Changes in my Life

Changes.  Changes and Decisions.  It is a part of life.  In this case, it's a good change.  Soooo much has changed in my life over the past 5 years, and now I feel like I've come out of it on the other side.  I can look back, and see how I've changed, and I can look forward to what is coming.  One of the changes I have made here, in this little space, is that I will be moving this blog over to Wordpress.  I know, I know, it is a pain for you, my sweet followers, and for that I am sorry.  But it is all for the good!  I now have a sweet new website that you need to check out and I am so pumped about it!  My old website was good, but it wasn't mobile!  With all the mobile devices these days, I felt like it was a major mistake to have a website that wasn't viewable on an iPad, tablet, or phone.  I would cringe every time someone wanted to look at my website and couldn't do it due to mobile devices!!  As a busy mom of two little girls, I thought that if I EVER wanted to get a new website in motion, I had better hire someone to do it for me.  And so I did.  It was an awesome decision and I have many THANKS for Laura for making this transition as easy as pie.  If you know Laura, you know that she doesn't let any grass grow under her feet!

So, now I have to ask a favor of you.  Please, please, pretty please, come on over to my new space.  I would love to have you join me over there, where I will continue to write about this crazy thing called life - and ART.  Don't forget the art part!

If you follow me via RSS, don't forget to update that as well - here's a link for you.   

http://kellythielstudio.com/?feed=rss 

And for you folks that like the Bookmark or "favorites" method, here's your link too. http://kellythielstudio.com/blog

I'll be moving stuff over to the new blog soon, and in some ways, I'll miss Blogger.  I've been here for a while, and I still like my blog design over here.  But life goes on, and I'm ready for it!  

And just to leave you with a little teaser, I've been working on a new sculpture.  It's called Of Two Minds, and it's almost done being built.  Still wet, needs to dry and then be glazed, but the forming of the sculpture is almost complete.  Come on over to the new blog and check it out :)  See you soon.

xoxo

Kelly

Fascinations with Robert Ivey Ballet

This post is coming a few days later than I had hoped, but I think I needed time to process the whole event.  This event was so great, in so many different ways.  We had a Fascinations performance both Friday night and Saturday night, (Jan 18 and 19) and I really loved seeing it both nights.  I was able to take in more on the second night; little details of the dance or costuming I hadn't noticed before.  This was a huge experience for me.  I think I am very, very glad to have participated in this event. If you want to read about how this came about, check out the post here.  It's a cool story about synchronicity, written by my good friend Laura!  And painting on such a scale, what an eye-opening experience that was!  It truly is a full-body movement to get paint on the canvas when you use giant brushstrokes like I was doing.  And a ladder.  One must have a ladder to reach up so high!  So I was climbing the ladder, and flinging paint around with my 4" paintbrush, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Just before we delivered it to the theatre.

After the show I was approached by someone who is in charge of outdoor murals around Charleston.  He invited me to do a wall of my own!!  I was thrilled, and I have a feeling I will be tackling that project soon :)  It's called the Outdoor Art Initiative and Gallery; Check out their Facebook page; they have some pretty cool stuff over there.  Everyone in this group seems very open and friendly, and I am excited to learn more about what they do.  

On stage!

One other cool thing about this project is that both of my girls were involved in this project.  Especially my 4 yr old.  She loved it and she was inspired to work on a larger scale too.  She actually decorated the back of the couch one night recently with sidewalk chalk, and I couldn't be mad because I know where this came from.  It was from watching me paint so big; she only wanted to do the same.  I thought a good way to channel this inspiration onto a more suitable substrate would be to hit the art store and buy a canvas for her.  So that's just what we did!  Here she is starting to work.  I love how kids just jump on it; no hesitation or concern about how it will turn out.  They just get straight to work :)

Can you guess her favorite colors??

So yes, this was quite the experience for the entire family.  I want to thank my hubby for going the extra mile on this - he helped me get my canvases home and then delivered to the studio.  He watched the kids, so I could work, and he gave me feedback when I got stuck or panicked.  He's the best.   Pure Theatre also played a big part in this.  They gave me my canvases!  They had used them in a previous play, and the canvases were just sitting in their storage area, so they saved me a lot of time by me not having to build these canvases.  Thank you!!! If any of you are local in Charleston, you really should go see a play over there.  Those guys are super passionate about what they are doing.  And they are doing a phenomenal job of it!

The Deadline is Looming!

The deadline is almost here!!  This painting has to be finished by tonight, so that it can be dry for delivery on Wednesday.  I can't even begin to tell you what an ADVENTURE this has been!!  I've always been kind of fascinated with the idea of working large.  This project has CHANGED me in so many ways.  Ways I can't even begin to comprehend, and it will only become more obvious over time.

Here is a quick video that my husband and I shot yesterday.  Robert Ivey Ballet is putting together videos for each dance/music/art segment and I sent this to them for use in their video.

Two nights ago, I got to see the dancers rehearsing and listen to the orchestra practicing.  It is the Youth Orchestra, and these kids were great!!!  I also met the other artists (everyone was very friendly), and I came away from that production meeting completely buzzed with energy and excitement.  This event is truly about the WHOLE experience.  It's not just about the ballet, or the music, or the art - it's about the total experience of seeing three of the basic art forms come together.  It's about reaching for your dreams, and visualizing something and then making it happen.  These kids in the ballet and the orchestra are just awesome and they work HARD.  The professionals who are there are leading the way, supporting the kids, having fun, and pursuing our dreams as well.  It's very exciting. :)

Fascinations! with Robert Ivey Ballet

Here is the flyer for the super cool upcoming event!  I've been painting away, and just today I have FINISHED!  It's drying, getting ready for delivery on Wednesday.  I am so excited for this event! What a very cool opportunity this has been! Even my 4 yr old is excited and will be attending the event on Friday :)

Painting on a HUGE Scale!

Surprise! I'm back!  I'm sorry for the absence - sitting down at the computer is so hard these days.  The kiddo always sits in my lap and bangs on the keyboard - which makes it very hard to type :)  She's almost 1 1/2 yrs old now and is in such a cute phase!

But I am writing because I want to share with you a crazy cool, crazy fun project that came my way 2 days ago!  I was contacted by the Robert Ivey Ballet, here in Charleston.  They are putting on a very cool event called Fascinations, and it is a multi-disciplinary event combining dance, music and art.  What it is is this: each artist is given a piece of music (to be played by the orchestra) that is to be the inspiration for the artwork.  The artwork will act as a backdrop for the scene; it will be brought in via the stage rigging, and the dancers will perform their original numbers in front of the original painting.   Therefore, the size of the painting has to be way bigger than anything I have ever done.  My painting will be 9'x12' and it is on two pieces of stretched canvas.  

I was a little freaked out by this project - it is due NEXT week - but things just started falling into place!  The babysitter was available for extra hours (thank goodness!), the canvases were already built and I was given permission to use them, the girl at the art store gave me some good advice on which paints to use.  I even almost got a parking ticket, and the meter maid let me out of it!!  It was like the universe was giving me the push to do this project!

Here's my music - Its called Dance of the Knights by Prokofiev, a well-known Russian composer.  This  will be a performance of Romeo & Juliet, and this piece of music will be for the scene where Romeo and his friends enter the ball and start a fight.  It's so powerful!  I love it and I can't wait to paint to it!!

So yes, I am very excited, and I will  be sharing the process, here, as I go!  Here's to big challenges and new experiences!!!

Sharing my Story

As an artist, it is my responsibility to share my story.  When you make art, people always want to know the inspiration behind the pieces or why you've made a certain thing.  As most of you know, I make a lot of bird sculptures, and here is a short video about how it all got started.  I could go on and on about the symbolism of the birds in my works, but this little video certainly gives you a good idea!

Kudos to my amazing husband who did this for me.  He shot and edited, and then put this all together!  Thank you, babe!!

In this video, I'm building one of my newest sculptures, entitled Thinking Cap.

Let me know what you think!!!

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

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

Charlotte Fundraiser

Great attendance! and plenty of food

So we had the big fundraiser event in Charlotte, and it turned out to be a wonderful evening!  The woman behind it all, Hannah, did a marvelous job, down to the smallest details. You can read about her amazing story here.  Hannah brought in a well-respected Charlotte interior designer to help arrange the art, and they put in special lighting to highlight many of the works.  Rarely, have I seen that much effort go into an art event.  The fundraiser was held in two penthouse condos that were for sale, and so we had access to kitchens and bathrooms! Yay!  There were even lovely little napkins and soap in the bathrooms.  Those are the kinds of details that I noticed and appreciated.

Mike Lewis,  performance painter

Gotta love that red "SOLD" dot!

And here's the fun part :) I sold two pieces and got a commission for a third! So that's exciting!  I've already built the piece (it's still drying), but my next post will show details of how I made it.

Charlotte sky from the Penthouse

It was a great night and I was so honored to be a part of it.  And even better, some of our friends, that we don't get to see very often, were able to attend and we got to hang out with them too.  It was a win/win situation!  

Hope everyone is well and I'll be posting soon about that commissioned piece...

Kelly

The End of the 101010 Project

Wow - it has been a crazy two weeks, but I have so LOVED reading everyone's answers to these questions!  I thought a few of the questions were hard, and I had to do some real thinking about the answers.  

But that's why it was great - it made us think.  And I really and truly thought "my" question - the color question - was so cool.  I am very color-oriented in my life and it seemed to be a perfect fit.  

I want to thank Robin for coming up with such a fun and exciting project!  And what's more is that she is going to do two more sessions of this same project with other artists, and once again, I'll be jumping around, reading everyone's answers.  The next session kicks off on June 15.

If you missed some of the soulful goodness that has been shared, make sure and head over to the blog that holds ALL THE DETAILS on the project: CLICK HERE

So if you stuck with us the whole way, thank you.  I hope you enjoyed it.  Now it's back to our regular programming :) 

Have a great rest of the week!!

Kelly