dried out

Circumstances have kept me from my work and now that I have the freedom to return to my studio, I find that everything is dried out and cold. The muse is sulking and I will have to woo her back into my presence. 

DOWN TIME

Down time... those interludes when you either by design or by accident spend time doing not much of anything. This past December was such a time for me. I couldn't work in clay so I just sketched...I gave my imagination free rein and didn't think too much about how I would produce the pieces I was drawing. They were leaping and dancing and to actually make them, I had to reinvent how I support my work. My time away from clay helped me see how much I wanted to find a way to make it happen.

OUT OF CONTROL

It has been a very interesting winter in my studio. I keep trying things and most of them have been disappointing at best, but it's the only way to find out what's possible is to try it. Right now I have a behemoth of a piece on my work table. I know what I want, but not sure how to get there. I learn every time I try something new, ...even if the whole thing falls down. part of my process is to be a little out of control. This allows the subconscious to dominate because the thinking brain is giving up and solutions occur.

IF IT DON'T FIT, DON'T FORCE IT

Those words of an old blues song came back to me as I tried to fit this big piece in an already 1/2 full kiln. Luckily it's paperclay so I can repair it. I was anxious to fire the kiln because I'm trying a porcelain slip over the rather uninteresting surface of the paperclay. I should do tests, but I want to see this in full size. 

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

All my "children" have come home for the holidays and the accommodations are pretty crowded. I guess I need to build more shelves...or sell more artwork. the other device I use is to triage my work and decide who is no longer show-worthy. These pieces go out to my garden where I can still learn from them and perhaps recall them into service at some later date. 

SMALL WORKS

My big pieces use a lot of table space and they can't be moved while I work on them. I get antsy to work on something while I wait for them to dry between stages.

Earlier this year I saw a demo by Lori Alcott Fowler and saw how she did some great small scale pieces using metal in the legs. I am exploring the process and trying to make it my own. I allows me to work quickly and move things around while waiting for my large pieces to develop. I am always open to what happens along the way.

FULL HOUSE

I have been working a lot lately. My work tables are full and the kiln is almost full as well. It's kinda like storing things in the dishwasher to get them off the counter.I store finished work in my kiln and when it's full, I fire it. I have been pushing my forms (perhaps allowing them) to be more abstracted. I take more license with anatomy and see where it leads.