Feeling gratitude for all the inspiration the natural world brings… happy earth day!
the dirt
when you buy art
When you buy a piece of art from me, whether it’s from the online shop or direct from the studio I always try to sneak in a thank you postcard with my favorite quote I found by artist Rebekah Joy Plett about what you are really buying when you buy art from an independent artist. You can buy a print of this quote from her Etsy store. Enjoy!
When you buy from an independent artist you are buying more than just a painting or a novel or a song. You are buying hundreds of hours of experimentation and thousands of failures. You are buying days, weeks, months, years of frustration and moments of pure joy. You are buying nights of worry about paying the rent, having enough money to eat, having enough money to feed the children, the birds, the dog. You aren’t just buying a thing. You are buying a piece of heart, part of a soul, a private moment in someone’s life. Most importantly, you are buying that artist more time to do something they are truly passionate about; something that makes all of the above worth the fear and the doubt; something that puts the life into the living. –Rebekah Joy Plett
Thank you for supporting independent artists!
Everybody’s Ocean comes down
After nearly 4 months of floating in the Solari Gallery at the Museum of Art & History in Santa Cruz for the Everybody’s Ocean exhibit, it was finally time to take the Bone Series Installation down. Thanks to the help of ceramic artist and my mentee Hong Lui, we were able to take the whole piece down in about an hour. You can see the last tail end of pieces still hanging in this photo. If you liked this piece, be sure to come by the studio for my Spring Studio Sale on May 2 from 11 – 4 and the pieces will be installed in a whole new arrangement.
making pots
When new students come to my studio for classes, typically the first thing they want to do is learn how to throw on the wheel. I don’t blame them, its messy, fun and frustrating and it was the first thing I wanted to do with clay too. In the beginning, I thought I would try to make a living selling mugs but when I realized all the possibilities of hand-building, I never went back to the wheel. And if it wasn’t for my students, I’d get rid of the two wheels in my studio altogether.
A lot of times my students ask me if I’ve made all of my dishes and mugs and the truth is that I’ve hardly got any handmade ware in my cupboards- WHAT?!?- the pottery community gasps! But, when traveling to NCECA this year and staying with my college roommate, I found this cute little thrown mug in her bathroom that I’d made when I was in school. Its got a beautiful pink blush from a soda or salt kiln and a not so bad handle on it, the lip could be a little fatter and the piece a lot lighter but the fun in finding this relic from the past brought me back to a time when I did (attempt) to make pots and I thought I’d share. Enjoy!
Art imitates Life
This year Nate and I decided to try having backyard chickens, mainly because we wanted organic, pastured, nutritionally dense beautiful eggs from these happy birds. If you’re not up on your politically correct foodie speak, ‘pastured’ means chickens that run around in the grass eating bugs, slugs and plants as a major part of their diet. This makes for healthier, tastier eggs and is a big step up from cage-free. It’s been a great experience raising cute fluffy chicks into egg laying hens.
We coop them up at night for safety and during the day they roam the fenced garden area, which they clearly love. But, there is also a down side to not being in a cage all the time, in a word: predators. Where we live there are a lot of them, from foxes to mountain lions, our chickens really are vulnerable to it all not to mention our own dog who is infatuated with them. Over the past year, we’ve lost 2 birds to a predator, probably a bobcat. Since then, we’ve caged the birds for most of the day and only let them out when we’re around- which is kinda sad for the birds and also defeats the purpose of having pastured chickens.
It seems like a silly dilemma, obviously we should keep our birds safe from harm, but at what cost? The concept of caging is an idea I’ve been exploring for years through my nest series and a dilemma that we all feel. We want to be safe in our homes with locks and alarms but at the same time we’ve trapped ourselves in our own cages. And freedom is a beautiful and exciting venture, but we are left vulnerable to the elements. My work tries to explore the balance of this concept while I try to put it to practice in my own life.
new work
When I start out with new pieces, I feel like I have to get to know them for a while before I figure out what I’m doing with them. These pieces are pinched flanges with wide bases and range in size have a feeling of fungus growth or mushroom gills which is probably inspired by my hikes through the redwood forests this time of year when the mushrooms are flourishing. The pieces are very reminiscent of my Lichen Series too but I’m not exactly sure yet how similar they will end up. I really like the look of how they layer when stacked next to each other, it reminds me of a mountainous landscape with each ridge line creating a new horizon. I’m designing them to be wall mounted for an indoor installation, but I’m also thinking about where I might arrange them for an in the field installation as well. Stay tuned and we’ll see where this creative journey goes…
spending time in nature
Feeling grateful, recharged and inspired.
I got to spend the weekend backpacking in Big Sur, laughing with my friend and playing with my dog, does it get any better?
Now, back to the studio…
photos: Amanda Luu
rock candy river
The pics are up for the Rock Candy River Installation!
Check it out and learn more about the piece by clicking the link or even better- go see it in person at Pacific Edge Climbing Gym!
Tower of London Poppy Installation
For a while, images of the Tower of London covered in red poppies swarmed the internet and social media, the installation was impressive from any standpoint. Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red installation created by artists Paul Cummins and Tom Piper, included 888,246 ceramic poppies pouring out of a window in the Tower of London and progressively filled the Tower’s famous moat, each poppy represented a British military fatality during the war. You can see images and learn more about this installation here…
When the installation was taken down, all of the poppy flowers were sold and the money raised was divided among charities. One of my amazing clay students was able to buy a few of the poppies before they were all sold and I was so lucky to receive one from her as a gift! How cool is that??
The packaging and documentation that came along with the flower was impressive as well. I just love this installation and I’m so excited to have a little bit of it at my studio now!
Rock Candy River Installation
Today, with the help of my artist friend Susana Arias and the staff at Pacific Edge Climbing Gym, I installed my Rock Candy River sculpture. I’ve spent at least two days a week at the climbing gym for years now, and its a place where I’ve found friendships, challenges and trust. I’m so excited to share this new installation Rock Candy River with the community of climbers who use this space. The installation is inspired by the flow of water and how it shapes the land. The hard angled shapes juxtapose the curvy flow of the form to create a dynamic visual engagement. And yes, it’s also inspired by my time grabbing colorful holds at Pacific Edge too! More pics to come soon….