Redstar Studios Holiday Shop!

 I'm very excited to be a part of the holiday shop at Redstar Studios this year.  They do it up right!  And remember.......Big gifts come in little packages.  Stop by if your in the Kansas City area.  

"Oh No Pinky"

Whiteware, vitreous slip, sgraffito

"Devil Dog"

Whiteware, vitreous slip, sgraffito

"Oh No Pinky"

Whiteware, vitreous slip, sgraffito

Happy Holidays!

"Working Play"

"Working Play"

The idea of making a large scale sculpture out of paper that could go from flat to a three dimensional form in space is something that I've been wanting to realize for a long time now. A virtual "pop up sculpture" if you will. 

"Working Play" as it is titled embodies for me the combination of creative fun and hard work. It is approximately 7 feet tall x 4 feet wide and made out of repurposed corrugated cardboard.  The surface was painted with black and white acrylic gesso.  The subject matter for this piece was my son's room and boy does he have fun stuff to play with.  From vintage Fisher Price to the latest and the greatest in toy design.  And I can't forget all his artwork and books, books, books.  this space was such a rich resource for me to pull from.

Above are 7 views that circumnavigate the sculpture from left to right.  I'm essentially walking you around the piece.

One of my favorite elements of the sculpture is the elephant toy container that my wife found for our son at a local antique shop. It's round polka dotted and fun.

I edited through my son's toy selecting and including only ones that he really loves and that are important to him.  I remember him banging on his mini piano when he was only a few months old.

I am so glad that I finally had an opportunity to create this piece of paper sculpture.  The time had finally come.

Now back to the clay!

Fairytales, Fantasy, & Fear

The Mint Museum cordially invites you to a suite of events celebrating the opening of Fairytales, Fantasy, & Fear at Mint Museum Uptown.

A very cool thing about a Museum having something of yours in their permanent collection is that occasionally they will use it in a special show.  The Mint Museum in Charlotte, NC has one of my ceramic sculptures and when an upcoming show titled Fairytales,Fantasy, & Fear was being curated they thought it would be a good fit.  Thank you Mint!  It sounds like a very interesting show to me and all three of these subjects have been a part of my work for as long as I can remember.  Below I've pictured the Piece that is in the show.

     On The Bridge,  29"x24"x17",  Whiteware, Vitreous Slip, Sgraffito.


I also wanted to picture a different piece that was made around the same time period but much larger (aprox. 48" tall).  I think it would be an even better fit for the show.  What do you think?  It's titled "Angel Nightmare"(originally "Dreaming of Angels"). Sometimes I change titles over time for various reasons.

         Angel Nightmare, 48"x 38"x 32", Whiteware, Vitreous Slip, Sgraffito

Being Productive

~ Being Productive ~

There is nothing like a deadline to intensify the creative process.  A couple of months ago I had a number of opportunities come my way regarding showing my ceramic and paper sculpture.  I make a point of never passing up an opportunity so as a result I was loaded with deadlines.  I know that there is always a certain amount of stress involved but I think it is the good kind that can focus the mind toward a goal.  Above is an example of one of the very recent objects to come out of my studio stress tank.  It's titled "Radio Flyer Teapot", made with a whiteware clay body.   I apply a vitreous slip to the white clay and then use a technique called sgraffito to scratch and carve the imagery into the clay surface.  Finally when I am finished with the drawing the object is fired once to cone 1.

This piece is titled "Staged Cup" and is made in the same way.  Although these two objects refer to function they are not usable.  My slip gets really close to being a glaze but the clay that is scratched into is still somewhat porous and wouldn't well suited for use.

This last piece is title "Familiar Place" and the tallest of the 3 at 8 1/2 ".  Another thing that working with all of these deadlines looming has shown me is what I am capable of.  I generally do not work really fast yet what I admire in other artists is the energy that they often capture in their work due to their process.  I want that as well in my work but it challenges my very nature. Well, there's nothing like a good challenge.

All three of these objects will be in a show of ceramic sculpture at Matzke Fine Art Gallery and Sculpture Park on Camano Island from March 3rd- April 8th.

My Art's Alive Show.

~ My Art's Alive Show ~

"All Around the Kitchen", 31"x 18"x 14", whiteware, vitreous slip, sgraffito.

One of my wonderful blog followers mentioned that it would be nice to see more examples of my sculpture that I recently had on display at La Conner's Art's Alive Invitational Show.  I really appreciate the interest in what I make in my studio and  I thought why not just post everything that I had there, an cyber show you might say. The space at Maple hall was limited so it made it difficult to get a smooth 360 degree view of my pieces which in my mind is largely the point of my work but I can understand the issues that faced the venue.  The show consisted of all the ceramic and paper sculptures that I had on hand and they varied in size from small to quite large.  I hope that you enjoy the show.

"Old Tub and Knob", 9"x 6"x 6", whitware, vitreous slip, sgraffito.

"A Bubble Off Plumb", 9.5"x 9"x 5", whiteware, vitreous slip, sgraffito.

"A Change Of Direction", 16"x 13"x 6", whiteware, vitreous slip, sgraffito.

"Shut Toilet", 23"x 14"x 11", paper, acrylic gesso.

"Hutch", 72"x 17"x 16", paper, acrylic gesso.

I would love to hear any of your comments and if you are interested in purchasing any of these works except "Bubble Of Plumb" which sold,  please let me know and I'll give you the price list. My work will be in a number of regional shows over the next few months and I will post the when and where info on my blog if you would like to view it in person.  Thank you so much for coming to my cyber show.

Art's Alive Exhibition

~ Art's Alive Exhibition ~

I've been a real night owl lately burning the candle at both ends and the middle trying to complete a few new pieces of sculpture for an exhibition that opens tomorrow night in La Conner.   "Art's Alive" is an annual weekend to celebrate the Art's and La Conner's reputation as an art centric community.  I was fortunate to be asked to participate this year in the invitational show.  As always I used every last moment to prepare the work and I dropped of the final piece this morning ( Pictured below).

The 6 works that I'm showing are made of ceramic or paper and range in size from 12 inches in height (top picture) to 6 feet in height "Hutch" pictured directly above.

The show will be at Maple Hall, 104 Commercial St. in La Conner and will be open to view Friday, November 4th from 10 am - 4 pm, Saturday,  10-5pm, and Sunday, 10-4pm.  Admission is free but the artist reception on Friday night from 5-9pm will cost you $8.  Maybe I'll see you there.

CCA Demonstration!

~ Me to do Sgraffito Demo! ~

I was asked if I would be willing to demonstrate a technique that I use primarily in my ceramic sculpture referred to as "sgraffito", a technique that I love and have been doing for a long time.  Considering it was for a local clay group called Cascade Clay Artists and since I never have the time in my life to join the group and go to meetings, I felt that I this was a way that I could contribute.  The challenge for me is to somehow make this interesting to watch.  My process is very slow and unless it is speeded up in a video it could be painful to sit through.  Well, I am going to get some rest and hopefully be a dynamic demonstrator tomorrow evening.  Wish me luck.