Two Directions

Stick a fork in them, these Penguin Pods are done.  These were glazed (underglazes) at the same time I did the small painting (here). They may get a buffing to give them a slight sheen but that's it.

And to prove that I am working hard, take a look at my Works-In-Progress shelf.  The headless Dudes are still there as a reminder for me to pay attention.  Martha found them interesting so I eventually will do these as a Art Give-away.  That will really make someone wonder "What the .....?"

Surprise Visitor

This semester I'm taking a Sculpture class in addition to ceramics.  There is a cemetery up the road where I ride my bike and sometimes I'm able to get big chunks of wood when they do landscaping and clear out old dead (of course, it's a cemetery) trees.

I was strongly influenced by El Anatsui and his show here in Austin.

Do a Google Images on his name and you'll be impressed incredible size and beauty of the work he does. The part that caught my eye was his wood carvings:

At the beginning of the semester I was given a scrap of wood to practice on and I made this little box. Susan collected some of our stuff to put in it but told me she thought the holes in the wood were what she called "worm holes" and were actually made by worms. Oh sure. Like worms can get in hard wood. She warned me not to used any junk recycled wood right away, to let any critters move out of it before using it.  Oh sure...

When I brought my three wood guys home I set them up on a shelf and the next morning told Susan to look at them and see what she thought.  She walked right up to them and immediately said "What is that sticking out of the head?" I picked it up and looked at it.  ????? IT MOVED!!!

I'm not sure if Susan was madder at me for ignoring her about critters in the wood or for not taking a picture of the worm sticking out before I pulled it out and threw it outside. At least you can see where it was.

Catching Up

I'm not the only artist here. This is from Susan's sketchbook.  She is the one who taught me how to make maps.

We made our annual winter trek to New York City's museums last month. The week before the big storm. The week that was very, very cold.  We like to go in January because the cold weather keeps the amateurs away.

What else in our lives? I finished reading Gone Girl and gave it a 5-star rating. I'm now halfway into The Dinner and it will be getting a 5-star rating also.  I wish it was possible to give more than 5 stars to the movie Beasts of the Southern Wild. That's a must-see.

Off With Their Heads

When you don't let your Dudes fully dry before going into the kiln for their first firing their heads will blow up. And their fingers will break off. Someone I live with has rudely told me this is a mistake people make in their first year, not their 6th year.

These guys might survive better. That really isn't blue clay, it's just a different clay. I think. They are going to get really, really dry before being fired.

Giving it away again, at a park near us.

 

 

 

 

Valentine's Day

We gave this to ourselves for Valentine's Day.

Susan's grandfather came to the United States from Poland when he was 16 years old because he was told the streets in America were paved in gold.  His first name was Valentine.

The sign is available here.

Keep It and Giving It Away

Yes, I AM working. It's been a struggle because I've been going off in about 10 different directions. Or, as Susan refers to it, farting in a colander.

Remember this give-away?

All that's left of him is the base he was on, it got tossed on the grass (performance art?).

Here's the latest give-away:

 

 

 

Giving It Away Again

Just a little "Potato Head" man.

It's been a week and maybe no one has noticed him or maybe they have. I thought he'd have disappeared by now.

This pole is right across the street from my apartment, there is a crosswalk just past it and a bus stop to the right of the pole as seen here.

Some cities have an "Art in Public Places" endeavor. I'd like to think I'm contributing... in a sort of Guerrilla Art way.

Now I'm Painting

They are small, 5x7" canvas panels.

I like painting. These aren't quite finished yet.

Art ain't about paint,

it ain't about canvas.

It's about ideas.

Too many people died without ever getting

their mind out to the world.

 

--Thornton Dial, 1993

Giving It Away

Can you see it here? No, it's not in here because this is the Before picture. But I can promise you it is within walking distance of where I live now.  Check the last (After) picture below.

When we did our major downsizing and moved I sold a lot of my ceramic art. I also got brave enough to throw some away (they were really bad pieces).  But a lot got packed up and came with me and they were supplemented with everything I made during the summer and this past fall. 

Not a problem, Susan said, just make shelves to put the pieces on. I knew I was in trouble when she kept laughing when she said that.  There isn't any more wall space to put shelves on in our apartment! We have shelves everywhere with stuff on them, shelves over the doors (I now know how to drill into steel studs), shelves on the walls, shelves over the toilet....

A lot of the stuff is not really that fancy or maybe I've moved on to doing it differently or maybe it didn't work out the way I wanted. No, it can't go on my Etsy shop, it's too hard to ship it successfully and if it's a Dude that didn't suffer a catastrophe in the kiln it's at the gallery.

We have devised a new plan: Giving it away. Secretly. Anonymously.
The trick is that you have to find it.

Hint: It's one of my Penguin Pods, about 6" high.

 

Here's to a New Year of Art

Graffiti that is gang tagging isn't art, it's just a signature. Graffiti that makes you smile or blink or look again isn't graffiti, it's Street Art. Sometimes Street Art is legitimate (as in permission granted) or sometimes it is not. Whatever. These images flashing by will make you think twice about art being just something you see in a museum.

Many years from now will these images be what people look at and say "This style of art was practiced in the early part of the century"?

Great website, great work: http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theblog/

Have a safe and Happy New Year.

Season's Greetings

This year is the 12th holiday season that U.S. service members are serving in Afghanistan.

Wishing Peace and Goodwill to everyone, everywhere.

Going Down a Sad, Sad Road

In recent years, U.S. gun manufacturers have enjoyed fast-growing sales amid an easing of various state and federal restrictions.  Making guns can be very profitable, with some leading manufacturers recording operating profit margins of 20% recently...

Sales at gun manufacturer Sturm, Ruger in the third quarter were up 46% from a year earlier, to $118.1 million...

Smith & Wesson...said sales in the second quarter jumped 48% from a year earlier, to a record $136.6 million.

Wall Street Journal, Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Photo: John Moore/Getty Images

Tweet, Tweet

OK, I'm off on another tangent here.  I can't be satisfied doing ceramics so I move to wood. But then I move back to ceramics. And back to wood. And then ceramics again, until Susan tells me if I don't focus on something, I'll risk be mediocre in a lot of things. Sort of the quality versus quantity problem -- which I'll decide to decide on another day.

For some strange reason I'm into making birds again. The last time I did some was about 3 years ago. I thought the two above came out OK, the one below could have done with a little fine-tuning.  They are raku fired.

 

Bananas

This is the chunk of wood I started with.

This is the middle phase of working on it.

More pictures to come ... as soon as I take them.  The piece is finished except for the final last tweak that will make it more than just a piece of wood.  That tweak has not yet been figured out.

Bananas? Susan taught me this trick that she learned from her grandfather.  When you have a banana and it is just the right ripeness but you aren't ready to eat it, put it in the refrigerator. It will turn really brown after a few days. But, surprise, surprise! When you peel it it will still be almost perfect (shown below, just a little bit of brown starting in the middle, from a banana that spent amost 5 days in the refrigerator).

We often tell people this trick and they usually don't believe us. People! Here is the proof:

The Guys

Oliver 1 and Oliver 2.

Susan made me the quilt they are on.

A Time for Thanksgiving

Did you stuff a turkey for your Thanksgiving dinner? Or do you just feel stuffed now that you ate your turkey dinner?

Please remember the people who make sure you have the freedom to have that turkey dinner. They'd probably prefer to be sitting down to dinner with you instead of being in a mess hall.  You'd probably prefer that for them too.

Boxed In

The wood for this box (above) came from the trash pile.  Remember my favorite motto:

Trash is the failure of imagination

Not too exciting here but I am learning now to make things square and even. Sort of. The openings in these boxes are about 6-8" so I need to be sure I make some ceramic pieces that fit in appropriately.

Speaking of appropriate, while riding my bike early one morning in the neighborhood I spotted this garage door.  Way cool.

A New Direction for Me

Not new direction here, just some more Pod People talking to each other. They are finished and are waiting to be bisque fired and then glazed and fired again.

Not new direction here either. Tall pots that will be raku fired.

New direction! Wood sculpture! It's a long story for another time but the point is I found this piece of wood at a cemetery and I'm taking a sculpture class ....