In December 2020, three of my pieces were accepted into The Artist’s Circle Online Gallery. The topic for the exhibition is Religion. While my pieces don’t represent traditional Christian themes, they do represent religious icons in other cultures.
WOW!! I was totally blown away by Virginia Marsh’s solo show at the Goldmark Cultural Center. I’m familiar with Ginny and her work but seeing it on display like this was awesome.
Click on the images to see a larger version.
My piece “She’s Not Barbie” has been included in the ClayHouston Virtual Membership Show.
This piece was created to celebrate the strength of women and girls. Materials used include stoneware clay (Laguna Grande), colored slip, underglaze, and the head of a doll. The basic form is a cube with a support tube in the middle. After the form was built, it was covered with colored slip; the slip was built up in places to form a “path.” Sgraffito technique was used to add words related to the theme, as well as grid lines. After a bisque firing, the words and grid were coated with a clear glaze, and the piece was fired again. Finally a doll head was glued to the top of the support tube.
It’s approximately 13″ H x 6″ W x 6″ D
UPDATE … May 28, 2021 … Felt that the name of this piece didn’t really convey my thoughts/inspiration. So, it’s been renamed. Now called: “Not Just A Pretty Face”.
Two of my pieces were selected for Art Room’s “Small Works Show” at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center.
The Center, located at 1300 Gendy Street (off Lancaster near University), is open Monday – Saturday from 9 am – 5 pm. Masks are required. The show will run through Saturday, December 12th.
 “Blue Girl” is a small piece, designed to hang on the wall (or stand on a table). |
 “Chemo Brain” is based on my experience during and after chemo, 15 years ago. |
Earlier this year, it appeared that the State Fair of Texas would be a “no go” due to the Covid-19 pandemic. But, thanks to the ingenuity of the organizers, the State Fair has been modified to allow modified participation. Modified means: Drive Thru State Fair, Special On-Line Competitions, Video Tours and limited participation in Creative Arts Competitions. So … I put on my mask and took five pieces down to the Fair last month. This morning the results were announced … TADA!!
Here are my entries … two Blue, two Red, one White!
I was fairly busy: finishing up projects from earlier in the Spring semester, working on new projects and experimenting a lot.
One goal was to use up partial bags of cone 6 clay that had been laying about the studio for far too long. Another goal was to experiment with using slips and trying new forms. Finally set aside a day to take pictures and …. here they are.
This first bowl/platter is made on a form that I found in someone’s bulk trash pile. It turned out fairly well and I like the glaze except for all the tiny glass bubbles in it. Guess that’s because I used dark clay and it gave off the gasses during the firing process. The glaze is Red Gold by Coyote Clay.
Worked with slip and underglaze and a bit of sgraffito. Obviously, I need to refine the process so the words aren’t smeared.
This pot has a rough texture created by a crater slip. The part with the gears has a white slip to emphasize the texture. Overall, I like the effect and will have to try this again.
This artifact/pitcher is a project from Spring semester. It uses a crackle slip and was soda fired.
More from Spring semester. This project was to demonstrate what glazes look like when overlapped and partially blocked out.
A bowl with slip on the outside and glaze on the inside. Again, I like the way the glaze highlights the texture.
A vase with a face. And another (below).
The head is supposed to show left-brain/right-brain. I like the concept but not the execution. Will have to try this one again.
A couple of experimental forms. They were almost too tall for the kiln.
A tiny dancer and a pitcher and a totem …
And another vase and and mug and bowl.
And remember the cat? Well, I added some decals. Here are close-ups …
And that’s how I spent my Spring Break and Summer Hiatus.
One of the last things I did before Spring Break was mix up a batch of Pete’s Strontium Matte glaze and put it on a small cup. Finally, it’s been fired. And here are the results.
For the month of August, the Dallas Arboretum offered a special: $2 admission and $5 parking. Early August days were cooler than normal and we decided to go over Sunday morning.
The Seward Johnson sculpture exhibit was held over and, during our visit, we were able to see about half of the sculptures. We’ll have to go back again in a week or so to see the rest.
Anyway, here (in no particular order) are photos of the gardens and sculptures.
For a while now, I’ve been storing photographs on an external hard drive. Thought it has beaucoup memory but it looks like it’s getting full. So, I decided to go through and delete duplicates and those that aren’t in focus, etc.
Well, that meant that I was looking at photos of pottery that I’ve created over the past eight years. You know what?? Some of them were pretty good and it might be nice to redo some of them using different clay and glazes. And some of them gave me ideas for new pieces.
Stay tuned and let’s see what develops.
I’ve been fascinated with hand-built clay sculptures for a long time. Tried to create a few with some success but more disappointments. I think it’s because I’ve always built over a form, not trusting myself to build it from scratch. I’d even tried a sculpture class or two but didn’t really understand the process; so, it was back to my partial success with forms.
When Creative Arts Center of Dallas offered an animal sculpture workshop, I signed up … a couple of times. But, each time, it was cancelled until last month. Frankly, I was surprised that the workshop was a GO! because class size was limited and we were required to wear masks.
Well, this was the best workshop ever! Susan Giller helped me understand the process of building a solid figure, refining it, hollowing it out and finishing it. Here are some “work in progress” photos.
