Updating

I promise to update with photos of all my finished pieces as soon as I get my living situation sorted! Everything's been up in the air for a few months and it could be a little while longer. I've glazed everything I've pictured here lately and some of it looks pretty good. (Some not so good.)

Thanks for paying attention.

Very slowly finishing this pot...

I've had this waiting in my basement for a few months. Think I'm finally ready to finish it. Just deciding on final details.



The whitish stuff you see on the pot is grainy salty build up from weeks of spraying water on it to keep it from drying out. I've polished it with fine sandpaper so it's fairly smooth now.

Little monsters

Forgot my camera so here are some cell phone pictures of some new little things I'm making:



My brother says they look kind of like viruses.



I plan on making more of these. I'll try to remember to take my camera and take pictures step by step. These spheres are created by making two pinch pot bowls and sticking them together by scoring and slip and a coil to bind them together. I let them get leather hard so they'll hold their shape while I handle them and then add the spikes and protrusions. I've poked a tiny hole in the bottom of each of these to allow air to escape when they're fired. If I didn't, they'd explode because the superheated air expands and has to get out somehow!

You can see I've left the surface a little rough, especially on the smaller ones. I thought the uneven texture added character but maybe it's just sloppy. I'm really just trying to work things out with these and in future have a more refined product. I plan to just stain some of these and experiment with glaze on others and then see what works best.

Just trying to do something different that's fun so it doesn't feel like work going into the studio. There's really no point to these things other than just to experiment and have fun with creativity and not try to create something important.

The Wide Stripes

Remember this piece? I finally had it fired and glazed.




I quite like the stripe effect from this angle:



The glaze is a very dark brown that appears black. I used wax on the bisqued piece to block off the sections with no glaze. (First marking the lines with a pencil and filling in with a brush and liquid wax goo.) I wanted to see what it would look like to contrast bare clay with the blackish glaze. I like how the specks in the clay are the same color as the glaze. It's coordinated! Not too bad, eh? Especially considering I don't glaze often so my glazing skills are somewhat mediocre. I'm just pleased with the clean lines where the glaze stops.

"Range of Vision"

During the month of March, you can see my work in a show called "Range of Vision," featuring artwork by me, my sister Sarah, and my mom, Holly, at A Piece of Work, Inc., in Spirit Lake, Iowa.

The image I posted here was part of the press release I received. The painting is my mom's and the photograph is my sister's.

A Piece of Work is located at 1619 Hill Ave., Spirit Lake, Iowa. Hours are 10:00am – 5:00pm Tuesday-Saturday. The reception will be held Friday, March 12th from 5:30-7:00pm. I will not be there as I live on Oklahoma, but you all should go!

Acknowledgements

As I'm completing my application for admission to graduate school, I keep thinking about the people who've been important to my success as a ceramist. I found myself wishing there was a page in the app where I could list thanks, kind of like an acceptance speech at an awards show.

Well, here's my list:

Sue Coleman (instructor and gallery coordinator at Cornell) who advised me in the execution of my senior thesis gallery show and helped me write my artist statement.

Sarah Henson, Matt and Maegen Heindel (fellow students and friends at Cornell) who helped me title my show and flesh out the connection between "landscapes" and my sculptural vessels.

Mark McWhorter (Indian Hills ceramics instructor)--taught me everything I know! My technique is one he used and my early pieces are directly inspired by his.

Tony Plaut (Cornell prof) was not my assigned adviser, but was an adviser to me. He challenged me and gave me useful criticism and practical advice about grad school.

Mary Young (my grandmother), an artist. She was also inspired by erosion and I was inspired by her.

Chad Elliott (painter, sculptor, musician, local celebrity) thought I was good and invited me to make stuff, which was the only stuff I made that year. Thanks to him, I can call myself an active artist. Also, he was an undergrad student at the school I'm trying to go to for grad school. He is part of my connection to that place.

Holly Kellogg (my mom). My number one supporter and encourager. Also PR person because I've gotten into shows and sales because of her. Literally could not be completing this application without her. She's done all the legwork. Digging through files for dates, taking my stuff to the photographer, taking measurements, etc. (Not because I am lazy necessarily, but because all my stuff is in Iowa and I am in Oklahoma.) Anyway, THANKS MOM!

Owl Assortment

I'm not posting anything that I haven't posted here or on flickr before, but this photo represents the many owls I've made (somewhere between 60 and 80 probably--I should have kept track!). I'm posting this in response to a tweet from Korina!



Photo by

Thanks to Bob at FotoPros Portrait Studio in Spencer, Iowa.