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    Fennel Umbels Almost Done!

    I’m hoping to have this piece done to share at Open Studios this weekend, but at the very least, it will be a work in progress to share! I’m really excited about the final steel form that my husband designed and adding on the ceramic flower heads makes it even better. I’m in the process of epoxying on each flower, sanding the connection point to create an even flow between the steel and ceramic and then painting the epoxy to match. It’s a time consuming process but of sanding and adding epoxy, but it’s worth all the effort in the end.

    Hope you come see this piece this weekend!

    Work in Progress: Fennel Umbels

    I’ve been wanting to make Fennel shaped umbel flowers for a long time now, I love their upside down umbrella structure with little bulbs of color on the ends of each pedicel. So I’ve collaborated again with my husband Nate to try to figure out how to weld up a steel structure for the ceramic flower heads to attach to. It’s still a work in progress but I’m really excited to get these assembled. Here’s what we’ve got going so far…

    The main steel structure is designed to have 18 points and then each ceramic flower head has 18 smaller points and each of those has 18 points, so that the whole structure is a repetition of itself. Patterns like these are found all over in nature but I also love that each piece in individual and unique at the same time.

    Artists Sharing Artists: Shannon Sullivan

    Let me just start by saying that I love Shannon Sullivan’s work. It’s clearly based on her keen observations of nature from a micro to macro scale. She’s clean and precise in the execution of her organic forms with a clever eye for presentation. Be sure to watch the video below where she explains the process and inspiration behind making her latest body of work, Folded Topographies. I am really looking forward to getting to know her and her work better as we work towards a group exhibition next spring.

    Shannon is one of five artists in the exhibit that Cynthia Siegel and myself are co-curating as part of the 2022 NCECA conference entitled, This is the Anthropocene. The Anthropocene is defined as the current geological age during which human activity has been the dominant influence on the climate and the environment. The artists will be responding to this topic within the themes of Animal, Agriculture, Landscape, Water and/or Atmosphere in a diversity of styles and approaches. Shannon will be featuring work from her disc series as part of this exhibition. Over the next few months, I’ll be featuring the other artists from this exhibit.

    Shannon’s studio assistant hard at work.
    Topographical Horizons, 2021

    About Shannon Sullivan’s work:

    Sullivan creates sculptures, wall pieces and installations using a core visual vocabulary rooted in the prevailing ways of nature. Her work maintains a seductive, mysterious quality as she explores the nuances present in the living world.

    Wet clay transforms the paper mold from exclusively sharp and crisp to something in between—manipulated, and distorted. I seek the inimitable forms that result from this experimental process of what I’ve termed “paper casting”. Jutting and topographic, the glazed composite forms are reminiscent of plate tectonics at work. I’m compelled by the rugged and folded coastal mountain range of my home here on the North Coast of California.

    Learn more at Shannon’s website or follow her on Instagram

    Artists Sharing Artists: is a series of posts where I share some of my favorite artists who are also inspired by nature and use their art to protect what they love. More artists coming soon…

    Scenes from the Studio…

    Been getting things ready for Open Studios this October, here’s a sneak peek at a few of the treats in store for you!

    Hope you can join me Oct 9, 10, 16 & 17 from 11- 5 at 2523 C Mission St Santa Cruz California