All Around This World; Brooklyn

Lately, art appreciation has been taking away from my studio time, but it is nevertheless a valuable activity. Some work once seen can inspire years of creativity. Some work can do the opposite, drain you of motivation because either 1) it is so much better than what you can do, or 2) its presence makes you embarrassed about your having any connection to the so called, "art world." I'll explain that later.



I went to the Brooklyn Museum last weekend. Of interest to me were pieces by the late Judith Scott, a woman with Down's syndrome. These large sculptures, using found objects and all kinds of fiber, are extremely interesting, and not predictable in the least.

I found out that there was a craft show going on this weekend at the museum, so of course, I had to go. There were quite a lot of potters there. A few I found inspiring, and their work likable.

These thick walled striped bowls and patterned cups are typical of Melissa Weiss. I appreciate their simple boldness.

Ming Yuen-Schat displayed his "Ming's Monsters;" vessels that have the organic, rough beauty of Japanese ceramics.

Janis Cutler-Gear is a painter who makes ceramics. This plate shows her current style using stamps and hand painting to achieve what looks to me like a mandala from old India. Very lovely. She was also open to sharing her methods and processes -  a nice person to talk to.

Perhaps my favorite ceramic pieces were by Jerry Bennet.  They are funny pots - look at the fluttery finger shapes coming off of the shoulders of the pot on the right - and they are pretty, even cute.















































Here's a jar with the texture and color of a cooked lobster.

And here, more quirky stuff by Jerry that I liked. A nice fellow also, we talked for a good while.










The craft show was much smaller than the convention center affairs, but plenty to see and admire, and some learning to be had to boot. Therefore, time well spent away from the studio.

As far as the embarrassment I mentioned earlier, that I will write about in a future post.

Making Bowls

Bowls made using hand building techniques are more difficult to get perfectly round and with an evenly level rim than ones formed on a potter's wheel. That is, it's difficult for me, so I give myself leeway and permission to let them be what they are.














Yet, I have been hankering to make a big bowl using the hump mold technique that is not warped. I know they warp because I fuss with them. They need to be left alone and not handled after they are off the mold.

When I saw this one heading for the warp zone, I gave it some wacks, trimmed it, and now it is a oval platter. Not a perfect oval either, just like its round brethren.

bowls with red engobe inlaid and sgraffito

 

But for my last batch of making before the open studio I have gone on a hump mold campaign with some of the abundant free, warm buff clay from the defunct Highland Studio. Each one is created in its own creative surge - I make up what it will be while it's being made - no plan. So one is stamped, one has applied geometric shapes, one is scratched and so on.








Will they warp? As they dry and during firing will they remember the pressures that they experienced while being made? They say clay has memory, and I found that it is all too true. Or will I succeed in getting them to be roundish?

Meanwhile, here is a smaller bowl I made recently. I used the pinch method, held it in my hands and turned it while I gradually thinned and extended the walls. These kind of bowls, I think, are always nice to hold because they are proportioned to a person's hands.

Cards!

I have printed four different linoleum block designs onto card stock. They are a boy/elf, birds in the snow, an angel and a re-issue of the Princeton Oak that I printed several years ago and sent as a holiday card.

I printed about 80 cards, in a two day printing frenzy, and they will be for sale at the Open Studio event on Dec 13-14.

Save the Date!

OPEN STUDIO

DECEMBER 13 & 14

10 - 5:00

*

functional ceramics: bowls, mugs, etc.

ceramic sculpture
tie dyed scarves & shirts

hand printed greeting cards

original art

*

138 John Street

Princeton NJ

It's Not Always Pretty

At the Baltimore Clay works gallery there is a show now through November 15 that is called, "Looking at Ourselves."
















Juror Adrian Arleo may not be to blame, but there are some exceedingly grotesque pieces in the show. In fact this is quite a large show with many pieces in a the gallery's warren of rooms, and it appears that "ourselves" are frequently seen as less than beauteous.


















A baby going "yuck," a drunken smoker, a conversation with a foamy deposit issuing from one speaker's mouth, a bulldog/man mutant in party mode, these are the milder, kinder "selves" in comparison to some specimens that will not be pictured here.

There is a trend to outgross each other in the ceramic art world if this show is representative, and I believe it is. I have been seeing truly hideous pieces, joyously displayed in defiance of all aesthetes who have a fondness for beauty.

 

Which one is the rear end?

This one though, a man bathed in light from a stained glass window, his shadow falling red behind him is evocative rather than grotesque.

This is rather lovely also - hands holding gold leafed objects both living and inanimate. I have always been fond of earthworms, though I understand some people find them creepy.

And this one too, is on the prettier side, and is more the exception than the rule in this show.










I did not photograph the sculptures that repulsed me, but as usual, only ones that interested me, whether they were pretty or not. There's lot more to see - go see for yourself. Baltimore has a lot of great places to see art.*

My companions declared the show, "weird." When artists look at ourselves/themselves, that's bound to be the case, most of the time.

*My favorite: the Visionary Art Museum.

Philladelphia Museum Craft Show 2014

Nathan Falter

Deena, a friend whom I first met in a ceramics class a few years ago, and I made the rounds together. We would check out each ceramic booth at the craft show, and to hell with the rest of the stuff - until after we saw all the ceramics.

We were dutiful. We were not distracted by leather handbags, fine gold or silver jewelry, felted hats, glass paperweights - nothing would keep us from our task.

There were some familiar favorite artists from last year: the wonderful Jonathan White of Maine with his large architectural lamps and gorgeous organic vases, the animal- loving Elizabeth Maurland, the clean and bold work of Eshelman Pottery and Nicole Aquillano (more on her later).

Jennifer Falter

We talked to artists, and some were enthusiastic about giving us descriptions of their working process. A few seemed utterly bored and disgruntled, as though sitting on a stool while people repeatedly asked the same questions and uttered the same banal niceties was not their very favorite way to spend their day. How very odd.

The two artists of black and white ware (above) are a married couple from Missouri. Jennifer's booth was the first clay booth we encountered. Nathan was particularly happy to describe his working process, but not nearly as much as the artist of Van Der Ven Studios. Simon told us all the steps involved in making his double walled vessels with the pierced outer wall.


I told him I would go right home and duplicate his process. Not very likely.

Though not usually considered a beautiful object, paint cans and meat grinders and other industrial objects were beautifully, even elegantly recreated in clay by Michael Schwegmann. Images were stenciled on the cans such as a child with a push broom and on another an antlered deer.

I wondered where these would look right in someone's home, I couldn't picture one on my coffee table, but he assured us that they would be incongruous, but attractive anywhere.

Both Deena and I fell for Irina Okula's work. I fell for the "Shards" pieces. They are broken, the pieces given a variety of interesting surface treatments, fired, and reassembled with epoxy.

Deena preferred the saggar pieces with their lovely soft organic bursts of color on simple bowls. She nearly sprang for a $300 bowl, but instead purchased a more affordable piece from Liz Kinder of Philadelphia.

Liz paints arabesques with wax on brown clay then adds lots of color with glaze. Of course the wax burns off and the bare clay is left exposed.

She had a very handsome booth made of metal panels and shelves, designed and, I think, made by her architect husband.

I bought this whiskey cup from Nicole K. Aquillano. I have been coveting her work for awhile and finally I succumbed. She draws on each slip cast piece by scratching and filling the lines with underglaze. The clear final glazing causes the drawings to blur and run a little.















This cup shows her childhood home in Pittsburgh both front and back on the outside of the cup, and inside (tricky to do I think) is a staircase.

Totally saturated with the abundance of ceramics, I have only touched on a few artists here, we didn't see more than a smidgen of other crafts. But the color, textures, forms of beautiful glass, weavings, and wood were hard to ignore or completely pass by.


It was a good day, being so full of the the sight of skillful and beautiful craft work.

Back to the Craft Show

A year ago I wrote a post about my day at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show; actually 3 posts. I featured several ceramic artists that I particularly liked or found interesting. I had photographed pieces by each artist. I spelled their names carefully, described my reactions to the work and what I had learned from talking with the artists.

It was a newcomer 's view of a cultural phenomenon, and my aim was to write a diverting description of it.

Cate

This year it's not happening, at least in the same way. 

Today three women friends traveled with me by my invitation and we arrived, with some giddiness and much chatter, just as the Pennsylvania Convention Center opened its doors for the annual juried craft show.

Margaret

Deena (or a close facsimile)

I was looking forward to seeing lots of high level craftsmanship in clay, and sharing time with friends. Of photographs, none were taken. I plum forgot - or if truth be known, just didn't want to burden myself.

inside the Reading Terminal Market

All the intense looking, talking with clay artists, deciding what to buy, keeping in contact with my companions, and picking what to eat from the plethora of food sellers at the Reading Terminal Market - these were my concerns and my pleasures.

But, if you're wondering...







Which clay artists were also here last year? I counted four. Who of the new clay exhibitors did I like? Several. Whose work did I purchase? One. It was a female's.

I will elaborate, but first, I have to get photographs of the artists' work using an alternative method.
Stay tuned.