Once again, I have been a bit tardy with the updates. My apologies. Pictured first is the completed Greek Temple Folly that I made for my wayward wisteria that grows wildly in my back yard. The moment I envisioned it, I wanted it to be a giant line drawing made of steel.
And indeed, that it what it turned out to be- a 14' tall temple ruin/trellis that I hope will be soon covered with wisteria.
It was great fun fabing this piece in the backyard, under the shade of a tree on beautiful September days. I was trained in sculpture and could easily fall in love working with metal.
A painter friend of mine, Steve Modzelewski from New Mexico, suddenly passed from this life at an unfortunate early age. His wife asked if I would make an urn for him. I made a piece where the lid was a pile of expended paint tubes and the pot itself depicted scenes of his life.
It turned out nice. I envisioned glazing it in realistic colors, but had to abort that idea because of time constraints.
I ended up glazing the piece in my jade glaze and I am sorry to say I do not have a photo of the finished piece.
Here is my buddy, Carl. Carl is a wonderful person that makes the world a better place for everyone that knows him. Carl has a couple of health problems, but it does not seem to affect him at all. He appears unfazed by his physical condition. I asked him if I could make a small sculpture of him and his "condition". It fits in a line of sculptures I have been making about physical and mental conditions of various friends. Oh, and the physical condition of myself too.
Here is the process of how I make a small ceramic sculpture. First, I press mold a solid figure.
Next, I "lace" the figure together to assure structural integrity.
I print up photos to work from.
And then I go to it.
Little by little, Carl comes alive.
Here the figure is almost done and next I pull the steel supports out of the body and let it slowly dry. Right now it is sitting under some loose plastic. You will see more about Carl in the next update.
This is the first pot to go on eBay this fall and it was destroyed during shipping.
And speaking of eBay, this rabbit bank is the only piece so far that did not meet my price expectation.
I guess my pigs,...
cats,...
bunnies,...
and the rest of the menagerie will have to sit on the shelf and mature until the public appreciate$ them a bit more.
Speaking of apprehension, this pic is of my "Dragonfly Pot" and "Snow Falling On Alliums" pot that were sold at the Cincinnati Art Galleries Rookwood auction in June of '02. (It has been that long ago???!!) These two pots were in that auction and the dealer who owned them when I took this picture had to be happy with the appreciation since they were priced 1000 and 1500 respectively and they both sold.
I heard from the lady that bought the Alliums piece. She was thrilled with it and I have to say I understand as I think it is a GREAT pot. It will always be valued and considered one of my best pots.
It has a checkered past as notated on the bottom of the pot.
It is that time of year and I start thinking "gourds!" I had to buy these for inspiration. Tim Miller usually sends me a box of them and they sit about the studio as inspiration. I return the favor and send him on ceramic gourd some where along the way as a thank you.
This pot is my Vasefinder International entry for 2011.
Here is a pic of a surprised father after my son made me a birthday cake from scratch in his college dormitory!
Finally, a picture of my overalls that I am going to work into a sculpture a bit down the road.
