Wednesday, March 30, 2011

One step at a time

Mud Whimsy Studio before painting
I've settled on a color for the exterior of my studio... It's a lovely green called Pesto (I'll have to make some delicious pesto when I'm done to celebrate!). The trim is going to be a cream color. The paint is all purchased and ready to be applied! I'm still working on finishing up the priming but as long as the weather cooperates my studio should be finished by the end of next week. In addition, the little garden area outside the studio is planted with as many veggies as we could fit in the small patch. Little baby spinach plants are starting to poke out! 
Things have been in transition for so long- it's been too cold to paint the exterior, I still don't have my own kiln or a wheel.... But I feel like getting the outside painted is one step towards realizing my dream of having a fully functional ceramic studio. And I'm so excited for the color! I just love green.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Artist of the Week: Pamela Sunday

A few days ago, feeling rather burnt out and uninspired, I wandered into one of my favorite shops in Boulder- Two Hands Paperie. Two Hands always has something that helps me get out of my rut... They have a fabulous selection of paper, journals, cards, and books. Flipping through one of those said books an artist leaped out at me: Pamela Sunday. Pamela is based in Brooklyn, NY. Something that I love about her is that she started ceramics as just a hobby, then it turned into a full-time career. Her forms are inspired by nature, then hand built.
Hive


Oculus
More information can be found at www.pamelasunday.com

Friday, March 18, 2011

Owl Bank




This owl just went up for sale in my shop. He's special to me because he was one of those creations that I didn't expect. I had been making mugs mugs mugs, and decided that I'd try something else.... And this is what came out! I loved him so much that now I'm making more banks. He's been an experiment from the beginning and through those experiments I've learned how to make owl banks a little more refined. Because of this it is super discounted. Normally these guys are $45, but this one is $25. If you love it, get it NOW because it is one-of-a-kind!


You can view it in my Etsy shop HERE (or click on any of the photos). 

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Artist of the Week: Ayumi Horie

Raccoon Dessert Plate (click on photo to see in Etsy shop)

Love Bird Teapot (click on photo to see in Etsy shop)
Ayumi Horie is a studio potter in the Hudson Valley of New York. She makes functional pots, many with animals on them. I'm a sucker for monkeys, and some of her mugs have some great ones! She definitely has her own style. Something that really astounded me was her invention of a dry throwing technique.... She makes it look easy, but I can't even conceive throwing a bowl without water. 


Ayumi and friends are hosting a fundraising auction to help raise money for relief in Japan. The auction will go live on Friday, March 18th and continue through to Sunday, March 20th at 9 pm EST. Many Japanese artists and artists with ties to Japan are donating work for the cause, with 100% of the proceeds going to charity relief for Japan. The facebook page is HERE

Even if you are unable to participate in the auction please help spread the word!  

More information on Ayumi Horie:
Her website HERE.
 Etsy shop HERE
A great interview with American Craft Magazine HERE


Monday, March 14, 2011

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Goodbye Little Lotus Mug


Goodbye, Little Lotus Mug. I hope you are happy in your new home! 
(This mug will become a gift for my friend's aunt!) 

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Peek Inside My Cupboards


 I visited an artist's home in the OpenArts Fall Open Studios Tour and she had all of her cupboard doors open. She had a hodge podge of dishes, just like my cupboards. This is something that I LOVE about my home and I love that I made many of my own dishes (the artist I visited had made many of her dishes too)! I know some people prefer to have all matching plates and bowls stacked neatly together but I don't think I'll ever fit into that category.
This photo is of my cupboard- all of these bowls were made by me! For my thesis project during college I made about 50 thrown, then carved and slip-trailed bowls. Each was-one-of-a-kind, the glazes were painted onto the surface, and many had luster or further embellishing. Over the years I've given a few away but many still remain in my cupboards, stacked precariously of course!

*For those of you that are interested, all of my bowls were glaze fired at cone 6. The glazes were all made by me, most were created by adding mason stains to a base glaze.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Artist of the Week: Peter Biddulph

Peter Biddulph's ceramic work is beautiful. See for yourself! 

Deneb 33x35 cm

Terebellum 75x40 cm

Tarazed 79 x 14 cm (detail)

These are from a series titled 'vol_Luminous'. Peter used LED lights inserted on (and in) thrown and altered forms. He glazed the pieces then cleaned the glaze out of each hole with a dental brush (I'm mentioning this because of the effect on the glaze). Due to the sparkling light, each piece is named after a star- which I love!

Part of why I chose Peter Biddulph is because his work and method is very different from my own. He incorporates technology into many of his pieces, whether it's using LED lights or using 3D software, uses a spray booth for an even coat of glaze, and throws and alters very large forms.

Peter Biddulph's website can be found HERE.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Spring Ceramics

Waking up to an ice-covered car, cloudy skies, and a 26 degree morning I decided I could really use a dose of spring. The month of March is such a tease! One day it's sunny and warm, the little flowers poke out of the ground, then BAM! Two feet of snow! I suppose my best option is to bring Spring indoors.

This sweet trio of vases is by artist Jake Johnson. He has an etsy shop HERE, and the vases can be purchased HERE. I love that his work has so much personality! I'm imagining bright yellow daffodils in these vases...



This vase is by SuiteOneStudio. It can be purchased HERE. The colors are amazing! An added bonus is that the shop is having a sale- 17% off (to celebrate 1,700 shop hearts on Etsy!) until March 10th.  Lindsay, the gal behind SuiteOneStudio, also has a fabulous blog that discusses life as a full-time artist, inspirations, glazes, sales, give-aways.... All good stuff. The link will be on my sidebar, or you can find it at www.suiteonestudio.blogspot.com.

Spring makes me think about my bike. Oh, how I look forward to riding everywhere, especially on those unexpectedly warm days. This cup is a great reminder that those days have arrived! Created by DAHceramics, it can be purchased HERE (in the shop there are also some beautiful bowls glazed with a baby-leaf-green that I'm lusting over!). Dara Hartman, of DAHceramics, also has a blog at www.darahartman.blogspot.com. She posted some great step-by-step photos of her hand building process.



Even though I'm whining about the weather today, last weekend I did get out and ride my old Schwinn. It was one of those unexpectedly warm spring days and I took full advantage. I'm looking forward to more of those!

Saturday, March 5, 2011

First Friday Art Walk on Santa Fe - March

A piece by Kellie Cannon at Spark Gallery
 In Denver the galleries on Santa Fe host an Art Walk the first Friday of every month. I was happy to get the chance to get out there last night! I brought along my daughter (the purple hair) and her friend, Alison (the blue hair). It is always so inspirational!


 This was Hana and Alison's favorite show. My understanding was that it is a space about to be renovated to create artist studios. In the meantime the building owner allowed an inner city youth program to 'decorate' the walls. All of the graffiti was done by kids in the program. What a great idea! I love that the kids got to express themselves in this type of medium, and that it is supported and encouraged by the community.




Finger Painting by Lauren Reed

Detail of Finger Painting by Lauren Reed
 My favorites were over at Kanon Art Collective. I didn't see who the steel cube sculpture was by but after a bit of research my best guess is Jeff Erwine. Please set me straight if I'm wrong!

Finger Painting by Lauren Reed was the only ceramic art I saw! Granted, we only went into a few galleries. Also it is National Photography Month so that seemed to be the focus (ha ha, no pun intended!).  I'm a sucker for dots. They just seem so happy...

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Artist of the Week- Eva Hild



 I found Swedish artist Eva Hild simply by typing 'ceramic artists' into a google search engine. A photo of Eva's work popped up and just I had to see more.... Something that surprised me about her work is how large it is. When I saw the photos I imagined a vase-sized piece, but seeing more photos demonstrated the dimensions- some pieces are so large that children can climb around on them! Another surprising detail is that these pieces are created using hand building techniques.


I thought this was a nice description of Eva Hild's creative process and also of the components of clay:
”Given the complexity of Eva Hild's forms one might imagine that she would need a computer to calculate them. This is far from being the case. Sometimes she makes a few sketches in advance but the details cannot really be foreseen. Somehow she manages to make clay, such a sticky and physical material, seem immaterial. Yet she could never produce her forms in any other material. Clay is wonderfully plastic and allows itself to be constantly reworked… "
Article in Ceramics Art and Perception 55/2004, text Kerstin Wickman

Find out more at www.evahild.com