Yay! Going home from the hospital!
We are so in love and doing great! I'm taking the next few months off, so I'll see you around.
Granted, they are referring to furnishing a living room, but I instantly saw how this could apply to my life.
250 tile plaques in various stages.
making progress...
From Charlie Cummings Gallery - "Best Foot Forward is a fund-raiser for University of Florida Ceramics major Drew Johnson, a junior student who lost a foot in a motorcycle accident. He was hit by a driver who had no ability to pay, leaving Drew with large hospital bills. Drew has a wonderful can-do attitude, is a very promising student, and is now back at school. Potters, sculptors and clay related businesses have generously donated 191 items to help raise money for Drew. Please show your support both for Drew and for the generous artists whose donations make this auction possible by bidding on items in this auction.
The auction begins Tuesday, September 21st, and ends in the evening on Monday, September 27th. Until then, please check out all the wonderful artworks, tools, subscriptions, and memberships in the preview."
Online Preview - Now through September 20Auction - September 21-27, 2010.
Hosted by Charlie Cummings Gallery - www.claylink.com
Participating Artists:
Heather Alexander, Dan Anderson, Linda Arbuckle, Posey Bacopoulos, Tiffany Bailey, Marian Baker, John Balistreri, Tom Bartel, Deborah Bedwell, Curt Benzle, Sandy Blain, Catherine Boswell, Joe Bova, George Bowes , Bob Brady, Lucy Breslin, John Britt, Sally Brogden, Bill Buckner, Richard Burkett, Jon Burns, Larry Bush, Doug Casebeer, Donna Causland, Ceramics Monthly, Eva Champagne, Andrew Cho, Linda Christianson, Autumn Cipala, Naomi Cleary, Meridith Coen, Nan Coffin, Elaine Coleman, Tom Coleman, Jim Connell, Pat Coughlin, Charlie Cummings, Malcolm Davis, Chandra DeBuse, Josh DeWeese, Eddie Dominguez, Lynn Duryea, TJ Erdahl, Mark Errol, Jana Evans, Lauren Faust, Kathryn Finnerty, Yoshi Fuji, Erin Furimsky, John Glick, Raymond Gonzalez, Heidi Grew, Chris Gustin, Holly Hanessian, Molly Hatch, James Herring, Pam Herring, Jennifer Hill, Anna Calluori Holcombe, Niel Hora, Ayumi Horie, Steve Howell, Matt Hyleck, Sarah Jaeger, Jeremy Jernigan, Drew Johnson, Mark Johnson, Garth Johnson, Brian Jones, Kristen Kieffer, Michael Kline, Phyllis Kloda, Alix Knipe, Lebeth Lammers, Sandy Lance, Martina Lantin, Fritz Lauenstein & June Raymond, Mary Law, Jim Lawton, Simon Levin, Jenny Lind, Suze Lindsay, Matt Long, Jiri Lonsky, Tyler Lotz, Scott Lykens, Andrew Martin, Missy McCormick, Nancy McCroskey, Kent McLaughlin, Joe Molinaro, Mudtools, Kate Murray, Richard Nickel, Kevin Nierman, Richard Notkin, Kelly O’Briant, Mary Obodzinski, Dandee Pattee, Anne Perrigo, Chris Pickett, Don Pilcher, Elise Pincu, Pete Pinnell, Rainbow Gate Pottery, Jeremy Randall, Beau Raymond, Scott Rench, Lee Rexrode, Lindsay Rogers, Chloe Rothwell, Nigel Rudolph, Cheyenne Chapman Rudolph, Cassie Ryalls, Shoji Satake, Kristin Schimik, Mike Schmidt, JoAnn Schnabel, Bonnie Seeman, Nancy Selvin, Leland Shaw, Jane Shellenbarger, Marge Shore, Sandy Simon, Gay Smith, Nan Smith, Collette Smith, Keith Smith, Kevin Snipes, Jane Spangler, Chris Staley, Stephanie Stuefer, Sarah Tancred, Shoko Teruyama, Julie Tesser, Diana Thomas, John Tilton, Sara Truman, Tom Turner, Rimas Visgirda, Mikey Walsh, Wynne Wilbur, Lana Wilson, Varian Wolf, Stephen Wolochowicz, Jenchi Wu, Rosie Wynkoop, Gwendolyn Yoppolo
Mixing plaster has always been one of those things that makes me a little nervous and hesitant. Earlier this summer I poured plaster for my own new wedging table/kiln shelf storage cart. (Well, technically, my wonderful husband built the table/cart, and my good friend and artist Nigel Rudolph poured the plaster. See, told you plaster made me nervous.)
Hope that helps. And if you're like me, the more times you do it, the easier (and less scary) it becomes. I'm actually looking forward to making a whole bunch of drape and slump molds later this month.
And I've got another set of tiles in the kiln now. Cant wait to unload it tomorrow!
(Note: This piece is also a scaled down version of the first sculpture I made during my residency here in Missoula. Thought a smaller, maquette-like piece would help me resolve some of my technical problems. We'll see...)
They are handbuilt from 1/4" earthenware slabs using a paper pattern that I made from a standard pint glass. Fortunately, I was able to adapt my usual handbuilding techniques fairly easily for this step.
There were casualties early on, however. I lost 2 after applying a few layers of terra sigillata and saturating the bone-dry clay. This one split right down the middle - mostly along the carved lines.
I'm was already down to 4 when I had to face my real challenge. With to do with the surface??
See, none of my standard, favorite, low fire glazes are food safe. So, after exchanging a few emails with glaze guru John Britt, and running a few tests (on the broken cups I might add), I was able to come up with a solution. They're in the kiln now (glaze to cone 04) and I hope, hope, hope that I get 2 decent ones out to donate. And I only made 4 plates. So fingers crossed there too! I'll know tomorrow afternoon...
In the meantime, here's a little eye candy from the market Saturday morning. The lilies this woman had were absolutely amazing. I'd never seen so many varieties and colors!
Cheers!
Meagan
As soon as the work was cool, I eagerly rushed off to Lowe's to get the necessary hardware for assembly. Back in the studio, I quickly started to thread the bolts, washers and nuts into place. It didn't take long for me to realize that I was up against some serious technical difficulties! Ugh!
I had anticipated being able to tighten the hardware enough so that the pieces would stay snugly in place. This, unfortunately was not the case in 2 out of 3 new works. Even with rubber washer to help absorb the force, the ceramic pieces wanted to spin about in all directions. Great if I was making a windmill, but not so much for a stationary hybrid-flower-type form. 
Long-term Resident Studios
Some of Courtney's work from the Resident Artist Exhibition.
From The Bray's Website:
"The Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts is a public, nonprofit, educational institution founded in 1951 by brickmaker Archie Bray, who intended it to be 'a place to make available for all who are seriously and sincerely interested in any of the branches of the ceramic arts, a fine place to work.' Its primary mission is to provide an environment that stimulates creative work in ceramics. " 
(Note: Imagine that white plaster mold isn't there for support and the pieces are bolted together.) 
I was also amazed how much I was able to accomplish in one day! Granted, it was a long studio day - 7:45am til 7:00pm, but I was feeling great and really into a groove. It normally would have taken me 3 weeks at home to make this much progress! Cant wait to see what I'm able to do today! 
Cheers!
The first thing that took some adjusting to was my clay body. I have been using the same clay body for at least 5 years now. (Lymen Red from Highwater Clays.) But out here in Montana it makes more sense to get it from The Archie Bray (only 1.5 hrs from Missoula) than to have 100lbs of my usual stuff shipped from the East Coast. So I made the switch and the two are definitely different! I don't know yet if I prefer one over the other, but I'll have to report back after my month-long residency. ABF Earthenware is darker brown when moist and seems smoother. It has virtually no grog compared to the Lymen Red I'm used to working with at home. I'm curious to see the fired color and compare shrinkage, absorption and warping.
So, I thought it would be helpful for me if I outlined my goals for the next month. This will help keep me focused, even if part of the “focus” is to just to relax and have fun. You know, try to ignore that type-A voice in my head telling me I must create the best, most amazing work while I am here.
And I'm on my way to The Clay Studio of Missoula for a one-month residency!
(Cut, burn and polyurethane wood backings... check!)
(Organize to-do list.... check!)
I’ve got around 60 glazed tiles cooling in the kiln right now. The metal and wood backings are finished and the tiles should be cool enough to unload this afternoon. I’m right on schedule! Whew! It’s amazing what can be accomplished with the pressure from a deadline.
(Cut and polyurethane metal. Attach to wood backings... check!)
Ok, I’m off to yoga (ahhh!) and to run some errands while the kiln is hot.
Cheers!
Meagan
I recently found out that I was chosen for a short-term residency position at The Clay Studio of Missoula in Montana.
So, I'm taking my baby bump out west to Big Sky Country for a bit of an adventure. I'm looking forward to having a month to just explore and create. I have so many ideas and techniques that I want to investigate! The plan is to continue developing the current direction of my work; new sculptural forms I started during my post-bacc at UF.