Virginia is for lovers...and ceramics...

First of all let me just say...HOLY SHIT! Yes it has been that type of month...I kid you not gentle reader, it has been like 2 months rolled into one. I will not get into all the stuff that I had going on and still have going on in the month of March ...all the crappy stuff I mean, that kept me from my dear old blog as well as the simple stuff like...relaxing. Lets just focus on the immediate clay geekery at hand and say "F" the rest. ...quite the potty mouth tonight too.

So I just returned from a long and agonizing drive down to Virginia in pouring, blinding rain with periods of very dense fog and then a fevered drive home...I was actually running a fever of 102.8 when I got home. But the in between time...installing the work and hanging with my bud Adam Paulek, whom I am showing with there...it was just fine, in fact I had a good time. Our two person exhibition at the J Fergeson Gallery in Farmville, Virginia is looking really good. It was great to see Adam again and visit his studio(more to come). I was really pleased with the gallery space itself and Jarrod of J Fergeson was also a pleasure to deal with in all aspects of installation as well as the details of leaving a bunch of your work in a gallery. The show is called "Not Particularly Precious" and runs from March 30 - April 30...official opening on April 10.

The three smaller images are my new "Hills and Valleys" series. I am pretty excited about these guys...thrown and altered closed forms, glazed a little in my own industrial looking fat white glaze,decaled and finally flocked on the tops
Each pod like form showcases a singular image from my own digital photography. I am seeing them as the basis for a much larger piece and thinking of these as pairs...gold ball chain couples each set. The green flocked top looks like either a rolling hill or a slightly sunken valley and creates the visual of a miniature landscape on each. Hence the name..."Hills and Valleys"

This is a new piece I fondly call Udderly # 5830...the cow side looks kind of blue...that's me rushing to take quick pictures, but I think you get the idea.

This is the gallery space, its a large open plan with the main exhibition space located in the loft...so cool.( Sorry,I cant make these damn pictures line up to save my life!!) That's Jarrod in the vertical image with his happy little pup Maynard. The lower section of the gallery is loaded up with a bunch of nice pottery...mainly wood fired work from the near by Cub Creek Residency. Below is an image of Adam's pieces...his work is made from slip cast porcelain fired to cone 6 and then layered in a myriad of decal imagery ...he and I share the crazy decal love. I think our work really looks good together and I hope you do too. If you are in the Virginia area I hope you truck on over and check out the show...just an hour from Richmond and Charlottesville...its so worth the drive.

Tomorrow I am off to Philadelphia to hang out in NCECA for the rest of the week...speaking of clay geekery. I will diligently report on all the cool clay happenings from my suite(room) at the Holiday Inn Express...if I am sober enough. Tune in again for NCECA, Philly 2010!

The Shape of Things to Come...

Yep...that's been the story of my past week. The snow melted and the grass reappeared along with daffodils and crocus breaking through the muddy surface. I love the idea that there was something happening under what seemed like the big white blanket of deathly winter. Also, there were new things taking shape for me...working in the studio some, making a handful of new sculptural pieces for my upcoming two person exhibition with Adam Paulek. Its down in Virginia at the J Fergeson Gallery. I am excited to do the show with Adam...he is a friend of mine that I have known and worked with for a grand total of 1 month in 2 years. Honestly though, I feel like I have known Adam for a long time...he's just that type of guy. I first met Adam two summers ago in Chautauqua and immdeiately liked him and his work, which by the way, you should check out on his blog or etsy site... Our show is called "Not Particularly Precious"... and runs from March 30 until April 30. This thing came about pretty fast and I have been hustling to get some new pieces finished. So in a pinch, I fell back on a theme I like...nonsense machines that combine ideas or hints of utility with voluminous organic forms which reference mans' representation of nature and landscape through the objects we find inside the home.Yeah...you got that. The images below are waiting to be bisque and while I write this post, are surely on their way.

I will keep you posted on the progress of these pieces...they will undergo 2-3 more electric firings for me to get the surfaces complete. I will shoot them as I go and post the results prior to the exhibition. I have a very busy last half of the month ahead of me...install work at the gallery in Virginia on the 28th and 29th...NCECA on the 31st...oh yeah, I do have a class of 128 students still and I will be opening two more student centered shows in the IUP Kipp Gallery. UGH...it will be fine...it will be fine...no problem...I got it covered...I think anyways.

Think Spring.

GO BOWLS...

Go bowls is right! Yesterday was the Empty Bowls Fund Raiser and it was a great success...Nancy, Josh, and Harmony worked hard to organize the event...Dan Kuhn stepped up for the IUP ceramics department and hosted the "throw down" and fired all the bowls, and those that donated the soups and bread and their time were all great. Another nice surprise was that Jeff Greenham from down at Fairmont University in West Virginia delivered a couple boxes of bowls made by him and his students. I really feel good about being involved with this event...donating my bowls and my time. I also love the sense of community I get from being involved, people coming together and simply coming out and supporting the event by breaking bread over some hot soup in nice hand made bowls. I think at the tail end of a long snowy winter, that this was beneficial on both sides of the fund raiser. In the end I heard from Josh that we made just under 4,000.00 buckaroos for the Indiana County Food Bank!

I couldn't help myself, I bought three bowls. I bought two Don Hedman bowls and one of Nancy's flowery, Majolica bowls, and for the record, I did only eat one bowl of soup. Don Hedman taught at IUP for twenty-five years and retired in 2004. He still lives in the area and has a great studio where he continues to produce very nice salt fired pottery. Ten bucks each was hard to pass up on for a couple of his bowls. Below is an image of me with Nancy's bowl and the next image is local artist Hisham Youssef declaring his soup to be quite palatable, and a picture of Dan Kuhn and his significant other, Aasta Deth, thoroughly enjoying their soup. So, you too enjoy some of the images from this event and if you didn't make it out this year, maybe we will see you next year.

Empty,but not for long...

I just picked up my bowls from the big group firing that Dan Kuhn did for everyone down at IUP. I am very pleased with how they came out and I think these will make real nice soup bowls for the folks to pick up at our upcoming Empty Bowls Fund Raiser. The event will take place this coming Tuesday, March 2 from 11-2:00pm and all the money will go to the Indiana County Food Bank. I am volunteering to ladle up the soup on one of the soup stations that day. Nancy has organized 4 or 5 different soups that are available to choose from...several individuals are making home made soups and a couple local businesses are also donating. Josh Floyd and Harmony Ritchie have also been key in getting this event off the ground. Another great stroke of generosity came in the form of a painting donated by Kamal Youssef who lives in the local Smicksburg area. Here's a little about Mr Youssef,"Among the first Muslim artists to exhibit in the West, Kamal represented Egypt in International Biennials in Venice, Italy (1950); Sao Paulo, Brazil (1952); and then exhibited in the Biennial in Alexandra, Egypt (1955). The Museum of Modern Art in Cairo mounted his one-man show in 1952."

Its a great piece that I would love to have hanging in my house...this painting will be raffled off for 20.00 a ticket during this soup(er) event.

Here are a couple details of some of my bowls from the group firing. The shinos are looking nice and warm and the tenmoku glazes are working overtime. Come on out if you are around town and grab a bowl and fill'er up...ten bucks...you eat yummy soup...you keep the bowl...you help fight hunger. See you there.

Who's got big bowls...

...I got big bowls...and 20 of them ready for the bisque almost. That will be my small contribution to this year's Empty Bowls Fundraiser event that will take place here in the greater metropolitan area of Indiana, PA. on March 2 right outside the Commonplace Coffeehouse. Nancy Smeltzer, Josh Floyd and Harmony Ritchie are organizing this year's event and potters from all around the area are donating their bowls and time. It also serves as a nice kick in the ass for me to get back into the studio...brave the snowy roads and just get back to doing what makes me feel good. I spent a couple days in the studio throwing and trimming 20 or so bowls that I will be firing with a group of others down at IUP. My friend, Dan Kuhn, who was recently the grad assistant there, will be firing all our work in the big Baily gas kiln. Other local potters will be stopping by the ceramic department there for a bit of a "throw down" in the next couple days. IUP is supplying the clay and the firing...awfully nice of them...all you have to do is show up and crank out some bowls. Above are bowls by Nancy that she threw for her friend and neighbor Marilyn to carve and decorate and below are some of mine from the other day. More to come about this event!

Speaking of snowy roads, the winter is dragging on here and the snow seems never ending..."relentless" as a friend put it to me today. The studio up at Nancy's is half buried in snow and the kilns, like us, just seem to be waiting for some better weather. In the meantime, I am getting back in the swing of things and plan to be making a good bit of work including a bunch of teapots for a show I will be in this summer in Chautauqua.

Whenever it decides to stop snowing and our weather changes a little for the better, I will be ready to load a kiln and chuck in some wood. Until next time...think warm thoughts.

Let it snow...

..and snow it did...and it is doing it again!

I just thought I would post about the weather...well mainly our big snow storm that just whipped through here. The best part about it was that I was at Peak'n Peek in New York snow-tubing and sitting in a hot tub. The bad part was that I came back to my driveway totally plowed under in about three feet of the fluffy white stuff. It took me about an hour to dig out the driveway so I could pull in past the sidewalk. Thank goodness I was keeping my back good and limber sitting in a hot tub.

We also went over to the Chautauqua Institution to see it in the dead of winter. The lake was completely frozen into a gigantic chunk of snow topped ice. The Art School was up to its steps in snow and the studio looked so different than the way I usually see it during the summer season. I must admit that having lived in Florida for 36 years of my life, where the temperature rarely got around 40, I am endlessly fascinated with the winter and especially the snow.

Another thing that I am endlessly fascinated with is, how well chicken wings and beer go with winter weather. Here I am with my daughter sampling a veritable cornucopia of the local buffalo wing fare. Our timing was perfect this weekend, not only did we miss the big ass snow storm but I was here for the big wing festival too! ...and by the way, French Creek Tavern won.

So, here we are "bracing" for another 10-14 inches on the ground by this evening...SNOWMEGEDDON as CNN puts it...I love the non-stop coverage of the weather... I say...whatever...bring it on.... get it over with already because I am ready to go back in the studio and make some bowls for the upcoming "Empty Bowls" event in March. Heck, I am just ready to get back in the studio. In the meantime, check out my etsy shop...I just posted a bunch of new stuff. Did you know...online shopping is a great way to pass the time during a snow storm!

Cluster F....

Here it is, the end of the first month in the new year and I feel like I have already lived the remaining 11 months. That's right kids, its been a whirlwind from the get go and I am gearing up for a couple of the big events that have been kicking my butt. The one really major event is the exhibition I am opening in Kipp Gallery at IUP. Just to remind you, I spend a lot of my time as the Director for the art department's gallery here at IUP. I will be opening "The Far Side of Function: Contemporary Works in Wood" on this coming Tuesday 2/2. This is a really great exhibition but also a really large exhibition. I had a local gallery in town involved from the beginning but they had to pull out due to the fact that they are still under construction and also out of funding ...hmmmm...can you say, "cart before the horse"... anyways, being a little creative with this show I was able to spread it out into our Performing Art Center and all is well. This show has such wood luminaries as Jack Larimore, Craig Nutt, and Tom Loesser and includes furniture based works and large scale sculpture that will be placed outdoors. I am almost ready...just a couple more tweaks.

A bit of personal good news... I have been curated into a very interesting exhibition at the Pittsburgh Center for Art. I will be dropping off/installing my piece this weekend. The show entitled "Cluster" will sprawl throughout their entire space as the building is broken up into separate galleries. I know a couple people that are also in the exhibition and I am very pleased to be included along with them. That show opens 2/5 and runs through March 28. Here is part of the statement from the curator...Cluster takes over all PCA's gallery spaces at the Shadyside campus and features invited artists who've investigated the spatial device of connections. These connections might be obvious, esoteric, direct, or juxtaposed, and elicit a fundamental element of artistic discourse. Welch says these artists are, "working within their interests to profess what they know or do not know, for a purpose that is both self and collectively informing."...

...sounds cool. Here is the piece that is going..."Poppy Field".

And finally, I wanted to share another bit of my recent trip to Athens, Ohio. Actually, this part is from a short side trip to the little speck of a town called Nelsonville. After we loaded up on fresh baked cheese and sausage bread and Turkish coffee at the local farmer's market we took off to visit this hipster mecca. It was no more than 15 minutes outside Athens and was refreshingly free of University propaganda and large groups of drunk frat boys. Nelsonville was an old coal mining town that bit the dust years and years ago but has since been revived by local art loving folks. There are 7 or 8 galleries around the main downtown couple blocks along with good eats, coffee, and a very cool old opera house turned hip music venue. One of my favorite things about this little area was the sidewalks...all made from these super cool salt glazed star bricks. The link built in here is a thorough and folksy account of that areas past and the production of these bricks.

So there you have it...a little crazy blog

meandering on a bitter cold winter day...hope you are staying warm. Until next time...cheers.