INSTALLATION VIEW

My photographer (Dana Davis) works hard to get just the right light on my pieces, but sometimes the way it looks in a show is all the more powerful, more real, somehow. Last night four of my works were a part of a show that opened at Quicksilver Mine Co. in Forestville. the evening light was coming in low and I got this shot of WHITE BIRD caught in the natural light of a winter sundown.

READY FOR OUR CLOSE-UP

 I have been working on a series..I'm up to #8 and not finished with it yet. These are the first fruits ready to go to the photographer for their beauty shot. My series revolves around how trees in winter lose their leaves and reveal their true shape. I love the one that is bent over, but I have had no luck in the past getting it to read in a photo...maybe this time.

BACK IN THE BUCKET

I worked for two weeks on this piece and I now know I have to just dump it into the recycle bucket. It's hard to say good bye, but there are fatal flaws I can't ignore. Ironically, the piece is about letting go and I see that by letting go of it I am fulfilling the concept I had hoped to convey with the artwork. This is my second try on the subject. I will try again.

REJECTED

When you see a piece of mine at a show or on my website gallery, you are looking at the end product of much exploration and failed attempts. If the clay hasn't been fired when I discover the "fatal flaw", then the clay just goes into my recycle bucket. If it has been fired then it gets sent to my garden. If I just can't stand to look at it (big failures)... they go to my shard pile. Sometimes my worst failures are the starting point of my next success. If I don't push the boundaries of what I know, nothing new happens. I have learned to embrace failure as a teacher.

DEMO

The Ceramics Annual of America was this past weekend and I want to thank all of you intrepid clay enthusiasts who braved the chaos of Fleet Week to get to the show. ( and my apologies to those who tried to be there and had to give up) Ft Mason officials should be hung from their heels for renting out the building for such a big event with almost no parking and traffic that would stop a speeding train.

I did a demo on Saturday and many times I had to wait while the Blue Angels screamed overhead. The air show was exciting...I would go out on the wharf to watch from time to time.

FOLLOWING THE MUSE

I work in a very organic mode. everything is curves and torn edges. Recently, I had a sketch materialize that was about straight lines. The figure in slices that had hard edges. I brought it to life, but now what? It doesn't fit into my body of work...or does it?

FLYING

It seems like i have spent the whole year trying to fly. My first attempts were mounted on cement blocks and secured by a piece of re-bar. I thought them very successful, but the block was cumbersome. Next, I tried hanging  pieces...those turned out so ugly, they didn't get past the bisque stage before being discarded. Most recently, I have been doing pieces that mount on the wall and have no need for other support. I thought myself clever until  discovered that they were bound to the wall and more static than most of my other work. Ah,me...what to do. Stay tuned.