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NCECA Conference Report

3/24/2014

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Picturethis journal rocks by the way. good info in here.
What a whirlwind that was!

Wow NCECA! What a happy group of people that is! What a blessing to be around that many people who are so genuinely excited and enthusiastic about what they do. It reminds me of what my friend Stacy asked me one time: Aren’t we just so lucky to have this thing we call clay? Hell yeah! You could feel the love.

OMG could you even believe that resource/exhibition hall? Get out of town, well no stay in it, cuz it was so awesome.

Exhibit space: I was awed by ann airstream trailer right in the middle of the hall filled to the gills with some of the most amazing work you ever did see! And that was only the beginning of it. The emerging artist area featured the innovative and evocative work of Renee Brown, Mel Griffin and Lauren Mabry among others. Renee Brown: What is she doing there? Wow! Lauren Mabry: Love those smooth colors, the weight and heft of the forms… so satisfying. Mel Griffin: I love me some mosaic work and the whole drawing on the clay thing. I like how she left the mosaic panels in large pieces she could ship them independently but hang them as one. Darn good idea.

The vendor exhibit: What? All those manufacturers and vendors all there in person with their sample test tiles and free glaze samples? It was a dream come true. I went in there with a short list of a few things I wanted to discover and the aspiration to find at least one thing to love that I never knew existed before. Done and done! Tools galore! Hand carved clay tools. Paint brushes in shapes and sizes you cannot find in the stores. Decals. Gold LUSTer decals. Clay suppliers with their sample tiles that you can look at, smell, and feel! We clay people like to feel – to hold it in our hands to get a read on something. A photo on a webpage is not the same thing. At all. And that is what we usually get since actual clay & ceramic supply stores are few and far between. You cannot just run out to the local store and get this sort of stuff. So that makes it a big deal. Particularly to me, earth sign, Taurus.

School and Program tables: Then there was ample room devoted to the art schools and residency programs peddling their BFA, Grad School and Residency Programs. Nice to know what is out there. Do people with young children really do things like this? I suppose some do…

Performance art showcase: Mind opener. Hello. Performance art with clay? I saw it with my own eyes. One woman filled a wooden boat with clay lemons she cast on the spot. You should have seen how excited she was about it. She really had to do it! Another mujer was making big elaborate clay masks over the tops of people’s actual heads. And the drink-your-coffee-out -of-the-lightly-fired-terracotta-cup-and-then-smash-it-against-a-wall-when-you’re-done-performance? That was my favorite. Mine smashed real good. I’m a good clay cup smasher. Yes, I am.

Picturethe sweet set up in the main demo hall
Loved the live demos: Sweet set up. Nice AV work Wisconsin Center.  When my volunteer shift was up I zoomed up to watch Michelle Eriskson & Ayumi Horie. Nice banter ladies. And even nicer clay work. Michelle made these crazy marbleized platters and jar/vase numbers and Ayumi worked on her signature dishware. I learned a lot sitting there. While they discussed the merit of art school and throwing for 1,000 hours to develop your skills as they pounded and patted, sliced, slipped and diced. They talked about the merits of historical forms and conceptual art versus “skilled” art. I was mesmerized.

The gentleman demonstrators were fascinating as well. How do those twin artists work together like that? It is uncanny. And they (Kelly & Kyle Phelps) were scaling it back for us so we could see them work clearly. Usually they work on the same piece at the same time. Now that is connection!

Pictureto be seen in Racine
Bus tour/trip: They got some good stuff down there in Racine. World class stuff. I looove the LUSTer. Inspirational. But wait, there was more. Worth the trip.

NCECA Flow invitational exhibit at MAM: Radical. Loved it. Might never look at clay the same again. Total cherry.

Now all of that was enough to wear me quite thin, however, I hope to fit in a visit or two to other galleries with ceramic work in the week to come. If I can find an ounce of energy left in me.

Amazing experience. Thanks NCECA!

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scrub-a-dubby- mosaic makin process

9/24/2011

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so here is the wall i spent all morning scrubbing the crap out of. i think i did a pretty good job. i mean i think them bricks is clean. really ready for the next step in the process. i'm having to do a lot of figurin stuff out. its kind of drag, but i think it will be worth it in the long run. you'd think it would be a simple thing this project, but really, it's not. it's building character. mine. dam strait.

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redline teens making tile for the mosaic
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fun tile in the makin
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teens cutting mirror tile
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timeline @ redline

8/30/2011

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so we had our timeline show at redline that ran through the month of july and now already august is almost gone. i really need to get better at posting stuff in a timely manner. alas o my. it was a pretty intense experience. i busted my butt to get this painting and my mosaics done in time. i leaned how to hang a 100 pound piece of the wall with the help of "french cleats" and three strong people. i enjoyed the process of laying out the show with my fellow artists to develop a flow between the pieces and between the color and black and white elements in the show. I loved that my "pie" sculpture ended up placed in front of the last remaining section of heimo wallner's mural. i ended up echoing this combo by painting a frame heimo-style around my "sun" painting with india ink at the other end of the gallery. that was a lot of fun. that ink really flows. i had not really tried it before. it was a good discovery. the funny part is that heimo really did not groove so much on that painting. the paradox of it all was quite entertaining. all the work in the gallery really ended up looking great together and i was proud of what we had accomplished in our year of studio time as a collective group. pretty radical.

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mosaic makin'

3/1/2011

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lately i have been entirely consumed by making the tiles for a huge ass (okay its only 4 x 4 feet, but to me it has become huge) mosaic. i totally underestimated the amount of time and effert that would go into this project. and supplies. did i mention supplies? 50 lbs of clay- clay is heavy granted, but i thought 25 would do it. and a whole pint of underglaze (jet black.) it took a bit longer than carving a mug- about ten times longer in fact- and all while racing against the clock of drying and cracking clay. it would have been easier if i had planned on being in the studio for three days straight and just cranking it out. but alas, i had not. i had work to do, dinner to cook, a boy to play slapjack with. live and learn. and thankfully so. cuz what fun would life be if we stopped learning? i labeled the back of all the pieces with underglaze according to a grid system to aid me in putting it back together after it is fired. which i do believe it is just about ready for. phew!

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snowy day

1/17/2011

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this fine snowy day i spent a lot of time in the studio- most of it cleaning. wah! but it needed to be done. after what is almost a year in that space there were piles on top of piles and they were beginning to take over my work areas. the horror! i know. so i just had to clean. i even labeled file folders. not as fun as making stuff but i got into a groove none the less, and next time i go into work i think it will be a much more pleasurable experience. and there was plenty of time to reassess past work i had kind of forgotten about and ponder about what new direction it might take me in. yes, there was a lot of looking and pondering. and sorting and pondering. and pondering and pondering.

i did manage to snap a few shots of the portrait plates the kids at hartford elementary made through the nohl project i worked with them on last spring. it was pretty cool to get them out and appreciate their fabulous work all over again. 

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fourth grade faces
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class portrait
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