Tortured by White? Switch to Brown!

After intense torture from my white clay...aka cone 6 porcelain...

I am switching back to yummy chewy gooey staining chocolate brown stoneware goodness for a while...

I have a new( new to me) sample of a sculpture clay in white coming to me.. any minute from Standard...

So... we will see if I like it... the idea of a gritty sandy clay is totally something I could sink my teeth into right now...

SO.. we shall see...

I was going to apply to some major craft shows and the deadlines are NOW....

So, rather than get pigeon holed into using the white that is KILLING ME...

I will let the deadlines pass(yet again) and see how I feel about the new clay and the the other color clays and when I am GOOD AND READY.... if it seems like a good show for me,

I will apply, or just approach the best representation for my work... but for now...

I am just working...

Published: InJersey

April 2013 issue:

Back from NCECA

Wanna know more?

My Moo Cards Came!!! I am so excited! I love them... Love the quality and matte texture!!! Maybe you can see for yourself and exchange with me at NCECA!

And in other news...

As I continue to destroy every larger scale vessel I try to carve and manipulate out of  Cone 6 porcelain...
AND
feel used and abused by my clay, my kids continue to occupy the rest of my time and efforts...

Our son, Jake was nominated for 3 Jersey Acoustic Music awards!
(JAM Awards)!
If you like his music, it would be great if you could vote for him!
Thank you so much!
VOTING CLOSES MARCH 1st!  THIS FRIDAY!!!
Only vote for each person once or it will cancel out your vote!

Top 18 and Under Male Act:
http://www.jamawards.org/top-18under-male-act.html#.URXY-0xkvKg

Top 18 and Under Songwriter:
http://www.jamawards.org/top-18under-songwriter.html#.URXZgExkvKg

Top 18 and Under Song:
http://www.jamawards.org/top-18under-song.html#.URXZvkxkvKg

Here is a link to his nominated song "I Ain't Me":

Thank You! Please Share and Vote!

If you ARE voting, here are some other great local musicians we would love to support: Kyle Ward, Nick Piescor,Jack Newsome, Shannon Corsi, Taylor Tote, Glenn Wise, Ardvark Smile, Micro Machines, Cobalt Blue and all of the others!!!!

ENOUGH ABOUT ME...

For NOW...
If you have read my blog through the years, you know my friend Pam suffered from that
crappy disease: ALS- Lou Gerrig's Disease.
She passed away one year ago after a long, drawn out struggle with the illness...
(over 5 years)
We will be toasting to her spirit tonight...

As it turns out, my son, Sam is turning 13 this May and he decided to raise money for KICKING ALS's BUT by designing, drawing and arranging manufacturing of items with his GRAFFITI ART... ALL OF THE PROCEEDS WILL GO TO ALS-TDI
which is involved in intense research studies to find therapies to slow and stop this crappy (Did I use that word again?) illness.
I helped him to set up a WEBSITE(click on "WEBSITE") to sell his tees and we can ship them out if you buy the ones including shipping! We got it up and running TODAY!

People are being diagnosed more and more.
Though about 10% of the cases are definitely genetic, there appears to be some environmental
factors setting off the illness. WE NEED TO GET ON THIS before it becomes worse and worse.
If you can help, in any way... PLEASE TRY...
OH, and by the way, he plans to be famous some day so this T shirt may become a
COLLECTORS ITEM!

New....

Well, they are not that new.... several days.
I think it really does take me a while after work comes out of the kiln to know what I like.
It is the strangest thing. I have heard it from a zillion ceramic artists and it continues to perplex me.

I pull the work out and I feel ...UGH...
This is not right. That is not right...
And then I come back to them and with a different eye....
I think... OH... I kind of like that... Not EVERY piece... but many.
A little hard because these are time consuming... all because I wanted to emphasize
the PROCESS as the part I enjoyed participating in... the carving, the manipulating...
So, when they crash and burn... WELL...
It's a tough experience for me because it is a bit of a roller coaster.
And frankly, not the healthiest ride for me.

That said, I keep FIGHTING the JOURNEY of it all.
And really, I CRAVE the  JOURNEY at the same time.
Sort of a dichotomy and also the STORY of MY LIFE.

I get rather bored?  Or jumpy... ready to try something new.
Particularly lately...
The important relationships in my life,I  don't jump in and out of it...
And I don't really jump in and out of clay...
I get INSPIRED... Try this, try that.
It gets me scared and frazzled.
Scattered.

And yet...  I am really looking for a cozy lovey feeling...
A safe place to fall ?
And then I think... If you find that, if you don't push the boundaries...
the abilities of clay and glaze and firing(with in an electric kiln????),
won't you just tire of it and move on to something else....

Perhaps my crisis is my struggle to accept who and how I am.
Perhaps I just need to wait and embrace those things that GET this part of me.
Rather then shove it all into a pretty package and box
that will position me to get me into a trade show.
I struggle with this. I don't know WHY I STRUGGLE WITH THIS.
THERE ARE MUCH BIGGER ISSUES IN THE WORLD TO STRUGGLE WITH.

I GET THAT. At times I think I should leave my art behind and put my energy into
struggling with those MUCH BIGGER ISSUES IN THE WORLD.
BUT the art pulls me back... my inner world and struggle and
desire for it to be "heard"...HAS A TIGHT GRIP  ON ME.

And so I continue. I would just like to find more ZEN in it all...
Not necessarily WORKING with the CLAY. I find the ZEN and PRESENCE
when I work with the clay... It's all the other stuff that confuses me as to
WHAT IT"S ALL ABOUT.
If you see my work change and change again...
Just know:
My MUSE is messing with me...
I  am doing my best to follow her and see where she is headed
and if she brings me right back to where I was...
Well, That is OK too.

Tah Dah....

I made the photo extra large so you can see what she wrote!!! 

Very Cool... Not what I am making right now...BUT it's a journey...

Stuff in the kiln cooling... hopefully good stuff and I believe February will be better than 

January as the PLAGUES of sickness came to eat me up in January and I am OVER IT!!!

Contemporary Tableware

Check out my sushi set in the collage at the bottom of the link!!! 

I have pieces in this book!

"Tableware has occupied a special place in our kitchens and dining rooms for thousands of years, and continues to enchant us today. Ranging from the purely functional to the fine and delicate, the evolution of domestic pots tells us much about our changing tastes and habits, and the wider art and cultural movements that have influenced their decoration and forms."

Softcover | 160 Pages

Order code CA125 | ISBN 978-1-57498-330-2

CONTEMPORARY TABLEWARE

FLUX on Dec 31, 2012

I AM IN COMPLETE FLUX!( which is funny because this is a glaze issue...)
I jumped out of bed with a brainstorm as I try to create subtle colorants for my ceramic work(especially on the white porcelain)...I want really subtle in parts... like a TINT... and I have this idea to spray or brush almost a wash of mason stain with 3134 on the bisque or over matte white glaze on bisque... THEN I SPILL the Pearl Grey Mason stain I had mixed a while back and saved(not a lot...in a dixie cup)and rush to the computer to remind myself what my breakdown of grit/stain and water was on the tests that I ran.... I then pull up Mason Stain's information to find the damn stains I wanted to use are discontinued... f bomb.

So I guess the real issue is I am trying to stop time...or stop the drying process to have the work look like it does when it is drying... the tips are lighter... the recessed areas darker...

I have a wish a hope a dream for 2013.

CLARITY.

Clarity of mind.

Clarity of body. 

Clarity of spirit

and 

Clarity of ceramic torture.