Studio Workshop in my personal studio!

I am so excited to be sharing some news today!  I am preparing to start offering  
weekend workshops in my studio!  My first one is already scheduled for march 2 and 3, 2013, and I have a limit of 5 students.  I have a great studio space, but there is only enough room for roughly 6 (including me), not to mention my dogs! :)  And I am also pleased to say that my first workshop is already full!  We've got students from Colorado, South Carolina and Georgia, and I can't wait to share my studio with them. 

We are planning for a nice, relaxing weekend, creating sculptures of Human/Animal Hybrids.  We will be talking about techniques for blending the two bodies together, and focusing on construction techniques.  I'm going to have our lunch brought in both days to the studio so that we don't have to leave (and since I live in a rural area), and we are just going to play, play, play! 

If there's interest, I could easily see this as being a 2-3 times a year thing, depending on my schedule.  I enjoy sharing my studio with other people who are interested to learn.  I have gotten so much of my knowledge from workshops, that I wanted to start giving back to the system.  Going to workshops is one of my favorite things - I love the synergy that is created and the knowledge that is shared.  There is always something to be learned!

More information can be learned on my website, under Workshops.  Let me know if you have any questions!!  I'll be posting photos and a video soon, as we get closer to the date. 

Yay, for fun things and fun times!

Swan Coach House Gallery Exhibit

A few months ago I was contacted by a very nice woman at the Swan Coach House Gallery in Atlanta, GA.  She was the curator there and she was inviting me to join in their popular exhibit "Little Things Mean A Lot". I was so pleased!  And I even had enough time to make a few pieces for their show- which was good, since I had no more inventory of the small stuff.  (Yikes!) These pieces all have to be under 8", thus the name of the show. I think it's a fun theme, and I'm looking forward to seeing the show.  Since I have family in Atlanta, I'm going to head down for their opening reception.  That way I get to see my family AND the show! Win win!

These are the pieces that will be in the show.  Swan Coach House Gallery is a small space, so they requested 2-3 pieces from many, many artists to fill their gallery! I'm excited to see it,and I'm thinking I may just do some Christmas shopping while I'm there!! :)

Come out and join us! November 15, 6-9 pm! There will be over 300 works of art!

Damian Hirst Sculpture, Love it or Hate it?

Now, if you haven't already seen pictures of this sculpture, Verity, you are in for a surprise.  Damien Hirst is a very popular contemporary artist, who recently had a large bronze installed on the Illfracombe Pier  and when I say "large bronze", I'm talking about 67' of bronze!

I know there is a lot of talk about this sculpture, some people love it, others hate it, but oh wow, you have to appreciate it.  It's so monumental, and the process of creating this thing is just amazing. Take a minute to follow the link and look at how this piece was installed and created.  Just amazing. Absolutely amazing! 

This piece is on a 20 yr loan, so my question is, what will happen to this sculpture in 20 years, when the loan time is up??  Well, actually, I have two questions, how does one get funding for a piece like this?? The whole effort leaves me rather speechless!

~Kelly

Professional Development Workshop

This past weekend, I attended a Professional Development workshop here in Charleston.  The instructor was Didi Dunphy, and what an entertaining speaker she was.  It is a workshop put on annually by the Halsey Gallery and Redux Contemporary Art Center.  It was good- some of the stuff I already knew, but there was a lot that I either didn't know, or I know, but am not doing.  These kinds of classes are great for lighting a fire under you to get you moving.   Everyone needs a little kick sometimes!

One little game she had us play was to rewrite our artist statements in a Twitter format. 140 characters or less.  This will give you a concise statement about what you do, so that when you meet someone at a party or wherever, and they ask you what you do, you can easily tell them!  This is your one-liner. Memorize it.  Make it good, make it pop.  Needless to say, I'm still revising mine :)

She gave us samples of her different promotional cards and materials; fun stuff to see.  I'm pretty sure that all visual artists enjoy colorful, attractive cards. 

So, if you get anything like this in your area, it's worth it to spend a day in one of the these classes.  Even if you think you know everything already, there's always something to be learned.  Thank you, Didi!

Art With Heart Fundraiser

You know, one thing that always interests me is how one thing leads to another.  I just love the connections and how each little thing is such an important step in the big picture.  You can't see it at the time, but everything is interconnected.  I just love studying how connections and opportunities bloom out of each other.  

For example, earlier this year, I did a fundraiser in Charlotte (you can read about that event here), for the GBS/CIPD Foundation.  I had a great time and met some wonderful people.  Recently, I was contacted by the Art with Heart organization that helps victims of domestic abuse and many, many other things.  They put on a very nice event, and I am honored to be involved. I'm making some pieces right now for them.  The event isn't until Feb 2, 2013, but I wanted to go ahead and make their pieces.  I have decided to donate two of my larger wall birds, one will be entitled SOAR and the other one is untitled as of yet.  These pictures show the process. I took these photos today in my studio while I was working.

It's fun to do these fundraisers, and it's great that I can do a little something for these charities.

Have a great week, everyone!

~Kelly 

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