Behind the Scenes
Since this was first posted, I have added a photo. —————————————————————— I love living on the edge–for me, that means challenging myself to make new things and never getting too comfortable. It’s not obvious to witnesses but, on some level, I must love the little rushes of adrenaline that come with the stress during those “What was I thinking?!?!” moments. For you real thrill seekers, this must sound pretty lame, but it doesn’t...
Read MoreBodyguard–The Saga continues….
There are sooo many decisions to make after deciding on the general concept, even if the piece is finished in my head. I am a big fan of the expression, “If a little is good, a lot is better.” I am slowly learning that, most of the time, “Less is More.” With Bodyguard, my original plan was to stamp a pattern on the girl’s shirt and have more detail in the bottom of the piece. But those details would have detracted from the focal point, the faces. So I opted to go with a solid tee shirt and keep things bold. To minimize the number of firings, I decided to...
Read MoreThe Clay Speaks–Update on Bodyguard
I have just finished the first layer of underglazes on Bodyguard. To avoid having to fire the piece too many times, I applied underglazes to the unfired work (greenware). Although my plan was to have a fair skinned girl with red hair and blue eyes, the more I looked at the sculpture, the more I felt the need to go in a different direction–brown haired girl with brown eyes. As you can see, the faces of girl and dog are at the same level, with facial features lined up. Also, the dog’s eyes are quite anthropomorphic. I wanted the eyes of both to be the same color. Although...
Read MoreSharing Our Passions
When not in the studio, I’m in the classroom, as an artist-in-the-schools. For the past 5 years, I’ve been contracted by schools in Wake and Johnston Counties. With a background in biology and anthropology, and a tendency (possessed by many artists and scientists) to find connections between things, I’ve developed several programs that integrate different subjects (the technical term is “content areas”), like science and social studies with art, and, for that matter, math, reading, etc. It’s been a great opportunity to share my passion of working with...
Read MoreNew Body of Work
Nothing like a commitment or deadline to get ideas out of your head and into the kiln! For a while, I’ve had in mind a new body of work that combines human and animal figurative sculpture. So, way back in May, I signed up to create a Masterwork for the Carolina Designer Craftsmen show. It’s held every year in Raleigh, NC, over Thanksgiving weekend. This is the guild’s 40th anniversary. Several ideas ran through my head, but I felt most passionate about creating a series of pieces on people and their companion animals. Here is a brief overview of how the Masterwork piece...
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