Despicable but fair.

A few years ago Saybra and I went to a Warren Mackenzie workshop at Red Lodge Clay Center in Montana, I was thinking about doing a residency somewhere and was checking out my options so we went during the Mac workshop. The sales at his opening were conducted by lottery, which is fair. There was one piece above all that I wanted which was snagged by the person right before me, oh sweet misery. I've since lusted after this bowl, it's shown here in the archives at the red lodge website. I know this because I regularly go back and look at it. I don't know what it is, I can't quatify it but I love this bowl.

So what's the point of this? It's for sale on ebay, I knew it the moment I saw it. The lighting is off but I spent several minutes today lining up the blemishes and iron spots, it's the exact pot. Great, right? How many times do you get the opportunity to own a pot that you've spent years lusting over? Well, it's $150. I think at the opening it was around $60, at his showroom it would've sold for $15 tops. I think if I didn't know Warren and hadn't ever bought pots directly from him I wouldn't think this so bad of a price. So the question is: is it worth it? Is that small bowl worth $150? Something to think about.

Also christmas is coming up for anyone out there that may want to buy me something, just sayin ;)

Cheers!

Work, work, work.

I'm nearing the end of this work cycle, I've been working pretty hard and have produced in 3 weeks what typically takes close to 2 months. I'm going to have to start the next cycle before I fire this work which is going to be very difficult. My body seems to cycle with the work cycles, it's now prepared to ready the kiln and chop firewood but that won't be happening yet and I can foresee some protest on my bodies behalf. The human body is an amazing thing.

I'll be ordering some new kiln shelves(knock on wood) later this week so I'm hoping to get a firing out at the end of this month. I will spend the majority of the Thanksgiving break readying the kiln. So for now more shots of greenware will have to suffice.

I make a lot of mugs as most potters do. I weigh out all my clay but don't use any kind of measuring gauge except on pots that stack(plates, soup bowls, etc.) Something interesting that happens a lot is that the a lot of the time the pots all end up the same anyways. It makes sense, if you start with the same weight and are doing a certain shape the clay will only go so far, theoretically the same every time. Since I'm not strict about reproducing shapes there are many small variations.


Jugs or pitchers.

Lidded jars with a couple of leaf patterns. These patterns seem to border on kitsch, they have a naive quality to them. I think the fired quality of the pattern will be much stronger and more in keeping with what I am after, I hope anyways.

Tall jug. I did several pots with this pattern that isn't really anything. I suppose it could be some sort of flora, but what? It's probably a subconscious interpretation of weeds from my backyard.

I can only make 12 plates at a time because that's all the bats I have of that size. Someday I'll make some more.

Plate foot detail. I usually leave a little bump of clay(some call it a nipple) in the middle of my footrings. Many historical pots, particularly from the asian culture have these. I've heard a variety of reasons for it so I'm not entirely sure of it's exact origin but it's one of those things that I incorporate as a sort of tip of the hat to those past cultures that have influenced my work. I can't leave them on the bottoms of plates because if it sags in the firing the nipple can actually extend beyond the footring if the feet are wadded.

Here is an example of the nipple. Kline likes the anti-nipple, or maybe we should just call it an innie.

My ceramics 2 students are working on 18" pieces so I made a couple of demos. This was a sectional piece.

Here is the coil & throw demo piece for that class.

This is the work of one of my advanced students, I think he's on to something here. I have a couple of students who make work like mine which is okay for now but they'll have to grow out of it. I really enjoy it when students strike out on their own right away, this guy is a good example of that. His work is typical of 3rd semester quality but the concepts are strong and it will be interesting to see where it goes.

Cheers!

Flashbacks.

Kline shared this on facebook, I thought I'd share it here as well. It's sad and makes me angry, but so true.



Cheers!

Happy Halloween!

This is a ghost or "Banshee" caught on film in a never-aired Scottish car commercial. After the car comes down the hill and then comes out from behind the second set of trees, if you look and listen closely you can see and hear the Banshee. It will appear on the hood of the car and it is sort of hard to see, but if you watch the video "full-screen" and sit up-close to the computer screen you should be able to see it. You might want to turn up the sound some too, so that you may be able to hear it wailing. It was never aired for obvious reasons (it was too disturbing!)

Cheers!

Public Humiliation

You gotta know when to hold em, know when to fold em.


Cheers!

Work em' hard.

One of the requirements for my 3rd semester and beyond advanced students is that they have to mount a show of their work towards the end of the semester. I help them and give suggestions if they need it but they're basically on their own to secure a location, promote it and set the show. All of these students except one are 3d studio majors so my logic is this: when you're an artist out there who's just starting out and trying to make it no one comes to you. You have to promote yourself, find venues to show and sell your work, so I'm trying to give them a little taste of that. I helped them shoot photos and they found a design student to design their poster and secured a deal with a local print shop to print them. So far so good, well the title of the show could be better but I'll let that slide. The work they're doing is good so I think the show will be good too.


Cheers!

Let the pots speak.

Cheers.