Getting to Earth Art Studio takes some doing, you won’t just stumble upon us, but we think that the journey is just as much fun as the destination. You may not have dirt roads and cows on your daily commute but this is just a day in the life here in Las Playitas. Here’s a little reel I made for instagram, thought I’d share here too, enjoy meeting our local herd and discovering what a Baja traffic jam is.
the dirt
workshop schedule
We have a really great line up of workshops at the studio this season! I’m especially excited to learn new skills and get creative with materials that are new to me! Hope you can join us for one or more sessions!
Jenny Friedberg
Jenni Ward
Christina Dean
And stay tuned because we might be adding a few more classes to the schedule!
All materials are provided, no experience is necessary but space is limited.
Sharon Gross
Anapaula Garcia-Bucio
Mariana de Regil
inspiration for new work
This summer the desert plants on our property have been growing like crazy – I swear that you could watch them grow if you just sat down for long enough. The desert is opportunistic in that way, when there is water, the switch is turned on and everything goes for it. When there isn’t water, the switch is off and everything goes dormant and is questionably dead looking.
I have always made wiggly spiral forms in my work from the very beginning, so sometimes it feels so comfortable to go back to these shapes. These shapes are everywhere in nature from seashells to water flow to wood grain. Here I’m seeing the tendrils of vines creeping across the desert, the aloe leaves growing and lizard tails whipping. It’s so fun to take these newer inspirations and create older familiar forms in a new way and new combination. I’m not sure if I’ll make more of these or if they will evolve into something else, but I’m enjoying having them in the studio and watching them talk to each other.
new events calendar
Just a heads up that we have a new events calendar posted on the Earth Art Studio website: Events Calendar. You can subscribe to the calendar so that you don’t miss out on anything. But, if that’s too much, you can also add individual events to your personal digital calendar so all the details are in one spot. You don’t want to miss out on things like Open Studios or the opening of our next group exhibition Atmosphere and we have plans in the works for a new Hecho a Mano Mercado going on before the gift giving season. We will be adding more fun things as the details come together, so check back often, but in the meantime, take a peek and put some ‘save the dates’ on your calendar!
sashiko workshop at the studio
Learn to Repair!
In this Sashiko workshop with Jenny Friedberg, we will learn techniques to beautifully repair textiles and make them last. Bring your tore up jeans and join us at the studio Nov 20th for our first workshop of the season.
new work: holdfasts
A holdfast in biology is a root like structure that anchors an aquatic organism, like seaweed or kelp to a substrate, usually a rock or boulder, creating a literal anchor to keep the plant from being swept away in the currents.
Plankton in biology are defined as marine drifters. So anything that isn’t able to actively propel itself in a direction is considered a plankton, sometimes that might be at one stage of an organisms life, like a larval state.
In these new works, I love conceptually contrasting these ideas with my porcelain plankton inspired pieces delicately attached to a stoneware based keeping them securely anchored down. These pieces can be displayed on a flat surface or attached to to a wall. Come visit the studio to see them in person and pick one (or more!) out for your home.
new work growing in the sculpture garden!
This summer, I’ve been busy making parts for a bunch of new stacked sculptures that will land in the garden very soon! It’s hard to imagine what these pieces will really look like in the end when they’re all assembled and installed but the process is part of the fun.
I stack the individual parts as I build them in the studio to get an idea of how they will interact with each other. All of the parts are fired, glazed and fired again. Then they get assembled on their steel bases with rods cut to the appropriate height to support the work. The fun part is finding where they get to live in the garden, making you question sometimes if that’s a real plant or a sculpture.
All of these works are inspired by the plants, the seed pods, the flowers and the amazing natural world that surrounds my studio – I’m just making my own take on all these forms, textures and colors. Come see these pieces in person or pick one out to transplant to your own garden space!
we’re back
After a summer hiatus from creating blog posts for the dirt, we’re back! While we are still experiencing a steamy, hot summer that just won’t quit here in southern Baja, we are ready to get back to business! We are loving what all the rain did to our desert, transforming it from bare branches into a verdant, lush jungle – plan a visit while it lasts!
Here’s some quick announcements about what’s been going on here if you missed them in your monthly emails:
- Earth Art Studio now has a new website – check it out!
- Workshop Schedule for the season is posted – join us at the studio for a creative session!
- You can book your Desert Art Tour here or contact us to set up a private tour/workshop at the studio for your group or retreat.
- Events at the studio are starting to take shape, so mark your calendars – we’ve got a lot of amazing things planned!
August + September + October Studio News
work in progress: cyanotype
I’ve been experimenting with the process of cyanotype combined with my porcelain plankton shaped pieces. The silhouette of the porcelain pieces creates an ethereal water-like quality and with the variations of exposure time and base material, there are a lot of variations to play with. It’s also got a ton of potential for large scale installation applications.
But, I’ve started off simple creating circular designs on tote bags – I’ve only made a few so far but I already love them! I’m debating between adding in an Earth Art Studio logo to the design and/or creating ceramic tags to hang off the straps, let me know if you have an opinion on this! Once I dial it in, I’m hoping to have these up for sale in the online shop soon and also available at the studio. Here’s a few pics of the first batch in progress.
