I love hand building. It has to be the most basic and most ancient way to work with clay. It’s satisfying and instinctual and it can be done by anyone, anywhere. Pick up a lump of sticky mud and form it into a bowl or figure and it transforms into a way to hold water or remember your ancestors. While it is ancient, but it’s not simple or necessarily easy. There are plenty of techniques used in hand building that have to be mastered in order to achieve the effect you want. One of the things[…]
Category: Blog
Strip It Down
To get from a lump of clay to a finished work is a long and multi-stepped journey. Each material used and every step in the process can be tweaked. This can lead me to endless experimentation–and possible confusion. It’s been shown that more choices don’t make us happier and more satisfied with our decisions. Putting limits on what we explore in our art at any one time makes sense. So, what are your parameters? Do you strip it down, limiting your options and looking deeper into your choices? Or do you tackle all the areas that[…]
Place, Land and Earth
I think I might have fallen out of love with my town of Fairfax. It’s been feeling busy, noisy, and I live a little too close to my neighbors. Having walked to and from work for the past 14 years, I have a level of intimate familiarity with my neighborhood and the changes that occur through the year. Even though I’m attuned to my area, I have this longing for a piece of land that I know so well that it’s become a part of me. A place where I know the smells of the different[…]
Change? Change!
As this year is wrapping up, I’m already feeling changes on the horizon for the new year. Good, positive changes that you will see here as they happen. One area I’ve been concentrating on is my African Vessels Series. I’ve recently finished a new group of the digging stick/awl forms where I’ve expanded my focus from the direct depiction of these shapes to concentrate more on the surfaces. I’ve begun to incorporate other African sources into the decoration of them. You’ll see references to regional plant and animal life, scarification, and indigenous art along with patinas[…]
Giant Steps!
I love the week between the winter holidays and the New Year. It slides between the cracks of obligations and new beginnings. It’s open, like a door- just wide enough to look through and peek at what’s coming. This week wasn’t quite long enough for me. It’s now suddenly the new year and I feel like I should hit the ground running. But wait, I’m still contemplating my path and planning my way into this new year. Right now, I feel more capable and serious about working on my new goals than ever before and hopefully[…]
Glaze Testing Class and What Happened?
Opening the glaze kiln is by far the most exciting part in the ceramic process, it’s the big reveal of what you’ve been working on. During this class session on glazes I’ve been firing every week, and it’s made for a lot of anticipation and ‘So, what happened?’ We’ll be wrapping up in a couple weeks and although it’s been challenging at times, I think everyone’s been getting some interesting results and gaining more control over their work. I’ve been testing a lot of new things too and discovering some really interesting surfaces. One[…]
New Beginnings
The Turkey Vultures and Crows in my neighborhood continue every day much like any other. But not us, we are the animals that mark out occasions, set aside times as significant and special. And this day, this time period, this ending of one year and beginning of another, is significant for us. It’s a distinct moment in the long thread of time and a chance to step back and objectively evaluate what’s been happening since we last looked at things. It’s also an opportunity to be a beginner–to embark on new things. We’re all beginners at[…]
Getting Ready Again
I can’t believe it’s been a year already, and it’s time for the Fairfax Holiday Craft Faire again! Last year was the first time I’d participated in the Craft Faire and it was really fun to have so many people I know come by my booth to say ‘hi’ and see my work. It was even more fun to talk with people I’d never met before and have them walk away with a piece that would connect us every time they used it. As a maker, I love the idea that the pieces I’ve put[…]