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    Summer Create with Clay Workshops!

    SIGN UP FOR SUMMER CLAY WORKSHOPS TODAY!

    There are only a limited number of spots at Earth Art Studio for kids clay workshops this summer, grab your spot today before they’re all gone! We have a whole new program for our summer workshops, to allow for lots of clay time in the studio! We are offering 2 four week sessions with 3.5 hour classes once a week. We will build in clay for the first 3 weeks of the class and then glaze our projects on the final day. New projects are offered at each class, so you can join us for multiple sessions or multiple days in the week with no repeats. Click here for schedule and details…

    Create with Clay Summer Workshops for Kids | shop | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

    Throwback Thursday: Bone Series

    Ceramics Monthly magazine graciously posted a photo of my work on their Facebook page the other day of one of my In the Field installations from the Bone Series. These pieces were from a few years ago, but it reminded me to take another look back. I love how these pieces truly seem at home on the beach, like the tide has just revealed them to us.Throwback Thursday: Bone Series | the dirt | jenni ward ceramic sculpture

    About the Bone Series:
    The Bone Series is a new series of work that is focused on the remains of a form. The pieces imply what is left after the flesh is gone. I see them as an abstract interpretation of biological creatures that may have had fleshy fins or other appendages and these bone structures are all that remains. I imagine that these pieces might be discovered in the natural world as the only clues to the past of what this creature might have been. These pieces are comprised of flanges of clay attached at a center point with holes cut and carved into them, ranging in size from 6″x 5″ x 5″ to 15″x 6″x 6″. Each piece is hand-built from high fired stoneware and is original and unique.

    Throwback Thursday: Bone Series | the dirt | jenni ward ceramic sculpture

    Select pieces from this series are available in the online shop.

    Throwback Thursday: Bone Series | the dirt | jenni ward ceramic sculpture

     

    Work in Progress: Umbels Update

    Work In Progress: Umbels Update | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

    The Umbel Series project is in the final stretch! After hours of building and glazing, 200 of these crazy abstract flowers have become an army of spiky saffron yellow forms in my studio. The photo above shows each of the stages that these pieces have gone through, from left to right; dry clay, bisque fired, tips glazed with bright yellow, the whole piece glazed with a saffron yellow and the final product after the glaze firing.

    Work In Progress: Umbels Update | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

    Ceramic Umbel flowers as far as the eye can see in my studio! It has become quite a production line to make these happen but I think the installation will be fantastic!

    Work In Progress: Umbels Update | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

    Starting your day by opening a kiln full of bright yellow can really get you moving in the morning! Today we’ll be taking a few of them up to the UCSC Arboretum to test out the installation locations. The opening for this exhibit will be in late May, after that we’ll have a day for visitors to come and ‘pick their flowers’ so you can plant them in your own garden space.

    Click here to learn more about this project…

    The Summer Class Schedule Has Arrived!!!

    The much anticipated summer schedule of clay classes at Earth Art Studio is finally up on the website! There are clay classes for kids and adults so everyone has the opportunity to b cr8iv this summer! Classes are limited so sign up today to get a spot…

     

    Create with Clay for Adults The Summer Clay Class Schedule Has Arrived | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

    May 9, 2017 – August 3, 2017
    (no class the week of July 3rd)
    Tuesdays 7 – 9pm and/or Thursdays 10am – 12pm
    $150 punchcard good for 5 classes at the studio | materials included

    Create with Clay Summer Workshops for Kids

    Session I: Tuesday, Wednesday OR Thursday, 12:30 – 4, June 6th thru June 29th
    Session II: Tuesday, Wednesday OR Thursday, 12:30 – 4, July 11th thru August 3rd
    (no class the week of July 3rd)
    $250/session | materials included | Ages 7+ | Max 4 students/class
    No repeats on projects so you can sign up for multiple sessions and/or days

    Save the Date: Annual Spring Studio Sale 2017

    Mission Industrial Studios Open for Spring Sale

    May 6th & 7th | 1 – 6 with evening art activities May 6th from 6 -9

    Eleven artists in the Mission Industrial Studio complex will open their studios to the public for a weekend of creativity. The artists will have works on display for sale and will be available to discuss their process, some will offer demos and have hands-on activities for visitors.

    The eleven artists include, Jamie Abbott, Lucia Bruer, Barbara Downs, Nora Dougherty, Sefla Joseph, Joey Kochlacs, Majio, Kirk Mc Neill, Stacey Pollard, Susan Wagner & Jenni Ward. These studios are typically only open during the county wide Open Studios Art Tour in October and some rarely open to the public, making this weekend event a unique opportunity for the public to visit the artists in their work space. The artists range in medium from painting, to glass, to metal, wood and clay, offering something for everyone’s artistic taste. This event hopes to offer a creative experience for both locals and visitors to the Santa Cruz area.

    Save the Date: Annual Spring Studio Sale 2017 | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

    The studios are located on the westside of Santa Cruz on Mission St extension between Swift St. and Natural Bridges Dr. and will be open on May 6 & 7, 2017 from 1 – 6 on Saturday and Sunday with additional art events from 6 – 9 on Saturday evening.

    Highlights planned for the event include Nora Dougherty’s work.shop. trailer, a mobile art gallery on location, a clay seed bomb making activity at Jenni Ward’s earth art studio, and Kirk Mc Neill’s large scale sculpture the Sharky-Go-Round on display. Food Trucks AGoGo will be onsite in the late afternoon on Saturday offering tasty local tacos along with live music from The Dooners. After the sun sets, art movies around a campfire with marshmallows will round out Saturday’s activities.

    Inspiration through Exploration

    If you follow along on my Instagram feed, you’ve seen a lot of my posts are from my explorations in nature. I truly believe that you need exploration for inspiration, and for me, hiking, road trips and time spent in nature is crucial to my inspiration of what I make in the studio. If you don’t follow my Instagram feed, here’s a few things you missed from our road trip from Santa Cruz to Portland for NCECA 2017.

    Inspiration through Exploration | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture
    Watching the sunset over the ocean on the Oregon coast makes for happy campers.
    Inspiration through Exploration | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture
    The most gorgeous pinecone ever found on the shores of Shasta Lake.
    Inspiration through Exploration | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture
    Kind of obsessed with lichen and moss.
    Inspiration through Exploration | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture
    Patterns in nature
    Inspiration through Exploration | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture
    Finally found some snow for this happy Indygirl!

    Studio Visit: Kristen O’Neill

    On our road trip to Portland last week, we were very focused on everything clay. And with a billion ceramic themed exhibitions happening concurrently with the NCECA conference, it was hard to imagine seeing anything but clay. But, we did take a side trip and visited my sister-in-law, Kristen O’Neill at her studio in Grants Pass Oregon.

    Studio Visit: Kristen O'Neill | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture

    There was no clay to be found in her studio, but there was lots of inspiration and color. Her work is bold, with broad brush stokes and no hesitance of movement, yet it’s calming and familiar with a soft earthy palette that makes you really feel a space. And as calming as her paintings are, I know that she rocks out hard core while getting the paint to the canvas, bringing them to life!

    I love that we get to ‘talk art’ when we’re together whether it’s critiquing each others work, encouraging each others endeavors or just geeking out on the SEO status of our art websites. She’s also the Administrative Assistant/Volunteer Coordinator and head of the Open Studios Committee at the Grants Pass Art Museum so I got to take a private tour of the current exhibit with her. So lucky to have artists in the family!

    Studio Visit: Kristen O'Neill | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture
    Coastal Mountains Near Scott Creek, acrylic on canvas, 12″ x 36″, $800.

    “My paintings capture the emotional release, the beauty of the place, and allow you to reconnect to nature and experience your special place on a daily basis. Celebrate your love of nature! Stay close to it. Be able to show other people what you love, and perhaps inspire them to come on that next hike with you. Empower yourself and others.”

    To purchase her work, visit her website: www.kristenoneillart.com

    NCECA 2017: The Evocative Garden

    The Evocative Garden happened in Portland and it was a beautiful show! I am so humbled to be included among this list of talented and creative artists. Thank you so much to everyone who came to the show, supported me from afar and shared my work with others- I’m forever grateful!  Here are a few of my favorites (mostly detail shots) from The Evocative Garden exhibit from NCECA 2017 curated by Gail M Brown.