Tag Archives: ceramics

cha cha cha changes…

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i guess there always comes a time when you have to decide whether you are going to write about how great everything is or how things really are.  the thing is that things are not usually great with out some hiccups or horrible with out some bright spots.  the last month has been quite a lot of both.  it’s been awesome seeing friends prepare to exhibit, to see them succeed and move onto the next step in their careers.  it definitely makes me very excited for the next move i’ll make and for my upcoming show but it’s hard as well to see folks moving on.  it occured to me while wondering the streets of bowling green, ohio with j and s that this last year has definitely been a hey day.  these are the times you remember.  i’ve always felt confident that if you go after what you want the universe (or whatever) will sweep in and provide support, whether that means money,friends or public transportation.  and it certainly has.  what a great year with a great studio, great friends and roommates, great jobs, the list could go on and on.  great and comfortable.  then enter the last week.  studio is full of new people, everything at work is different and of course two of my favorite folks are gone.  thank goodness for j and n.p. and m and v.    it’s funny though because everyone is going through these changes alongside me but for some reason i’m balking.  i just don’t want to move right along to the next step.  i feel grumpy about music in the studio and and nervous about sharing the bathroom with some one new and possible less tolerant than s and i feel like i want to escape.  why the heck am i so full of all these super useful and rational feelings?

oh yeah!  i hate change.  i crave it but when it’s happening i hate it.  for awhile.  and then i get over it.  at least i think i do.  and i better get over it soon because i have about 700 things to do in the next month.  so check back in a month.  let’s see if the brattiness gets the best of me.

disparate worlds

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some installation pics of jamie bardsley and sarah tancred’s incredible show “disparate worlds”.  jamie is now settled in bowling green, ohio  and sarah is off to gainesville, florida tomorrow.  you go girls.  so honored to have experienced all this together.

installation1

installation2

all the fireworks in the air must of put the good stuff in.

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soda fire 2 004

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soda fire 2 013

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this little guy was refired.

this little guy was refired.

refire!

refire!

i had some cracks come up along the coil lines.  don’t know why since they aren’t going all the way through and i smoosh on both sides of my coils.  i don’t mind because they only come out after an atmospheric firing and i feel they are in line with the anphibian like skin.  the stress of the enviroment causing crackles and ruptures.  and they aren’t structural, i don’t think.  i’m going to experiment with bisquing a little higher and see if that helps.  one of the chicken butts had a long crack across it.  again it didn’t go through, but i didn’t like how wide it got.  too distracting.  the same peice had a big ol’ dry spot on the whole back side, so i refired it this week, again getting lots of juicy soda and carbon trapping and filling in that crack a little so it looks like a healing froggy scar.

it’s so fun firing this kiln up.  we’ve gotten the results we were after but it’s all a total learning experience and experiment to an extent.  were we firing this for the members we would have to back way off on the carbon trapping and the body reduction and also do a proper glaze reduction.  and though i was happy with the results from this load i found areas of the kiln i particularly loved so i’m going to have to work on refining the technique we’ve been using.

again, chistmas mentality took over (and the fact that j- is heading out in a few weeks) and we started scheming how we could fire it again before she leaves.  having someone to share the kiln with is good, make a little work, fire, fire, fire.  once she leaves i’ll have to put my nose to the grindstone to fill it.

j- is moving up to bowling green, ohio for grad school, which is were s- just got her bfa from, so in early august the three of us are going to head out on a short roadtrip to move j- up.  i have no connection to the area, just an extreme urge to TRAVEL.   we’re going to stop in on my friend k- in atlanta and mudfire.  from there we’ll stop in asheville, nc in hopes of checking out the highwater factory, odyssy center and maybe some local artists.

soda firing with fireworks.

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friday.  my day was made complex by the fact that the minivan had a minor melt down on thursday.  conking out on 22nd st. literally in front of a automotive shop which burned down about three months ago was funny, having n- from the clay co behind me at the light was lucky. she was kind enough to lend me her aaa service and found a car shop.  s- came by and helped us move the car out of traffic.  we had some fun mosquito infested converstaion while we waited by the  burned out auto shop for the tow truck to arrive.  i had to commute the next day to sarasota so my parents came and got me and i so i could drive their car to work the next day.  my luck seemed to continue because the problem was minimal, fixed on friday and i was able to get out of work early to go and pick it up.  definitely best case scenario.  with a little help from friends and family what could have been a real mess was made bearable.

friday night loading with j- ended up taking a little longer than originally planned.  when we finished up at 2:30 am we decided NOT to start at 6 am.  first turn up was at 9 am.  s- and r-sensei were firing rudy inside.  they had started at  6.  we had taken good notes during the last firing and this time everything seemed to stay on a similiar schedule.  around 6 pm s- and r- headed out.  it started to get dark.  i knew that we were looking at an estimated soda time of 1 am and though i was looking forward to the fireworks we would see after the sun went down i was starting to feel a little clausterphobic.  i’ve never been a big fan of dusk.  day is great, night is awesome.  dusk is clasuterphobic.  but once the sun fell i started to get my second wind.

once the fireworks started going we climbed out a second story window to the roof where i could see fireworks going off for 360 degrees.  the best show in my line of sight was coming from down town st. petersburg.  seeing fireworks definitely makes me nostalgic for tokyo.  there’s no fourth there of course, fireworks are a summer long thing with different areas hosting shows.  most are free, some you can pay a fee for good seating (ash and debris falling on your head good) and some you have to brave psychotic crowds to see.  in the event listings each event has a number next to it, so and so thousand for example.  knowing that the sumida river event was the biggest of the year i incorrectly thought that the number was the amount of folks in attendence.  i felt very silly when i finally realized the number was the amount of fireworks being fired off.  sumida river, the last time i went boasted 20,000 fireworks.  crazy.  regardless of the numbers thoug there is something about all that sparkly light in the night sky.  it’s breath taking.  j- said she’d considered becoming a pyrotechnician.  that would have been awesome.  just like judy chicago.

around 12:30 am we got everything ready to soda.  shot in some soda/sawdust chalupas, sprayed and then added some wood for good measure, let it burn and then shut her down.  i finally made it home around 2.

just as the exhaustion threatens to settle in, it’s time to soda and just as you think you’re going to drop from the heat, and dehydration you’re done and it’s time to start wondering what’s going to come out.

christmas or halloween??

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can you see the cones? rough, since it was taken with my cell phone.

can you see the cones? rough, since it was taken with my cell phone.

soda pop goodness.

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friday night after a long week of work we loaded up the soda kiln.  c- was having an opening for his show in the gallery, everyone was wearing cute opening clothes, c- was even wearing pants, not shorts, but we were all sweaty and disgusting, shuttling work, wadding, loading.  we finished around 10, turned on the pilots and hung around the kiln pad for a few hours drinking and chatting with other a.i.r.s.

somehow i dragged myself out of bed at 6, getting to the clay company and doing my first turn up at 6:20 am.  it was really interesting flying solo.  for the first few turn ups i was a little insecure.  is this enough sputter?  too much?  but eventually i got comfortable trusting my gut.  r- taught me well, whenever i wasn’t sure i’d stop looking and listen to the fire.  sputter-check.

even at 6:20 am, it was already hot.  i spent the 28 minutes between turn ups sitting in one of the cushiony barber chairs yawning and sweating.  oh and i heated up my leftover gyro in the peep.  yum.  when j- rolled up with iced coffee, it was a good thing.

almost everything in the kiln was porcelain with no glaze.  we did a long, full on body reduction, adding wood to the ports in hopes of getting a good amount of carbon trapping.  there weren’t any major stalls, the kiln was pretty even troughout.  at the end of the day we had 11 flat on top and about halfway down on the bottom.  sodaed using a mixture of soda ash and baking soda in “chalupas” and sprayed and then added a bit of wood at the end.

good times!kiln 001

kiln 004

kiln 006

kiln 009

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here are some pics of j-‘s sweet work!kiln 012

kiln 013

studio day

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ok, i’ve been working full time for about a month now.  in theory it’s not many more hours but it’s really kicking my ass.  i feel the days passing, get up, go to work, take care of mundane tasks, get into bed, restart.  it’s not a nice feeling.  there is so little time to just “be around” the studio.  the salt and soda kiln have been fired in the last week and i wasn’t present for either.  it’s not the one job, of course, it’s just that between working in sarasota, with the commuting, and part time at creative clay, and one day the the clay co my days are packed and i’m starting to feel a little claustrophobic.  i love all the things i do but everyone needs a little spare time right?  ok, my pity party is over.  today i did have the day off and i got to work in the studio for the majority of it.  i finished up a third in the chicken butt series and started a fourth.  j- and i are going to fire the soda kiln this weekend and i’m hopeing to get all four of them in.  i’m always pushing it to the last minute with firings…

number 3

number 3

family

family

work for sale at st. pete clay.

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the garden and flower sale was a success.  everything ran smoothly and i even sold some of my work.  today was great as plenty of friendly faces came out to support the cause.  it’s so awesome to see people buying handmade (and hand grown) products.  with the economy continuing to tank i think it is our responsibility to keep buying handmade objects.  walmart may be able to sell everything under the sun cheaper than a bag of clay, but when walmart tanks too, where will we be?  let’s keep supporting each other, bartering and doing it ourselves!

planters with succulents (separated and rooted by my mom from her own collection of succulents) still available at st. pete clay for a limited time.  anyone interested in some free plants or trees for their yard should plan a visit to the gugliotti’s house in sarasota county.  my dad loves to share his plants.

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flower pots 033flower pots 027

st. pete clay co. annual flower and garden sale.

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St. Petersburg Clay Company’s

‘ANNUAL FLOWER & GARDEN ART SHOW’

Looking for a creative way to spice up your home and garden?  Look no further.  St Petersburg Clay Company is hosting their one-of-a-kind Annual Flower and Garden Art Show on June 6th & 7th from 10am – 4pm. The show will be filled with unique ceramic sculptures, plaques, vases, pots and much, much more.  All items are handmade by local artists.  In addition to the ceramic wares, St. Petersburg Clay Company is hosting a variety of artists whose mediums include glass and metal. There will be rare orchids, one of a kind bonsai, tropical plant vendors, wine tasting, along with The Florida Garden Railway Society and Creative Clay will also be featured.

This is a great event for all ages.  Tie dying and spin art on the potter’s wheel will be offered for both the young and the young at heart.  And for those that wish to sit back and relax, there will be food, beverages and demonstrations throughout the entire event.  Come join the local artists, vendors, and your fellow community members at St. Petersburg Clay Company located in the Historic Seaboard Train Station on the corner of 22nd Street and 5th Avenue South.  Free Admission.  Free Parking.

Annual Flower & Garden Art Show

June 6th & 7th 10am to 4pm

At St. Petersburg Clay Company

420 22nd Street South

St. Petersburg, FL. 33712

Phone (727) 896- 2529

Hours of operation: Tuesday through Saturday 10 am to 4 pm.

hello weekend.

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first saturday a.i.r. day.  artists in residence are required to put in 1 work day per week and my day is now saturday.  everyday is different, depending on the flow of the week.  i thought i had a pretty busy day before (tuesday) but today was rough!  after cleaning toliets, dumping overflowing garbage, setting up a classroom area and loading two kilns we tore down a clay pit/structure?? made from cinder blocks and full of peter king clay.  here’s a “sculpture” i built with the blocks and the pile next to it is the clay we hauled over.  everything was heavy.  jr, the regular saturday guy was leaving me in the dust when it came to to shoveling clay but whatever, we got everything done and cleared up.

cinder block pyramid

cinder block pyramid

summer time in the studio.

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our a.i.r. studios are burning up about now.  st. pete clay is housed in a big red brick train station from the 1920’s.  up front where the member studios, retail galleries and highwater clay are housed is air conditioned but walking back through the building, once you hit the kiln room, it’s nothing but toasty. i spent most of the day at the studio today but after an hour or so i had to run out for beverages.  using my sweet rolling sculpture stands i moved everything up front.  when sabo left to go back to alaska his space transitioned into a small work area for classes or overheated a.i.r.s so that’s where i set up.  went and got some vitamin water and um, regular water and got back to work.

it was great to spend the whole day working in the studio.  right now is kind of a transitional time.  during this residency i have worked really hard to “be around” as much as possible and not take this time or space for granted.  i had a really good job situation, working part time with benefits at my main job and part time at creative clay but recently, due to the crazy economy, i had to go full time to keep my benifits.  not that i’m complaining.  i am definitely thankful that there was a position for me to transition into.  now i have the task ahead of me to continue to be around and continue learning with less time.  i know this summer will be tough, and i’ll struggle to keep my nose to the grindstone.  so far though, being at work more has made me feel more motivated to get into the studio in the time i do have.

i’m preparing for my end of residency show.  it’s not officially scheduled yet but will be in early fall, september or so.  hard to believe i’ve been at this 9 monthes.  i have learned so much, made a lot of work and done a few shows.  by the time i put that solo show up, fill up a whole gallery with shit i made, i think i will be pretty satisfied with my experience.

i’m also putting together some little guys for the annual flower and garden sale next next weekend.  my  parents are obsessed with gardening so they separated out some baby succulent plants for me to make some pots for.  i’m not much of a vessel maker but hopefully they’ll be sweet.

drawing for new sculptures

drawing for new sculptures

first one

first one

succulent planters-before:

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stay tuned for the after….