Here’s the monthly wrap up of everything going on at the studio…
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Author: Jenni Ward
Wishing you all a Happy Holiday!
Just a heads up that ‘the dirt’ will be on hiatus through the holidays but if you want to keep in touch, please follow me on Instagram otherwise I’ll be in contact with news, shows and studio shenanigans after the New Year.
Happy Holidays from our family to yours!
-j
Last Chance!! Art Hearts are on SALE!!
This Is It!
Final days of the Art Heart Sale!
ONLY $15. each
Order today & I’ll ship tomorrow!
Work in Progress: New Series!
A series so new, it doesn’t even have a name yet!
If you saw the video I posted yesterday, I was stretching out clay into long lengths and wrapping them up into circles. I really loved the texture from stretching the clay and ended up making a bunch of these guys, until my studio table was nearly full of them.
Once they were leather hard, and had enough strength to start playing with how I might compose them, I started standing them on edge by their sizes. While I’m still not really sure of all of their possibilities since they’re not strong enough to really experiment with yet, lining up the concentric circles are pretty dynamic visually.
Now I have to think about whether they will be wall mounted, freestanding on a pedestal or the floor. I would also like to take them outside to do an ‘in the field’ photoshoot with them.
Right now, I’m drying them and getting them through the bisque firing, although I was kind of excited about rushing them through and I lost some to explosions because they were a little too wet (whoops!). I’m also testing some glaze options but I’m leaning towards a matte black tone. I’m also considering putting holes in these to hang them from before I glaze fire them. I was hesitant to commit to cutting holes while they were wet and if I decide to make holes, I’ll drill through the bisqued clay with a Dremel tool but I’m going to play with them a little more first.
This is a little out of the ordinary of my typical process of making, normally I have some inspirational ideas, create some mock-ups and decide if I’m going to go for a big installation. This time I just went for it. So these pieces, don’t have a name yet and I don’t know what I’m going to do with them exactly but there is something that is really working here and so I’m following my art intuition and seeing where it leads me, glad you’re along for the journey.
More to come…
Video: Stretching out Clay!
I went through nearly 100lbs of clay making ring forms that will eventually be assembled into a sculpture. By throwing the clay on the floor, it stretches it and gives it amazing texture. I’m using a paper clay for this because it has enough strength to stretch to 4′ lengths without tearing. I used to make sculptures about 20 years ago using this stretching technique, kind of fun to return to it again and looking forward to seeing where it goes…
Experiencing Technical Difficulties
It isn’t the first time I’ve used this title for a blog post and I’m sure it won’t be the last but this time was a doozy!
I’m sorry that there were no posts on ‘the dirt’ last week, I really would of loved to of shared in real time with you the new work I’m making, a new video I posted and a reminder about the awesome event I participated in this past weekend (and don’t worry, I’ll still share those things!) but my website was completely shut down for 5 days. I spent a good amount of those 5 days online with tech support, frantic with all the emails that kept bouncing and patiently holding off on pressing send on my applications for shows. These are the times when I wish the only part of my job was the one I’m really good at- having clay in my hands and that dealing with all the other aspects of running an art business were someone else’s responsibilities.
It was also a lesson in how dependent I am on my website and when its down and you’re told that you may need to have a judge sign off on paperwork to prove that you are the owner of your site, it’s pretty daunting. There was a moment that I thought it would be down for months, which is pretty much death to a small business. I’ll spare you the dramatic and traumatic details but in the end through a series on back-ass ways and strangely enough a knowledgable and capable tech who recovered an email address that’s been defunct for over two years, I was able with the click of a mouse get my site back up again. I generally take things in stride but this time, tears of woe turned to tears of joy in an instant.
So, if you tried to contact me last week via email or you tried to buy something from the shop or share my work with a friend and you just couldn’t get through…magically, now you can. Thanks for your patience!
photo credit: Crystal Birns
December Studio News
Here’s the monthly wrap up of everything going on at the studio…
Want to get the monthly email right in your inbox?
Join our safe subscribe monthly mailing list: Join or Update Your Preferences
New Work from the Bone Series is up in the Shop!!!
The latest work from the Bone Series is now up in the shop! These pieces debuted at Open Studios this year and there are only 8 available.
About the series:
These new pieces from the Bone Series are framed compositions of ceramic discs that were inspired by bone fibrous structures and they are held together with steel cable. The pieces and the cables float just off the wall so they cast really beautiful shadows that really enhance the pieces. The ceramic pieces have been used in ephemeral installations both in the gallery and in the field.
The frames are made from painted steel with holes in the back corners designed for easy wall mounting. These pieces qualify for free shipping within the US.
SHOP NOW
SALE!!
I’m joining the masses with all of these cyber-giving-small biz dealios and putting the Art Hearts on sale from now until Christmas! Each heart on sale for only $15 each and makes a great gift for your favorite office-mate, that housewarming gift you need to bring or your sweetie!
This sale is only available online and while supplies last so order yours soon!
Off the Grid…
I’ll be celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday week by opting outside and being off the grid for awhile, so I wanted to wish everyone a fantastic holiday and I hope you get to spend some time outside doing what you love too!
Happy Thanksgiving!