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.

FULL CIRCLE

I have just had a brief affair with my old love, oil painting. As much as I love color, it detracts from what I am saying with form so I am back to thinking in earth tones again. That doesn't mean that a little bit of color won't show up. I think it enhances the piece if kept in the background. You probably aren't even aware of it unless you look closely... as in this recent piece.

The other reason to leave oil paint behind is a concern for my health. It's like bad love...toxic.

FINDING THE PAINTER

I  started painting pieces that I had resigned to the garden for one reason or the other. At first my attempts were too garish. The color was exciting, but it overwhelmed the piece. Then I did some undercoating and I experimented with a different approach to the paint application. I found what I was looking for. Color that excites but still allows the form of the sculpture to read.  

LOOKING BACK

I was reviewing my slides this past week and had the overwhelming desire to see my figurative work "in the flesh". So I pulled out some of the canvases and set them around my old painting studio upstairs. I thought I had left these works behind me, but I feel the need to try to bring it full circle by painting on my sculptures. I will choose something from my cast-off pile and give it a try.