REACHING

I have been doing some risky pieces lately. I only try to do them because the same image keeps showing up on my sketchbook. OK, OK...I'l do it. Somehow the impossible becomes possible. I find a way to balance the piece and give it strength. The one on my table right now scares me. Every addition of clay to the structure seems fated to disaster, but somehow it works. I have to trust that the image came to me for a reason and that the energy will somehow fulfill itself through me.

ART vs CRAFT

As I look for shows to enter, I steer clear of the ones labeled "craft". Is it a fair assumption that my work will not be understood by jurors with a craft background? Is form only understood when there is a function?

Earlier this year I had two pieces in the Mesa Contemporary Craft Show and one of them won a jurors award. On the strength of that success, I entered the RAC Innovations in Contemporary Craft and was rejected.  I know there is no formulae for what any given judge on any given day will choose, but I do ponder the Art vs Craft conundrum.

BAD BLOGGER

I have had the nagging feeling that it's been a long time since I posted on my blogsite. When I checked in I saw the evidence of how long it's been. The entry about building in sections showed the headless piece I was working on at the time. that pice is finished, fired, photographed and entered in a show.What I learned about this piece is that in adding the heads, I changed the nature of it. the single slab that holds the mask-like faces created a bond between the figures. The clay continues to inform me and impose it's will.

27 INCHES

27 inches is the height (and width) of my kiln. To build larger than that, I must find artful ways to add a layer that can be fired separately from it's base. It's a skill I Haven't yet fully mastered, so I have been making pieces that fit in the kiln...a weak premise for creating art.

My new device (a bead dangling from a light fixture) tells me when I am approaching the 27 inch mark. I can, then, decide how to section the piece. It looks like this one will have removable heads.

SUNLESS TANNING

Once in a while a piece will come out of the oxide firing with a mottled surface. I find this distracting so I will use whatever is at hand to smooth out that appearance. I have let go of the idea that only fired effects are valid. For me, the final appearance is more important than how I got there.

BIG NIGHT

The paperclay symposium hosted a reception for the artists who presented and demonstrated their work during the weekend. The weather was unseasonable to say the least...it's Laguna Beach for god's sake and it's raining so hard that they are starting to worry about road closures.

It was so very interesting to see and hear how other artist are using this remarkable medium. They are my new extended family.

RAINY DAY

Like laundry, warm from the dryer....unloading my kiln on a cold rainy day Is very satisfying. What happened in all that heat. Is everybody OK? Some get prettier and some fail to reach potential. Some surprise me. The series of three figures I used to work out a construction puzzle now look like a group that could easily go out into society. I learn to never judge until a piece is finished.