Mark your calendars and get ready to dive into my newest exhibit: Bodies of Water!
Join us for the opening reception at the Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery on the UCSC campus Saturday September 24th from 5-8. The exhibit is on display Sept 20 – Dec 3.
The gallery is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 12 PM-5 PM and Thursdays 12 PM-7 PM
I’ve been feeling disenchanted with social media these days and posting there less and less. Fighting the algorithm and being inundated with an overwhelming amount of admittedly very funny videos are a just part of the battle. But, I still do want to share what I’m up to both in and out of the studio with you all. So….
I’ve decided to launch a new blog series, called ‘the outside scoop’. This will be a once a week post containing what’s going on in my life outside the studio so you might get some inspirational nature bits, adventures and probably a dog photo or two will sneak in once in awhile. Please feel free to leave comments on my posts, I look forward to chatting with you there!
I will be keeping all my social media accounts live, but my plan is to share more content here through this blog series and less (…and less) there. After all, you guys have actually subscribed to get my posts and hopefully we can reconnect without fighting the algorithm. Thanks for letting my life hit your inbox once a week!
I try to keep as ‘green’ of a studio as possible, all the while knowing that I’m working with a material that has been mined from the earth and shipped across hundreds to thousands of miles. So, it’s a bit of a quandary for me but I try to offset that heavy carbon footprint in other ways.
I’ve written posts before about recycling my fired ceramics into the tile/toilet pile at our local landfill, they grind it up and use it as aggregate for other products. Which is a great way to get rid of all my mistakes, broken bits and abandoned ideas. I also recycle all of my wet clay so that every scrap will be used even if it’s dried out on me. And I try to reuse all the packing materials that come into my studio, in addition to a regular recycling of metal, plastics and papers.
Recently I started thinking about my energy usage in the studio in regards to my kiln firings. I started playing with the idea of once firing my work, which for those that aren’t familiar with the process of working with clay means that instead of doing a slow initial firing called the bisque, followed by a second glaze firing, I’m instead going from dry clay to finished ceramic in one firing. With the cost and use of energy to get my kilns up to 2000 degrees, saving one firing seemed to be the way to go.
From a technical standpoint it doesn’t always work depending on your clay, glazes, process of building and a million other clay techy things that can go wrong. But for my porcelain pieces that don’t even get glaze put on them, I thought I could make it work. The first few times I tried, the clay seemed slightly pinker in color rather than the true white it should be, so in my last firing, I added a bit more time to the kilns firing program at it’s mature temperature, letting it soak at it’s maturity point and that worked! I’m really exciting that I can get all of these pieces done in one firing now and waste less energy all at the same time!
Any one have other ideas on how to keep a greener clay studio?
Grab some friends and your picnic basket!
Sculpture IS: 2022 at Sierra Azul Sculpture Garden & Nursery is open daily 10-5 and the sculptures are up until Oct 31st! There are tables and umbrellas available for use to enjoy an afternoon in garden.
I have 4 fennel inspired sculptures onsite and for sale! They are just waiting to be transplanted into your garden space. There are also over 100 sculptures in a variety of mediums waiting to be discovered in the 2 acre demonstration garden!
2660 East Lake Ave Watsonville CA 95076 | pvarts.org
Here’s the monthly wrap up of everything going on at the studio…
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Remember all those parts I’ve been making? Well, they’ve started to find their way onto the studio walls…
This installation is far from finished but a few hundred pieces are up on the wall. It’s been fun to play with how far off the wall the parts are and the subsequent shadows become a part of the piece. The overall form is inspired by a water droplet and the outward waves of ripples.
I’ve also got my own jellyfish aquarium going here with a whole new batch of Medusas swimming through the studio. These guys are so fun to hang out with in the studio all day!
Excited to share that my piece Lichen Series: Spore Patterns was one of the sculptures featured in an article about the Price Sculpture Forest in Luxe Beat Magazine! Check out the full article here and if you’re ever on Whidbey Island, be sure to check the sculpture forest out in person!
Just a reminder…
Images of the In the Field ephemeral installations are available as prints on metal for unique 2-D versions of my artwork.
Works from the Nest Series, Relic Series and Umbel Series are available for $45 and up.
I almost thought that there wasn’t a reason to even write a blog post this week about what was happening in the studio because for me it’s like Groundhog Day in here. Making hundreds of parts is tedious and monotonous and that’s about all that I’ve been up to. But then I scrolled through my phone photos are realized that I do have a few things to share. So here ya go…
These are the latest batch of Medusas to make their way out of the kiln and I’m pretty happy with them. I love the variety of their wire tendrils and how they add movement to the pieces. Right now these are resting on a towel in the studio but eventually I’ll get them all hung up so that they appear to be drifting through the studio.
I’ve also been experimenting with embedding my porcelain planktons into ice. The trick is making clear ice so that you can see the pieces, which I’m kind of getting the hang of. This is a small block, but I’m hoping to work towards getting a big ol iceberg going. If anyone has any tips or ice related info to share, I’m all ears… who knew freezing ice could be so tricky!?!
And yeah, remember all those parts, still working on that. The piles are getting bigger though!
You’re looking at that bare wall in your home or that empty space in the garden that needs something but you can’t figure out quite what…maybe it needs a custom piece of art??
I’ve worked with clients over the past 20 years to place existing works or create custom works for their homes. During the pandemic when everyone was locked up and staring at their walls, I had so many clients reach out to thank me for the art that graced their spaces. They shared that the work brought them joy during a dark time and gave them solace as we all moved towards an uncertain future. I’m so grateful to have been given the opportunity to place those works.
Here are a few examples of some works that I’ve created for clients over the years to get some ideas going for what’s possible in your space. Feel free to reach out to get the conversation started, consultations are free!
