Madison and Main

Woo hoo! My first gallery venue, a little co-op just a block away from the UNC campus - Madison & Main.

Friends Staci and Andrew at the reception on September 12th:

My parents came to the reception & I pointed out some goblets I wanted from Noel Bailey... they bought them while I was standing there, and oddly enough they turned up in my apartment a couple weeks later as a birthday gift. Staci & I enjoying a drink:

Dance

Here are some sculptures I was working on a couple weeks ago...


Leo & I decided to have a little fun with a photo shoot after I finished the first one:



The series of 5... Not entirely what I was envisioning, but perhaps I can rearrange them to look right. The basic idea is "Dance," with rhythm and movement in mind, looking at the body of each piece as well as the negative space. What do you think?

Ewer and Me, and a Cup for Our Tea

Though I've disappeared from the blogger scene for a while, I've been busy elsewhere. In the past month I've been to a wonderful workshop with Annie Chrietzberg, created a bundle of sculptures, made a few pots, started selling pots at Madison & Main, and went to Santa Fe for a fun weekend excursion. More photos to come, but here are some from the workshop with Annie, "Ewer and Me, and a Cup for Our Tea":

Delightful

I love using the word "delightful" ... this work by Clare Twomey is truly delightful. I love how it invades the space of the museum in a playful way, that the visitors can interract with it and take a bird home with them. It's beautiful :-) The show I have in November is also one visitors will be able to interract with, because I think ceramics are meant to be touched. Even walking through an ordinary clothing store I tend to run my hands along things as a pass them... I just like to touch things. When I was a little girl I went to a museum with my dad and there was a wax sculpture with fabric that looked too real to be wax. I reached to touch it and got yelled at. In my show this year I plan to have many pieces veiled in fabric, for the viewer to lift for themselves and touch the artwork they see. If you know of any other ceramists creating interractive art, I'd love to see it!

Back Into the Groove

Home sweet home... I've come back to Greality, and with a grant to give me a boost I'm ready to dive into ceramics full-time this fall. The only trouble is the community college studio I'll be working at is a 30 min. bike ride away and has limited hours... damn. Might have to do all the handbuilt work at home. We'll see once the lab hours are set. This week I'm house sitting so I'm out of the studio anyway, but I've been enjoying some artist's websites. Some work I'm lovin: an organic chandelier from Karin Eriksson, and the sophisticated animals of Beth Cavener Stichter.

You know you're a true potter when discovering the website of a fellow potter genuinely makes your day... I just had a terribly stressful Sunday, followed by a tired and depressing Monday, and on a period off I was browsing pottery blogs. I searched for the website of an old friend, an artist who was graduating from UNC when I was just starting, and I was thrilled when I found it! His outlook on life and pottery is refreshing, as is his work, so check it out - Noel Bailey

Learning to Throw

At the camp I've been working at all summer I haven't had many chances to teach wheel throwing because it is terribly difficult to go between teaching one thing to half the class and teaching throwing to the other. We have a period each day called "free choice" which is a chance for the kids to try something they haven't done before, or just do whatever the heck they want. So I offered throwing last Sunday and was frustrated with teaching 8 girls this difficult skill. Of course I can throw, but teaching is another story, and I was lacking patience. Today I checked out the website Learning to Throw with Marvin Bartel for some tips... I don't know if it will help me tomorrow when I offer it again, but I think it would be beneficial for any adult who is interested in learning.