TourD’Artist LBC 2009

Saturdays tourdartist was a great experience, it turned out to be a great evening.  The show was a success in that I was able to network, and get some feed back on my work! Im looking into more shows, but for now look for me at the next second saturday artist walk in Long Beach, CA on July 11th! Again thanks for all of your support and remember- help support your local artist!

Push, push, push!

The big push is here. Finally made it through Mid-terms, and now the end is in site! This is my last semester at KCAI, and all I have to say is endless nights of studio here I come! I have about 8 weeks or so go to go before I Graduate- after three long years here in the stinking cold… Im ready for that California sunshine and play! Ill be uploading some pictures of things that are going on in my studio from time to time, so check back often. As the summer nears I will taking requests for commissions if anyone is interested let me know. And as always all my work is for sale and I have lots of it to move with so dont be afraid to ask about it!

New Work

I have just updated my site with my latest work.  Please check it out, and let me know what you all think.  Feed back is very important, and I’m always interested to hear what others have to say! There are tabs just to the right of the page, feel free to contact me anytime with questions or comments, Im more than happy to answer or provide details about my work.

We Get a Show! Hard work does pay off after all!

Sadly the our spring semester comes to an end.  Good news though: this was a very productive year, and that all that hard from these last semesters is finally paying off.  I’m am very excited to announce that I will have group show with two of my fellow classmates (Tara Polansky and Korla Luckeroth)!  Over the spring we brainstormed an idea, wrote a proposal, and worked our tails off.  We were chosen ones- out of twevle applicants we were granted a show at the Cross Roads Gallery in Kansas City. This summer we all plan to be working in our studios preparing for the September opening, it will be a great one! For those of you who are interested we have started a mailing list, all you have to do is leave your info in the comment box on anyone(Me, Tara, or Korla) of our sites, don’t worry that info is kept private. 

About: Coffee and Tea Sets

As a junior here at KCAI, we are encouraged to try new things, things that are out of our comfort zone, things that we would have never tried before. This semester has been full of great challenges, some of which really pushed me to question my work, my weaknesses, my skill, and most of all my will. One of the things that I have learned here is that in order to grow you have to be willing to listen, learn and work hard. Throughout the year we are given various research assignments and projects and this one has been one of my favorites!

This particular project involved me going over to the Nelson Atkins Museum, and choosing a piece or a form that inspired me and replicate it. These pieces were inspired by late 1800’s silver and pewter coffee and tea sets. While the working characteristics of metal and ceramics are very different from one another, I was told that working in clay to produce work made in metal was not ideal. But I was eager to test the limits of porcelain, and excited just thinking about what the application of silver and gold luster could do! How could I not try it? So, I have used these silver and pewter coffee and tea sets as inspiration to produce my own sets in clay.

Before I started working on them, I had to do a bit more research. I went to our library and checked out tons of books, searched online, and I even talked to a few ceramic history buffs! I learned that during the industrial revolution “Lusterd Ceramic Wares” were produced as an alternative to the high priced silver and pewter sets that were unaffordable to many. I was so inspired by this information that I had to do this project.

The pieces shown on the “works in progress page” are of bisque ware (after the first firings before the glaze is applied usually are white or pink in color). Some pieces will be lusterd silver or gold, others china painted, a few just glazed with minimal color. All my work is handmade on the potter’s wheel, altered and manipulated, slip trailed and carved and then fired. I have now made over twenty pouring vessels in this series, about ten sugar jars, a dozen cups and a few trays. For me physically working through an idea is very important, things change along the way, accidents happen, and not always do things work out as you had planed. Clay as a medium really allows me the freedom of exploration. I’m still working on these “sets” and the relationships from one form to another; ceramics for me is always an endless process– one that I enjoy very much!