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New project with Aerena Gallery

I’ve been quietly working away on these pieces in the studio over the past few months and just finished them up. I’m excited to announce that they have been placed with Aerena Galleries in Napa/Sonoma. It was a fun project to collaborate with them on, as they supplied the cloches and I designed the inner compositions with pieces from the Bone Series | Urchins and Medusas. They also have a bit of dried seaweed as part of the compositions, adding texture and color. I’m really pleased with the amount of movement and energy the pieces have despite their containment in the glass.

It will be interesting to see how they will display them in the gallery and even more interesting to see where these strange specimens end up!

Scenes from NCECA 2022, day three

Three days and viewing almost 40 exhibitions is definitely pushing my limits of creative absorption but I’m honestly so amazed by the diversity of ways that artists use this humble medium of clay. From hand-built functional ware to high tech 3D printing, artists are really doing just about anything and everything with it and it’s so, so impressive.

From Ground to Surface at Sacramento Fine Arts Center & Constructed Landscapes- Brick, Tile and Pillar at Blue Line Arts

I ended my conference with a first time visit to the Crocker Museum which hosted the NCECA Annual Exhibition Belonging, and enjoyed the permanent collection on display. Their collection was vast and displayed beautifully…I loved seeing their collection of Stephen deStabler works since I took a workshop with him the year that I moved to California, and their Japanese ceramics collection was stunning as well. I also included one image below of a Ruth Asawa crocheted copper piece which is technically not clay but I love her work so much, I had to include it as one of the highlights of this art adventure.

Beneath the Surface-Origin Stories at The MACC: , Belonging and Permanent Collection at the Crocker Art Museum & Body Image at E Street Gallery

And with way too much art swirling in my brain, that’s a wrap NCECA 2022…

So grateful for the opportunity to work with this dream team!
Marisa Sayago-Professor of Art at Folsom Lake College + Artists Shannon Sullivan, Jenni Ward, Cynthia Siegel, Susan Whitmore & Wesley Wright

scenes from NCECA 2022, day two

I spent half of today in the conference center watching a few lectures, the morning keynote speech and half the day walking around to exhibits that were close by downtown Sacramento. The keynote was a fascinating talk by Courtney M Leonard who discussed her relationship with her ancestral lands, the surrounding waters and how her ceramic works are responses to that relationship. I ended a very long day at our exhibit ‘This is the Anthropocene’ in Folsom with our artists reception. I really didn’t know if anyone was going to make it that far out of Sacramento to see our show, but we had a busy attendance all evening with lots of words of support and praise. Big thank yous to everyone who came out for our show!

‘Fertile Exchange’ at Delta Conveyance Design and Construction Authority
Legends and Legions: A survey show of California wood firing at Alpha Fired Arts
Seismic State: California Ceramics at Sparrow Gallery
This is the Anthropocene at The Harris Center for the Arts | Bank of America Gallery

Scenes from NCECA 2022, day one

I spent the majority of the first day of the NCECA conference driving around to different exhibitions all around the Sacramento area. Below are images of some of the work that caught my eye, some is student work, some friends and colleagues and some is work by those in the top of their field – all of it is so impressive and diverse. I’m hoping to get to a number of more shows before the conference is over but there are literally dozens of shows to chose from, in the meantime, enjoy some of this eye-candy, more to come!

Scenes from NCECA 2022 day one | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture
Kondos Gallery | Not so Guilty Pleasures & Cosumnes Rover College | Real ID
Scenes from NCECA 2022 day one | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture
University Library Gallery California State University | Student Exhibition & Everything is Possible; Nothing is Probable: The Legacy of the Candy Store Gallery
Scenes from NCECA 2022 day one | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture
FE Gallery | Sown, Archival Gallery | Layers Upon Layers & Shepard Garden and Arts Center
Scenes from NCECA 2022 day one | the dirt | Jenni Ward ceramic sculpture
Robert Else Gallery California State University

Closing Reception for Take Aways Art to Go!

Have you visited Pajaro Valley Gallery lately?

I did! It’s a beautiful show brimming with local talent and I picked up a new piece of art that will be a gift for a friend. There’s still time to see this show and pick up some art for your collection.

This annual invitational exhibit features seventy-three of the county’s most notable artists. As a fundraising event, these artists are presenting works that fit into many budgets.

Closing Reception & Raffle:
Sunday, March 6, 2–4

37 Sudden Street, Watsonville, CA
Gallery Hours: 11.00am – 4:00pm
Wednesday-Sunday

MASKS REQUIRED

www.pvarts.org

It’s Showtime!

For over a year, Cynthia Siegel and I have been planning this exhibition and we finally installed it last week. We are so proud to share with you This is the Anthropocene, an exhibition of five ceramic artists responding to the human impact on the planet. Artists Cynthia Siegel, Shannon Sullivan, Jenni Ward, Susan Whitman & Wesley Wright have some incredible works included in this show, please see it in person if you can and if not, we’ll be posting more images of the show over the following weeks.

February 11 – March 27, 2022
Reception for the artists:
March 17th 2022, 6:30-8:30pm

Harris Center for the Arts | Bank of America Gallery
Folsom Lake College, 10 College Parkway, Folsom CA

Gallery Hours: 12-4 Tuesday-Thursday

Redfin Blog Feature: The Art of Selecting Art

I was recently featured on a Redfin blog post covering tips on how to select art for your home. It is definitely a time consuming and thought provoking process to go through, but when the right art is in the right space, it’s pretty magical. Read more below…

Art can make any house feel like a home, but sometimes it can be a challenge to find art pieces that speak to you and reflect your design style. With many different art forms, there are some pieces that could fit well with your existing decor and others that may not. If this sounds like a problem you are facing, you’re in luck. Redfin reached out to art experts from Encinitas, CA to Windsor, ON, including us, for our best suggestions on unique art pieces to consider for every room in your home. From metal sculptures to metal prints, Check out The Art of Selecting Art: Experts Share Unique Art Pieces for Every Room of the House to see what we had to say. Read more…

Umbel Update!

The NCECA conference is just around the corner in late March, but work for our concurrent exhibition ‘This is the Anthropocene’ is due at the gallery in just a few weeks and I think I’m actually going to be ready in time!

I abandoned my original plan of having three varying sized pieces and instead went with one very large and two smaller pieces. It’s so hard to tell scale in photos but this fennel inspired umbel is five and a half feet across and while it looks light and delicate, it actually weighs a ton (not literally!) It is ~almost~ finished, but there’s some touch up epoxying, sanding and touch up painting still to do. I’m really pleased with the way this one turned out. There are also two more smaller fennel flowerheads on their way across the finish line for this exhibit too. I’ve decided that the installation of all three flowers will be displayed on the floor of the gallery nestled into a puddle of black sand. I think the sand will highlight the bright yellow flower tips and make them glow even more than they already do. Looking forward to seeing this entire exhibit come to life, it’s been a long time in the making!

This is the Anthropocene.

Harris Center for the Arts – Bank of America Gallery | Folsom Lake College

February 11–March 27 | Reception: March 17 6:30-8:30

10 College Parkway Folsom, CA
harriscenter.net/visit/bank-of-america-gallery

wearable sculptures

Sculptor Jamie Abbott and I have collaborated again to create a new series of wearable sculptures. They will be available at Pajaro Valley Arts Council Gallery for their annual exhibit, Take Aways – Art to Go!

January 19 – March 6, 2022

37 Sudden St., Watsonville, CA 95076 | Gallery Hours: Wednesday – Sunday 11am-4pm | 831.722.3062 | pvarts.org

MASKS REQUIRED