and animals there that i often think about. for example, the green, rolling hills lined with white fencing and spotted with sheep used to give me a feeling that, ever since, i have searched for. the image itself is romantic and peaceful, and at the same time it fills me with an urge to run through this never-ending, beautiful landscape, to see what is over the next hill. its as if the romance and nostalgia of the past and the hopeful possibility of the future both exist in one moment. i think the chickens and cows somehow represent that feeling for me. does this make sense to anyone? if so, how can i articulate this? i KNOW its important.
2. gender. i love to make strong pots, and to be strong physically. i move the clay quickly and aggressively, kind of like a man. since i've moved away from the woodfire, i have begun pinching and painting, which feel very delicate and feminine to me. i'm using lavendar and pink. i like the tension between the decoration and the forms, in general. do you?
3. can a pot be both adventurous and comfortable? that is what i want to make.
4. where i am in this moment. the taming of my life and human life in general, as well as animals, and land.
thanks, ladies!

2007-09-30T06:49:00.000-07:00

Mel's Late Summer Post

2007-09-30T06:44:00.000-07:00

2007-09-13T15:59:00.000-07:00

hi megan, monica responding: the first piece left me with not much of a reaction. i liked the way the white cups really stood out agianist the wood fired frame, but not much feeling in it (for me!) the second piece gave me a definite feeling each time i visited your images. I felt like the base acted as an island that the cups where stranded on. the positioning of the cups left me with image of them speaking to each other but across a great distance. (reading to much in?) the third piece had a boat feeling , and the cups where on a voyage. the 4th piece had a brigde look to me. i like the crisscross lines that add some sharpness. I was instantly WOWED by the tiles because of the pillowyness/the look of something trapped air?/something forcing outword movement. I like the housepaint feel of the glaze, but couldn't help but drool over the beautiful wood fired effects of the last two. megan-i tryed to respond to your work beyond just function, form and finish and look at what i saw in your work. Your statement really seemed to speak directly to who you are and what your work and you are searching for.

Megan 9/2007

2007-09-09T09:28:00.000-07:00

Artist Statement

I am a journeyer seeking a place that feels like home. I find glimpses in the expanse of the sky, the embrace of a friend and in the structure of geometric form.

My artwork explores concepts of community and mobility. For me, these ideas open a conversation about tension and opposition. The rich possibilities of the open road contrast with the soft comfort of home. Instability creates a desire for order.

The goal of my artwork is to consider the reconciliation of contradictions. My work opens the door to balancing freedom with belonging.

Martina Round Two

2007-08-12T21:50:00.001-07:00

I aim to contain in my pots the softness and subtle irregularity that serve to emphasize the handmade object in today’s machine made world.
I’m searching for forms, decoration and glazes that maintain the dynamic crispness that I love while instilling the vitality of the touch of the maker.

In this spirit, I have begun to explore looser thrown forms, less defined decoration and satin glazes to invite the touch. I am learning it is contrary to my nature to allow glazes to run, lines to blur and edges to wobble. It takes me greater concentration to bring an irregular pot into being than a tight one. In my current work I’m enjoying the tension between some of the crisp rims and bases of the pots and the development of the surface.

As I delve deeper into the overlapping of slip and glaze decoration in various colors and surfaces, my ideas continue to evolve. The brightness of opaque green against the shimmer of transparent amber and what they both do differently over a colored slip allows the mind to wander. They evoke the boundary between field and path, or sky and skyline.

Function remains central to my work. I continue to strengthen my forms by consciously repeating elements throughout foot, handle and rim. By creating a piece that is both unique and useful, I hope to remind people of the value and inherent qualities of human touch.

Kip Round Two

2007-07-22T19:03:00.000-07:00

Okay Ladies... Here we go on our next round of images -- exciting! The first five pots you see here are from the workshop at AR with Matt Long, all soda fired. I'd like to hear what y'all think about the finished look of the teapots...

The last two images are a butter dish I just finished and (surprise, surprise) have not yet glazed. It is cone 04 clay with white slip... any ideas on this one would be great. I am envisioning the soda fired oil lamp going in the lowfire direction with drawings. I've been thinking about the Omnivore's Delimma a lot lately, and it seems to be affecting my work quite a bit... I have some definite ideas I'm trying to convey in this last piece, but I'm certainly still working out how it all comes together. Oh, and I'm a little worried about the cutsy factor, what do you all think??

No artist statement this time around... I'm still working out these ideas...

2007-07-06T20:25:00.000-07:00

2007-07-06T20:17:00.000-07:00

2007-07-06T19:48:00.000-07:00

2007-07-06T19:42:00.000-07:00

2007-07-06T19:34:00.000-07:00

2007-07-06T19:23:00.000-07:00

2007-07-06T19:12:00.000-07:00

MONICa's work

2007-07-05T19:06:00.000-07:00

my artist statement is not as advanced as the artist who proceeded me. I have only a rough draft of thoughts. This is where i am: When building, I am constantly considering different design elements and the colors to enhance them. the designs, are often inspired by news events, friends and animals I come in contact with. The inspiration they offer often results in the making of pots that I would like share with them or leave on their doorstep with a pointed note. Only a very rough start but, any critical comments or direction would help. MOnicA

Megan's work 6/07

2007-06-17T16:54:00.000-07:00

ARTIST STATEMENT

I strive to make work which communicates, challenges and fulfills. The inspiration for my ceramic work originates in geometrical forms that appear in the landscape – the march of high tension power lines across a field, or a piece of razor wire tracing itself against the sky. These images are a reminder of the impact of humans on this planet, yet they also intrigue and satisfy me with their straight lines and complex angles. In clay, I impose geometrical form and imagery on complex woodfired surfaces. I attempt to duplicate what I see around me, and explore the duality of my admiration and fear of the alterations that surround me and to which I am intrinsically connected.

As my exploration of the work has deepened, I have come to realize that it is also an examination of the boundaries within my relationship to other people and to myself. My pots stand as metaphors and as a reflection of my inner world. With their holes, doors and windows, they are both inviting and gated. Windows and fences are dominant images in my work because they divide space, serving as both boundary and opening.

Wood firing is an important part of my process. It removes my control over the final surface of the piece, while also allowing me to be more intimately involved in the firing process than is possible with an electric or gas kiln. It makes me both more and less part of the piece. By the end of the firing, it has passed through an experience which leaves it distinctly changed and marked; once it passes out of my hands, it will again take on its own life in someone else’s hands. It is this blurring of boundary between maker and user which fuels my interest in functional work.

Mel's Turn

2007-06-03T19:31:00.000-07:00

Helllooooo ladies,

This is my very first time posting to a blog, and hopefully I'll do it right. I am under the impression that I don't have to erase Martina's stuff to put mine up, and I hope very much that it will work.

Before I start, I wanted to let you know that I just rewrote my artist statement today, and could use any help or advice. I had a short, friendly version, but want to work towards something to use for grad school applications. Any ideas? Also, I wanted to apologize for the poor photo quality. This is just me in the basement with my lame camera, often with one hand on the lamp and the other on the camera, the tripod between my legs. I hope they work well enough to serve the purpose and don't annoy you too much. And I hope you like some of the pots, even though its hard to see what they really look like. I've been focusing on simple forms lately, trying to work out the decoration, and am excited to expand on this. Again, any thoughts are more than welcome. Thanks guys, your words and feedback are very valuable to me right now!

Artist Statement

My current studio work is a response to my search for a connection to my new landscape and environment. In the past, I made pots from local clay and fired with wood and gas. Those pots were descriptive of the land from which they were made. A raw, rocky Maine coastline, a rutted, tangled California mountainside, and a high, bald North Carolina hill bore natural, earth-toned pots, with deep, yet simple surfaces. Presently, I live and work in an area that is relatively void of a feeling of place. The earth in my small, square garden is tinged red, and so I find myself moving back towards earthenware. Uniform bagged clay feels more natural in a town where the commercial has overcome the local, and the landscape is less dramatic and wild. I am drawn to more bright and vibrant colors that reflect the light green of spring leaves against wet, dark trunks along with simple, primary, tones. The imagery reflects my current thoughts on domestication and taming of life, animals, and land.

Each pot is largely informed by its process, a balance between motion and intuition. I have always been influenced and inspired by active time spent with rich earth, whether it be running though mountains or making in the studio. The momentum that builds through throwing simple forms in numbers leaves me feeling as though the clay and motion are endless. With faith in the innate intelligence of the motion of making, my mind and body are free to then change these wheel-thrown forms into more carefree pinched and altered pots, fresh and spontaneous. My vocabulary of form is inspired mostly by traditional British slipware, Bizen ceramics, and the mugs, plates, and bowls I choose from the cupboard every day. My forms aim to be direct and uplifting, both playful and practical. I believe that the most beautiful pots are born of intuition, immersion and risk.

As a painter, decoration and imagery are a central element to my work. I am interested in creating a sense of depth in the surface landscape of the pot, and in painting lighthearted, energetic animals that act as a tangible element to engage the user in that landscape. Animals are comical and accessible, and the humor they bring accents slightly asymmetrical shapes. These characters are sometimes drawn directly from contented or nostalgic times in my past, or might relate to my hopes and dreams for the future. I try to use minimal, gestural, purposeful, living lines to define space and to create a sense of movement in the animals as well as in the pots themselves. Making these pots is a deep, intuitive, and central part of my life, and I love to daydream about the chickens I paint dancing through the kitchens and gathering places of others.

Mel Pots 3

2007-06-03T19:01:00.001-07:00

Mel Pots 2

2007-06-03T19:00:00.001-07:00

Mel's Pots 1

2007-06-03T18:52:00.000-07:00

Martina's turn

2007-05-13T13:54:00.000-07:00

So here are my images; basically arranged chronologically. To give a sense of scale, the basket is 10.5" high. The larger blue pitcher is of similar height, the 'bubble bowls' are about 4 - 6" wide. The group of three are vases really, even though they appear to masquerade as tumblers.

ARTIST STATEMENT -

Things that I love involve crisp sharpness – the bite of a bittersweet dark chocolate, the sting of the breeze on a sunny day in late fall and the unavoidable boldness of the color red. These things also contain within them the memory of childhood, comfort and confidence of life ahead.

It seems in retrospect that my pots have served to emphasize this crisp severity removed from the mark of the handmade. I feel my early earthenware pots have failed to capture the softness and subtle irregularity that serve to emphasize the handmade object in today’s machine made world.

In this spirit, I have begun to explore looser thrown forms, less defined decoration and satin glazes to invite the touch. I am learning it is contrary to my nature to allow glazes to run, lines to blur and edges to wobble. It takes me greater concentration to bring an irregular pot into being than a tight one. I continue to strengthen my forms by consciously incorporating elements throughout foot, handle and rim.