I’m excited to announce that I’ve been accepted into the 2021 Santa Cruz County Open Studios Art Tour!
It’s been two years since participating in the tour for me and I’m thrilled to welcome you back into my studio again! I’ll have lots of new work to share with you.
Join me October 9th, 10th, 16th & 17th at the Studio
For more information about the Art Tour visit:
As much as I love my studio in Santa Cruz, it has been such a calming and restorative experience to spend a few weeks at our property in Baja Sur by myself. I’ve been sleeping outside under the stars and waking with the sun and the birds.
I’ve been able to take care of some projects like getting out solar system up and running and have been organizing and upgrading our glamping situation here. As a bonus, I’ve had visits with my friends and clay people down here and am making plans for some clay workshops and studio time here in the future.
I was even able to get my little Umbel flower which was fired in the last multi-fuel firing at Taller de Terreno and planted it in my cactus garden where it seems very much at home.
I’ll return to my studio soon, but until then, I’m very much enjoying some time in the desert finding inspiration through exploration.
I met Ruth when she and I were both artists-in-residence in Taiwan and I was so lucky to have her as my studio mate for those three months! Being Taiwanese-Australian, and having had spent time in Taiwan, she knew all the fun places to go and could speak and read the language; without her, I would of missed a lot of cultural opportunities that I’m so grateful I was able to experience. Even simply ordering dinner at a restaurant would of been a different (read: challenging!) experience without her.
In addition to being studio mates for those three months, she happened to also have a solo exhibition during our residency. I was able to help her install her works, learning more about her concepts and process along the way. Her fired porcelain works with imagined flower forms and bird parts are intimidatingly delicate and alluringly gorgeous all at the same time. But I really loved watching her build her ephemeral flower arrangements on antique planter tables over the course of a few days, after which they had water slowly dripping on them for the course of the exhibition, slowly letting them disintegrate. Her work is all about life, time and death taking inspiration from the natural world and the Garden of Eden. I really encourage you to watch the video below about her process of creating these time based pieces, it’s simply beautiful.
About Ruth Ju-Shih Li’s Work: Autobiographical in nature, Li’s ephemeral installations act as a metaphorical meditation on the fragile paradox of life and death in relation to the self, extending onwards to consider the transitory nature of the human condition. Drawing on her personal narrative, diverse cultural and spiritual heritage, Li’s creations partake in the very living creative thought that underlies nature itself and sounds a note of the metaphysical, linking the individual and the universal on the bridge of the spiritual.
You can follow Ruth on Instagram and Facebook or visit May Space Gallery to view more of her work.
Artists Sharing Artists: is a series of posts where I share some of my favorite artists who are also inspired by nature and use their art to protect what they love. More artists coming soon…
Just a heads up that the studio will be closed for just a few weeks!
I’ll be heading south to work on some projects on our property in Baja. Looking forward to some desert adventures, warm ocean waters and catching up with my south of the border friends.
I’ll still be available via email if you need me, the online shop is open 24/7 (shipments will go out when I return but local pickup can be arranged sooner) and all in process projects will still finish on time- promise! I’ll post here on the dirt occasionally to keep you updated.
hasta luego amigos!
PICK SOME UMBELS FOR YOUR GARDEN!
These fun and funky flowers have been flying out of the studio, but there are just a few left in the online shop, order yours today!
MAY 7TH IS THE LAST DAY OF THE UMBEL SALE
use coupon code: FLOWERPOWER for 30% off discount on your order
Here’s the monthly wrap up of everything going on at the studio…
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April Showers bring Umbel Flowers!
A fresh batch of brand new Umbel flowers are up in the online shop now! Add some color to your garden with these drought resistant varieties!
Join the monthly mailing list before May 1st and get a COUPON CODE for a 30% off discount on these babies!
It’s really about a dozen different things but sometimes it feels like five million.
When I shared three work-in-progress posts in a row and they were all on different projects, I realized that it might be hard for y’all to keep up with what’s been going on in the studio. Sorry about that. I really like to use my blog, emails and social media accounts to share all the behind the scenes triumphs and failures of life in the studio, but it doesn’t work well when I’m all over the place.
It made me start thinking about my process and why I work like this. And for better or worse, I realized that there’s a few reasons for the madness.
One, I get bored easily. I like challenges, problem solving and trying new ideas out. But, that is only one part of studio life and the art making process. So, I have to mix it up and keep moving from task to task.
Two, I like to work. I will gladly spend all day, every day in my studio. (But don’t worry, I play just as hard as I work!)
Three, clay can be slow. It seems like I’m always waiting for something to dry, something to be fired or a kiln to cool off. So it’s good to have different projects to bounce between while you’re waiting for another.
Four, I get excited about new projects. Which kind of means I’ll almost always say yes to a collaboration, exhibition, or project. But I’m good with follow through too, so it doesn’t mean other projects get dropped from the roster, the to-do list just gets longer….and longer.
And five, sometimes, I just get inspired to make something that’s not on the list of projects. And I have to follow that inspiration, trust it, and make time for it.
Is this good for my art practice? I don’t know. Maybe I’d make better work if I focused on one thing at a time. I just don’t know, this is just how I roll. Yet, I will also try my best to slow down and share as much as I can with you. Thanks for being along on the journey with me.
I’ve just launched ebooks of both my art books in the online shop for only $10! Hardcover books are available too!
~Studio Secret: Book #3 is in the works!!~
*this one is available FREE when you join the email list! If you’re already on the mailing list but don’t have your free copy, let me know!
Susun and I go way back…. like waaaayyy back. We met in the early 2000’s when she first employed me to drive a 30 foot long trailer that was a mobile art classroom, into underserved communities of Watsonville and teach art classes out of it. That was an adventure in itself. But I also went on to teach through her art based preschool program and her after school art classes bringing ceramics into her programming. We’ve stayed in touch over the past 20 years as I went on to pursue my own studio art practice and so much of what I know about running an art business comes from her.
Her love of color is evident everywhere in her life, from every wall in her house, to her paintings, to her clothing. She inspires her students with her love of painting always finding clever ways to engage them into being creative. She has literally taught hundreds and hundreds of students in Santa Cruz County since she first opening Susun Gallery ArtSchool in 1987.
She moved to Hawaii a few years back and opened ArtSchool on the Beach, where you can sign up to paint on location with Susun and take home your painting as a souvenir of your time spent on the big island. Or if you’re a local, you can join her in her studio to paint, draw, and sculpt.
Always inspired by her surroundings, Susun explores every grain of sand, fills her paint cup from a waterfall, rubs red dirt and black sand into her paintings, and takes divine notes from nature. She channels the beauty of Hawaii through her paintbrush.
You can follow Susun on Instagram and Facebook or visit SusunGallery.com to sign up for an art class on the beach!
Artists Sharing Artists: is a series of posts where I share some of my favorite artists who are also inspired by nature and use their art to protect what they love. More artists coming soon…