Large Jars

I have been so inspired by the large vessels by Alex Matisse outside the Bascom, that I decided to make some for myself!  I've had so much fun making them, but with my limited studio time, it has taken me SO long to makes these! I've completed one ((pictured), and there's another one almost finished as well  If these work out, they'll flank my driveway or my front porch.  Haven't quite decided yet.  

So now, I have to let it dry completely (which will take a long time), and then some poor soul (ie, my husband) will have to lift this sucker into the kiln.  I have no idea how much it will weigh once it dries! I have had fun building these.  All coil-built, for you clay heads out there.  I don't know why, but I have always been obsessed with working in a larger scale. The small stuff just gets so tedious for me!  I'll be sure to post pictures after it gets fired - if all goes well.  Hopefully I won't blow it up in the kiln!

Big Pots!

I know, I know, all of you are totally surprised that I have written a blog post.  But it's true - and here it is!

Even though I've been quiet in Blogland, I actually have been reading and staying up-to-date with everyone's projects.  And I've been busy in the studio, too.  Things are going quite well, actually, but I'm not quite ready to show pictures of the sculpture I've most recently made.  Once I finished that piece, I got started on a side project.  One inspired by the Alex Matisse exhibit of large vessels outside of the Bascom.  I have always been excited by the idea of making big pots! Perhaps it's the challenge or just the presence large pots have, but I've decided to go for it.  I've dabbled in it before, with mediocre results, but now I'm ready to tackle it again.

I'm making two big pots, to hopefully go in my front yard.  The one in back has gotten a bit bigger; right now she's at 25" tall.  I'm thinking that the fired, finished height will be about 34". 

The photo above shows that I use a hydraulic lifting table to build my pots on.  These are great, and save my back from climbing ladders, then having to bend over to work.  (It's hard being 5'1"!)  I can just pump up the table to bring the pot to a good working height, then lower it as needed.  It's a HUGE help in the studio for taller stuff.  Not to mention that it keeps me from lifting these pots everytime I need move it around!  I've lost track as to how heavy they are, but believe me, they aren't light.

So anyway, that's enough for now.  We shall talk soon~

Kelly

My Bronze is at The Bascom

I'm heading to The Bascom this weekend to see the Members Challenge.  It's an exhibit of the members' work, and I'm so happy to participate! It's going to be a quick trip, but I'm looking forward to seeing the exhibit.  I'm taking a friend with me, and while it won't be a long vacation, I'm sure we will still have fun.  Anything arty is always fun, if you have a friend to join you!

In other news, my baby girl is turning 1!! Wow, what a year it has been. I can say that it hasn't always been the smoothest, but we have enjoyed our girls so much.  I am so LUCKY to have such a wonderful family!  Happy Birthday, sweet girl!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Light Fixture for my Studio

Today, I got to pull this out of the kiln!!  It was too hot to handle just yet (I'm bad about being unable to wait to unload the kiln!), but I leave town tomorrow and I just had to see it.  And I'm so glad, because I am excited about how it turned out.  This was a fun piece to make - I totally let myself be free and just have fun.  My brush strokes were big and bold and I just got some good colors on there.  Drawing and carving the flowers was fun and free, and the only tedious part was cutting the holes.  I just had to make sure there wasn't any clay clogging those holes.  That would have driven me crazy!  

I've made pendant lights before and had so much fun with the process.  I enjoy making things for the house or studio, especially when they turn out so well.  This light says "Creative Spirit" since it is going in my studio, and I want to draw creative energies into that space.

I'm headed to The Bascom tomorrow to drop off my bronze.  I'm quite excited!  Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!!

~Kelly

Member's Exhibit at The Bascom

I'm pretty excited! If you guys remember, I took a workshop a while back at The Bascom and I really loved it.  I loved the area and the vibe of the school.  It's all in this post here.  So, since then, I have joined their membership and now they are having an exhibit of their members work.  
 

I had a bronze casting made of my Protect sculpture and this is the piece that I will be exhibiting.  The show will be open for approximately 2 months, starting Aug 18, and I am so pleased to be able to participate.  I'm having a custom base made for the sculpture right now, so as soon as that is ready, I will be able to photograph the piece.  It should be ready in just a couple of days.  I'm going with a nice walnut base this time, as opposed to the black granite that everyone seems to use.

If you are ever in the Highlands, NC area, you should really take the time to head over to The Bascom.  They have a great retail shop, outdoor sculptures and trails. 

I'll be back with photos soon!

On Truthfulness

Hi everyone,

I've been thinking about this post for days. I've been writing it and rewriting, thinking about how I wanted it sound and the things I wanted to say. Nothing sounded perfect, so here goes nothing.

I've been in a weird place over the past month. No doubt about it, being a parent of two young girls is difficult and beautiful, all at the same time. The day to day stuff can be hard, sure it is, but it has been made harder by the fact that I'm an artist who feels the NEED to create. I haven't been working in the studio as much as I'd like. In fact, it's pathetic to me how little I am actually in the studio. It's frustrating, and irritating , and makes my soul a bit unhappy. I stop blogging, and I find that I struggle to keep up with social media. I feel like I have no new content, and it all kind of makes me grind my teeth. Then, once i feel the machine slow down, I know it's so hard to get it going again, and I get even more stressed.

So this is why I haven't blogged in over a month. Really? A month? That's just nuts.

But on the other side of things, I love my girls so very much. Yesterday and today, my baby girl has been sick. She's running a pretty good fever (101 and 102), and she's a limp, hot baby in my arms. I've done nothing but hold her and rock her, and maybe some dishes here and there, and that's all I've wanted to do. I've let her drool on my chest, and turn me into a sweaty mess with all of her body heat, and that is all fine by me. It's times like these, I don't care that I'm not creating. I know there will be a time when I can get back to it. I know my girls won't be small forever. They are already growing so fast. So fast it hurts.

So as you can see, I'm conflicted, and feeling a bit torn between my two loves, family and art. I am trusting that it will all work out, that this is a tricky time.

It's hard for me to write all this. I don't want to sound ungrateful or whiney, because I do see how unbelievably fortunate I am. I just want to be honest and truthful about some of the issues an artist/parent goes through. If you have anything you'd like to share on this topic, please feel free. I'd love to hear your stories.

The making of a Commissioned Piece

I've been trying to write this post for so long!! It's just embarrassing that it has taken so long to do this.  Around my house, it is difficult to get a 30 minute window of peace in order to work on the computer!  Ah, the joys of having two young children in the household... :)

I have been wanting to share these photos with you.  This is the commissioned piece I told you about here, and I photographed the stages of building that I went through when making this piece.  I build these pieces out of solid clay, just forming it with my hands into the rough shape I am looking for.  It helps me to be able to see the whole piece as one, rather than working from top to bottom or vice versa.  Then using a wood rasp, I further refine the shape.  Smoothing comes next, as the wood rasp leaves a pretty deep texture.  I like to have the pieces relatively smooth even though I am going to add lots of texture.  It helps me to see the smoothness of the 3-D curves.  Then the fun begins.  I get to start adding texture to the piece!  I use anything and everything to make texture.  No object is safe if it has a cool texture on it :)  I use everything from cabinet knobs to chopsticks to rubber stamps to cake decorating tools.  I have even used the bottom of my shoe!

So after the texture is satisfactory to me, I start to hollow out the form.  I just start by digging into the back using a clay tool.  Here you can see the pile of trimmings as I worked.  I'm trying to get relatively even thicknesses in the walls of the sculpture.  I try to get about a 1/4" thick wall or maybe a tad more.  

I have rolled out a slab of clay for the back, and scored the back of the sculpture in preparation for attaching the back.  Scoring it and adding liquid clay creates a sticky glue-like surface.  Now I can attach the back and smooth out the seam.

I like to add a little keyhole for hanging, and then sign the bottom of the piece.  Now the next step is to let it dry for a while (3-7 days), and then fire it the first time.  Even the firing takes about 1.5 days with the actual firing and then for the kiln to cool!

I told my client that they could choose whatever colors they wanted for the finished piece, so it hasn't been glazed yet.  However, I will try to photograph those steps and share them as well!

Hope everyone is doing well this summer!

-Kelly