"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!

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.

"The artist with two brains"

"The artist with two brains"

Don't be scared.  I'm not as freaky as this photo makes me look.  I just wanted to visually communicate the fact that I try to utilize both sides of my brain when I make.  Being involved in ceramics definitely requires an analytical and mathematical involvement in order to understand the material, but also an intuitive and tactile "feel" as well.  In my work I do my share of figuring and planning (left brain) but I balance it with the the tactile carving and mark making of the surface (right brain). 

When I was a freshman in high school I was very fortunate that my art teacher was very inspired by a fairly new book at the time entitled "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" by the author and art educator Betty Edwards.  He utilized this book for many drawing exercises  and assignments.  What this book did for me was allowed me to let go of what I thought something should look like and simply focus on what I was seeing.  Looking harder and closer than I ever had before at a subject and training my eyes and hand to move a line at the same speed and in the same direction.  As the cover of the book states it enhanced my creativity and artistic confidence.  It also produced some crazy looking images.  "Blind Contour" drawings were and still are my favorite aspect of the books teachings.  I still do them from time to time.  Above right is a recent pen on paper self portrait.  The idea behind the exercise is never to look at the page and never lift the drawing tool off the page.  It creates a continuous line that follows the contours of the subjects form.  If it looks like anything recognizable in the end your doing great.  What I love is that it's not about the product in the end but about the process of "seeing".

A few years ago my designer wife Kristin discovered something pretty special.  I remember the day I came home from work and went up to her studio to see what amazing thing she had created that day.  I could tell she had something fun to show me.  As she handed me this little scrap piece of canvas with black machine stitching on it I knew why she was excited.  It was a continuous line drawing that she had drawn by moving the fabric under the needle of the sewing machine (view here). I was looking for light pencil lines under the thread work but I knew there wouldn't be any.  That's not how she rolls.  BLEW ME AWAY!  She went on to produce many portrait heads in this "free motion" style and it eventually became a significant part of her design process.  You can see many more examples of her imagery at kltworks.com and here.  

I didn't know then but since I've discovered her influences.  One of her favorite makers is Alexander Calder and in particular his wire sculptures of his "circus" and portrait heads created in the late 1920's and early 30's.  At the time it was referred to as the single-line style and was a major innovation.  Whether Calder developed it first, second, or third is hard to say because at the time a few artists, Picasso among them, were working in a similar fashion.  One thing is for sure.  When I look at Kristin's "Thread Heads" it makes me want to get on a sewing machine and when I look at Alexander's wire heads I want to bend some wire.  Thanks for the inspiration you two.  And thank you Betty Edwards for turning my ideas about drawing upside down and backwards. 

Book Cover Image, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, Betty Edwards, Published 1979.

"Portrait of Eduard Penkala", 1929, wire sculpture, Calder: The Paris Years, Simon and Leal, 2009.

"View of Massimo Campigli", 1930, wire sculpture, Calder: The Paris Years, Simon and Leal, 2009.

"Edgar Varese" 1930, wire sculpture, Calder: The Paris Years, The Paris Years, Simon and Leal, '09.