Just a reminder that it’s Free Shipping February so be sure to take advantage of it and explore our online shop! Enter LOVEFREESHIPPING at checkout and the shipping fees are on me. Here’s a selection of pieces available to bring intrigue to your creative place…
“My mission is to create abstract interpretations of nature through thoughtfully crafted ceramic sculptures that reconnect you with the natural world.” -jw
I took advantage of the extremely low tides this past weekend and got out for another In the Field installation. The area of the beach where I placed these pieces is normally completely inaccessible to explore and is only cliff and ocean. I’d been planning this one for so long and finally there was a time that the tide was low enough and everyone could make it out to document the installation. Here’s a sneak peek video of the install, but there will be more to come soon AND these pieces will be reconfigured for installing in your home and will be available in the shop very, very soon!
Photo & Video credit: Sequoia Kimmel
These beauties just came out of the kiln! Swing by the studio this week and pick one out for your love!
A portion of all Art Heart sales benefit philanthropic art projects, give to the arts and get a heart!
Also available at the Santa Cruz Art League and The Homeless Garden Project Store
I walk on the beach or in the forest nearly everyday, it’s my time wander, be inspired and explore. I usually end up collecting something along these walks; a stone, a piece of wood, today it was a vertebrae from a seal that had washed up in a storm.
Over the years, as my bone collections have grown, I’ve really studied the shapes, the curves and the textures. It’s made me realize that what I’m attracted to about these parts is that I love to see the insides of things and understand how things work, how they are put together and how complex yet how simple the puzzle of our bone structures are.
My Bone Series has been inspired by these explorations of structure and form. I’ve recreated these structures in clay by emphasizing the fibrous texture through all the holes cut into my pieces, focusing on how our internal structures shape our outer form and contrasting the balance of strength and fragility.
When I create series of work I play with the variety of ways that they can be displayed, so the Bone Series has been suspended in a museum, taken 70′ under the ocean, pushed into the sand on the beach, connected on a frame to create a wall of bones and displayed in galleries under bell jars. As much as I’ve done with these pieces, I feel like I’m just getting started and that this series will be coming out of the studio for a long time.
View more pieces from the Bone Series here…
Starting Monday February 1st, it’s free shipping February! Do you feel the love?
Free shipping offer is good within the US and does not include gift items, books or classes.
Stores are filled with a plethora of every tool imaginable and it can be overwhelming, sometimes I’m enticed touching the racks of perfectly clean tools still wrapped in plastic and I think, “That would be a nice texture.” or “That tool would make that one thing so much easier.” but the truth for me is that my tool needs are simple. That said, I fully admit that I have a studio filled with hand tools of every shape and size that my students use, but for making my own work, I have one small jar of tools and rarely do I need anything else.
From left to right, here’s my main arsenal of tools for nearly everything that comes out of my studio. Two loop tools with various shapes and sizes for carving and scraping, a sharpie marker that I use for the shape the back of it makes scraped in clay more than anything to do with its writing abilities. The garage sale fork is my main scoring tool, a rubber tipped blending tool for small areas and the back end of it is used too. A large wooden skewer for poking, blending, reaching into places my hands can’t fit and for stirring epoxy glue together. The wooden paddle is one of my favorite shaping tools and when I thought I lost it once, I was really disappointed, luckily it showed up again.
The sharp tool section are the most used of all my tools, a double ended carving tool, a pin tool and two well used x-acto knives. Every hole in every piece is cut with an x-acto knife and the clay edges carved off with them which shows in the way the blade has worn away in a curve. The handles had to be padded and wrapped because of so much use and I have a permanent callus on my right middle finger because of these tools. The last two tools, my metal scraper and large sea sponge are usually used as the first and last mark making tools on my clay.
What are your tools of the trade?
Take Aways: Art to Go opens this Sunday from 2-4 at The Pajaro Valley Arts Council Gallery.
Get first picks on art works from local artists all under $250! See you there!
Mark your calendars! Our online shop will be offering free shipping for the month of February as a way of showing our love for you!
You really don’t need to wait for Valentine’s Day to give an Art Heart to the ones that you love! But February 14th is just around the corner and ceramic art hearts are the perfect gift for the loves in your life.
Each one is hand-made and uniquely designed by sculptor Jenni Ward and available as an ornament or on a stick. As each heart is individually designed, we will select a style or a bouquet of styles for you when you order. Special requests or color preferences are always welcome but they may take longer to ship depending on our stock.
A portion of all art hearts sales benefit philanthropic arts projects, click the link to learn more and thank you for your support!
Remember collecting shells on the beach as a kid?
You would collect hundreds but have to whittle down your collection to a few special ones because your parents wouldn’t let you bring the whole beach home with you. So you’d get home with your prized finds and keep them in some kind of box or container that would showcase them but also keep them safe.
They would always be a reminder of the day, the quiet focus, the search and the excitement of finding something special.
The Specimen Series is inspired by the memory of those finds, unique pieces organized and boxed for display. The online shop has 15 pieces from the Specimen Series that are looking for a new home and these bento box style works are small enough to fit in nearly any space.