I’ve been working on an installation of my Rock Candy Series for my upcoming solo show at the Grants Pass Museum of Art and thought I’d share a little video of the process. I made 100+ of these rocks, glazed them in a variety of bright colors and they will be installed in a ribbon of them wrapping around a wall in a section of the gallery interspersed with photos of them as they were installed ‘in the field’ at Joshua Tree National Park. I love how they start out as these lumpy potato shapes and end up angular and sharp – they’re just begging to be touched!
Tag: Life In The Studio
Work In Progress: New Series
This series is so new, it still doesn’t have a name yet but I’m pretty excited to share the process of what’s been happening with these pieces. It all started with this video of stretching out the clay pieces and forming the rings. Once they were bisque fired, I started playing with them all on my studio floor to create intriguing compositions. I finally decided that these guys are going to have to go up on the wall so I busted out the diamond bits for my dremel tool and started drilling. I burned through quite a few bits in the process and pretty much immediately regretted not planning ahead and putting the holes in while they were leather hard but now the holes are in and I’m going to glaze these up and get them in the kiln.
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…
New Video: Taking Down the Vines
A few of these Vines have found a new home! Had to get up on the big ladder today to take them down, get them cleaned and packed up. I can’t wait to see what they will look like installed in there new home!
Selling AND Buying Art at Open Studios
I was so fortunate to have many pieces of art find new happy homes during Open Studios Art Tour this year. Thank you so much to all of you who put your money where you mouth is and supported your local artists!
When you are a participating artist in the tour it’s really hard to make your way around to see other artists studios but this year, my husband and I were able to sneak in a few studio visits one afternoon. While we don’t have the biggest budget to buy art, let alone the space to put it in, we also believe in supporting local artists. So many people think that art is out of their price range so I wanted to share the gems that we bought, all for under $200. Seriously. Under $200.
The koi fish and coral original painting was done by muralist Elijah Pfotenhauer, the rabbit print was done by muralist Taylor Reinhold and the small bowl was done by ceramic artist Liz Crain. I love the color and energy that each of these pieces add to my collection of local and global artists.
What did you collect this year at Open Studios?
Video: Open Studios Sneak Peek!
I’ve been getting the studio ready for Open Studios, so here’s a teaser video of what’s in store for you! Can’t wait to see you at the studio this weekend!
October 7, 8, 21 & 22 | 11 – 5 (or by appointment)
2523 C Mission St | Santa Cruz
Artist #17 in the catalog
Video: Umbel Series | Dandelion Time Lapse
Tedious Tasks
Sometimes you start something that you know is crazy tedious and will drive you insane to make and it may not even survive the kiln process but you try it anyways…
I am making some progress but I find that staring at the tiny wires and carefully placing them actually makes me bit nauseous… so I’m only doing a few per day. It will be interesting to see when it’s completed if the clay and wire version has that same fuzzy glow that a real dandelion does. Will keep you posted as it progresses…
Work in Progress: Umbels Update
The Umbel Series project is in the final stretch! After hours of building and glazing, 200 of these crazy abstract flowers have become an army of spiky saffron yellow forms in my studio. The photo above shows each of the stages that these pieces have gone through, from left to right; dry clay, bisque fired, tips glazed with bright yellow, the whole piece glazed with a saffron yellow and the final product after the glaze firing.
Ceramic Umbel flowers as far as the eye can see in my studio! It has become quite a production line to make these happen but I think the installation will be fantastic!
Starting your day by opening a kiln full of bright yellow can really get you moving in the morning! Today we’ll be taking a few of them up to the UCSC Arboretum to test out the installation locations. The opening for this exhibit will be in late May, after that we’ll have a day for visitors to come and ‘pick their flowers’ so you can plant them in your own garden space.
Video: Umbel Series | Work in Progress
Here’s a quick video showing assembling the pieces from my Umbel Series. This piece will be exhibited at the UCSC Arboretum as a part of the Art at the Arboretum “Site Specific Environmental Installations” this spring. To learn more about this installation…