Monday, December 9, 2013

2nd Annual South Town Art Walk

The 2013 Art Walk was a ton of fun!! This year we artists got organized and decided to arrange a pre-tour so we could all see each other's studios. It was quite a success and everyone's spaces looked fantastic! Quite a few people made it out on the walk in the snow. We visited with lots of south town residents, friends and family and there were some visitors that braved the snow covered roads from North Corvallis and even Albany! Thanks everyone for coming out and hope you enjoyed the walk!
Art Walkers having a good time!
 

Sophia Ferrand, a young artist selling her hand made jewelry

(Left to right) Fellow artist Diana Jenner (who was sharing my space with her inspirational and Doctor Who ceramic art), Tal Carmi (one of the masterminds behind the south town art walk, and Owen Ryan 

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Art Walk Preparations 2013

Studio looking very festive
Gearing up for the 2nd annual South Corvallis Art Walk tomorrow and this year it is going to be a snow walk!! My studio is ready to go- I took a few before photos because last year I barely took any. I also tested out some of the candle holders and the porcelain ones are translucent! Hope to see some friendly faces tomorrow!

Buttons


and more Buttons!

Herb pressed earrings and lotus platter


Lotus candle holder


Translucent porcelain candle holders


Ocean Painting Commission

Finally have finished the large ocean painting I've been working on for about a month! Here are some progress photos. It will be hung over a window like a curtain, without ever having to be opened which is why I decided to paint it on an un-stretched canvas. Shipped it to Florida the other day. It was definitely a bit out of my comfort zone due to size (76in x 104in) but I am pretty happy with the way it turned out!



  

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Corvallis Fall Festival 2013

Well, I just unloaded my skully mugs from the kiln- complete with gold toothies! So excited!  Come visit me at the Willamette Ceramics Guild Booth  at the Corvallis Fall Festival on Saturday, September 28th from 10am-6pm and Sunday September 29th from 10am-5pm! Here is a preview of some of my favorite mugs and shot glasses that will be there (except the peacock one I'm holding in above photo- that one's mine)!! See you this weekend!

Peacock mugs (before gold tooth firing)

Skully mugs!


Skully Shots!

My favorite little mustachio!


Monday, September 9, 2013

PRODUCTION!!




At the end of the month I am vending at the Ceramics Guild booth at the Corvallis Fall festival and I also plan on opening up my studio again for the South Town Art Walk this December.  My primary goal is to create enough work for these upcoming shows that I've committed to and am very excited about (and with the Fall festival being 3 weeks out I am already feeling a little pressure to produce more more more even though I currently have *just enough pieces to fill my shelves and have some extra)! My secondary goal is to stick with the flow of production and continue to create through the deadlines and keep a steady supply of work flowing.

It can be a delicate balance to flow between my functional mugs and my sculptural work but I am finding that setting time aside every day to work in my studio is key to keep things moving. One of my goals for the year was to participate in the Corvallis Fall Festival- however, I had abandoned this idea after missing the February deadline and feeling like I could not produce enough work to fill a booth let alone put together an entire booth (did I mention I have a 16 month old?!!)! BUT I happened to join the Willamette Ceramics Guild and get a spot in the shared booth space this year, which is perfect for me! I will have a 3' x 6' space to fill and the shelving/ canopy are all provided. Fantastic! 


My new and improved logo- handmade stamp and painted D signature on every mug!

Summer 2013 Garden Art!


Baby fast hands in the pic!
Lotus style rain chain- cone 10 reduction firing, copper wire

Add caption
This summer I have been making art intended for the garden/ the great outdoors. I taught a garden art class at the OSU Craft Center (aka my Thursday night therapy class). Here are some of the garden projects I've been working on as demos/ just for fun!
Wind chimes #1- porcelain, unglazed, fired to cone 10


Wind chimes 2 and detail of pattern on chimes and hand carved stamp 



Monday, May 6, 2013

Corrine Woodman Gallery Show

View of work displayed in Corrine Woodman Gallery
This month I am co-exhibiting with Gale Everett at the Corrine Woodman Gallery (In the Corvallis Arts Center). I am showing a series of Whimsical Sculptures that I've been slowly putting together from idea to reality the past few years. They have all started out as whimsical sketches and have been brought to life in clay! Here are some photos of my work from the show. You can also see some of my work in progress in older posts as well as some early sketches. All artworks shown are available for purchase. Come and visit the gallery and check it out! There is also an amazing show in the main gallery called "Making a Mark, Drawing in Oregon". Really great stuff!

Additional work displayed in hallway
Original sketches in art journal

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Work in progress Spring 2013

 Here's what I have been working on this Spring in preparation for my upcoming show at the Corrine Woodman Gallery...

Whimsical Sculpture #1
I know, I know, the mouth looks like the sand monster from star wars! I am digging the sexy curve of the vase though and the little sea urchin belly button... Still deciding how to glaze, and what colors. 

First Annual Southtown Holiday Art Walk! December 2012




(Ok, so I'm a little behind on posting this as it took place in December and it is now April... I started composing the post ages ago and it has been in a time warp in my drafts until I stumbled on it now!! So here it is- can't wait for next year's art walk!! )

The first annual South Town Art Walk was such a success!! It was fantastic to meet different artists in the neighborhood and see some of their studios, what a wonderful area we live in!! I shared my studio space with fellow potter Keith Moses and Local Card maker Cheryl Meadows (Pick Pocket Cards). We also had Nick Lorenz from Nectar Creek Honeywine giving out samples of their amazing Mead! I am so bad and didn't get any photos of my studio packed with people!! I only have a few of the studio just before the walk when everything is set up and some pics of the work that was for sale. Next year I will be sure to get some good photographs of the packed space- people were literally bumping shoulders! 

Saturday, March 30, 2013

E Course with Diana Fayt

I am currently taking an e-course taught by Diana Fayt on surface design. So far we have done mishima and block printing techniques that have been really fun to experiment with! I haven't actually taken a ceramics course for quite a while so I am enjoying learning some new techniques coupled with great dialogue (via Facebook) between students from all over the world! I am excited to be pushed out of my comfort zone and experimenting with some new styles that I might otherwise overlook. Here are a few of my experiments thus far:

Blessed Bee- This platter was made using cone 5 B-mix which I have not used before but wanted to experiment with a mid-range clay body. The honey bee design was done freehand using mishima. I LOVE this technique for drawing on clay and have about a million ideas! So excited to see where this new inspiration will take me!!
More mishima!!

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Monster Painting Group!!


A group of fellow artists (and dear friends) and I gathered in my studio this winter to paint monsters into paintings that we found at thrift stores! Inspired by viral images of monsters in thrift store paintings  shared on Facebook, we loved the idea so much that we decided to gather together and create our own! Each artist selected a thrift store painting ranging from $.50 to $15 and designed and painted a "monster" in that environment. The wonderful creative creatures that emerged have brought the paintings to life! The monster paintings will be displayed/ up for sale at Interzone Coffehouse during the month of March 2013!! Check out the article in the Corvallis Advocate about the show!!