the dirt

RSS feed

    sharing resources…

    Need something to inspire you?

    I recently updated my page on the ArtAxis website and subsequently ended up browsing through a selection of the artists listed there. It is a treasure trove of talent. As artists, we spend a lot of time in our studios with our heads down focused on what we are making, and I am always humbled when I take the time to break away from my own studio practice and look at the amazing work being created around the world. If you’re an artist or an art lover (especially of clay!), I highly recommend taking some time to explore this site. It’s well organized, beautifully presented and you can of course follow links to follow the artists on their respective social media channels and websites. Also, ArtAxis is a volunteer run non-profit, so you can drop them a donation too for all their work supporting artists and the arts.

    sharing resources... | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture
    photo credit: Crystal Birns

    I also have to give a shout out to another resource that I love, The Ceramic School, they have online clay classes for all levels of ceramics. The world of ceramics is vast, from glaze recipes, to firing techniques to building tips and tricks, there is so much to learn. If you’re into working with clay but need more instruction or want to expand on what you already know, this is such a great resource. The online class I taught with them about using high-temperature wire in clay is available in their regular class listings and if you want to get an idea of what they offer, join in on the upcoming Clay Camp event with a series of live hand-building classes.

    Check it out and get inspired!

    last chance for a feast of fennels!

    The Umbels are Up! | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

    A Feast of Fennels Umbels at Sierra Azul Gardens will be coming down soon. If you’d like to transplant these sculptures into your garden – now is your chance!

    There are four flowers available in varying sizes, the height of the flower stems can be made custom for your space. Free local installation, feel free to contact me with questions!

    Visit Sierra Azul Sculpture Garden at:

    2660 East Lake Avenue (Highway 152)
    Watsonville, CA 95076
    Across from the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds

    Open Daily from 10 – 5

    inspiration revisited

    A million years ago, I was making a lot of insect inspired works, like this bee inspired one which bounced when you touched the metal rods. We had just moved into the redwood forest and I think I was inspired by some of the critters that made their way into our home. I made small abstract critters using a combination of clay, copper, steel and wire mesh and loved getting the heavy clay bodies to stand on tiny wire legs. (which is not dissimilar to my current medusa sculptures!)

    I also remember making a small installation of abstracted bugs with wire wings that were installed to look like a small swarm in flight. I think there was maybe a dozen of them and I remember wanting to make hundreds of them but for some reason didn’t. I haven’t thought about that piece in forever and I couldn’t even find any documentation of it.

    Now, living in the desert, I’m surrounded by the weirdest critters, like stick bugs, trap-door spiders and praying mantis. Just the other day, a wild bee hive on our property swarmed and I watched it throughout the day as they left the hive in controlled chaos, clustered on a nearby tree for a few hours and then in perfect timing they all took off to their new home.

    Even though I hadn’t thought about that little installation in years, the bee swarm made me realize that it was time to make that installation of hundreds a reality. I’m not sure of the details, but I’m excited to make some abstract bugs that will swarm somewhere on the property. Inspiration comes from all kinds of places but somehow insects always hold a place in my heart!

    visitors and more

    We are making more and more progress on the studio each day, and right now, I’ve got extra help. Nate has been working on getting the plumbing system completely online including getting the mini-kitchen installed. And my parents came into town to visit. They are helping install the new track lighting, troubleshoot the ceiling fan and help organize things. So it’s all hands on deck right now to get all the details sorted.

    Don’t worry, we are making sure they get some down time on the beach, eat good food and go on adventures too.

    what are you working on?

    I get asked a lot, what are you working on in the studio? And right now, it’s not really on new work, those ideas are always there and brewing, so don’t worry, I will circle back to them soon enough. But instead, I’ve been making parts for my studio. I’m planning on gates for the entrances to our property that will have metal framed rectangular structure to them, but will incorporate pieces from my Bone Series into the open panels of the metal structure. It will look similar to the way I filled this arbor space at a past exhibit, but the gates will be broken up into smaller framed sections and it will also be slightly denser with wire cables and ceramic elements to be functional in keeping all the critters on the appropriate sides of the fence. I’ve been working on the parts for the gates, which turns out to be a lot of square footage of area to cover, so a lot of parts!

    I also wanted to make custom sconces for the outdoor lights of the studio, I have three made that are in the traditional shape of Mexican clay sconce lights, but designed with my aesthetic of hole pattern carvings, these will hang on the long stretch of the patio area. I plan on making two more that will be larger circular versions for the front walls.

    Right now, I’m filling up the shelves with all of these raw clay parts since my kilns can’t run on the solar system since they draw WAY too much power. Instead, they will need to be hooked up to a large generator to run properly and we are still researching the right generator for the job. But soon enough, we will have the kilns running, all the work fired up, and I’ll get these custom works installed.

    While we are definitely working hard on projects to get the studio and land functional and beautiful, we are still taking time to enjoy where we are.

    getting closer…

    I ~almost~ have enough bottles to complete both bottle wall windows in the studio and I think they’re going to look great! I love the variety of shapes and shades of green in all the bottles. Each brick is made with two bottles that have been cut and taped together to make a bottle brick, so this is approximately 300 bottles that I’ve collected, cut and cleaned to make these windows. Mortaring them into place will be a whole other part of this project, but very fun to see it start to come together. Big thank you’s to all my friends who have been doing their part slugging back the contents and saving the bottles for me!

    In other studio news, Nate is working away at getting our plumbing online. We needed to get a pump, pressure tank and all the piping components to get everything set up to work with our solar system and septic system. Getting all the components is a process in itself. While we have a plethora of local hardware stores, there’s no guarantee that they will have all the parts you need in the right size and quantity that you need, plus we of course need to ask for all these parts in Spanish, because most products are behind the counter here not in aisles where you can browse for what you want, so that adds another level to the search for parts. And our property is about 20 minutes from the nearest store, so missing something off your list can take a few hours out of your workday. The lesson here is to slow down, be patient and eventually your project will come together.

    The studio is designed to double as a guest space as needed, so we included a full shower in our bathroom set up. We will be adding a solar water heater into the system soon too. I still haven’t quite figured out how I want to design the sink/counter area, so that’s still on hold, but we’re slowly collecting the rugs, curtains, hooks and of course the ART to design out the space. I never thought I’d post a photo of my bathroom on my blog, and it currently doesn’t look like much, but when you go through this much work just to get indoor plumbing on an off the grid system, you’ve got to show off the milestones!

    March Awesome Winner!

    Congratulations to the March winner of the Santa Cruz Awesome Foundation! Linda Cover was selected for her project Earth Month River Exhibit & Upcycle Festival which will be put on by a collective of artists at the Tannery with a series of events all about the San Lorenzo River.

    Check out past projects here…

    We love reviewing these amazing, creative ideas – keep them coming Santa Cruz! $1000 micro-grants are given out monthly. Got an Awesome idea that needs a little funding? Pitch it here!

    who’s got the power?

    After taking months to research solar systems and different providers in our area, we finally chose a winner and we stoked to have sunshine powering the studio now! The funny thing is that we don’t really have a lot to power up yet, so until I install the new track lights and we get a water pump and refrigerator ordered, our sunshine will just be charging our devices and lighting up these little temporary lightbulbs – even still it’s pretty exciting! Next up is a functioning plumbing system…stay tuned.

    In other sun related news, we are in a spot for about 95% coverage of sun for the eclipse the other day, so we put on our welding helmets/goggles and sat down to watch the show. Always an impressive phenomenon to watch the universe do it’s thing. It amazed us that even with that much coverage it didn’t get particularly dark, it did get noticeably colder but I guess we’ll have to try to catch the 100% path next time to experience the difference.