Happy New Year! Technically this still applies since it's my first post of 2015. Hope you all survived the Holidays. I had a record number of new Pet Face and Story Portrait Orders, which I am still very busy working on. I am also back at Lill Street playing in the wet dirt...made this last night. I'm titling it "Sunspots". I have some new very pronounced ones on my face (gotta get more serious with that sunscreen). Someone recently mentioned it to me, and since then, it has developed into a bit of a self conscious distraction. I think I nipped it in the bud here. Art is the best kind of therapy!
Clay
Red Bowls...2012 & Freshly Fired in 2013
Art For Sale, ClayCommentThese are porcelain, hand formed bowls that I've been making at Lill Street. The pieces on white are 'footed' and the ones on black have no feet. Shipping & Tax (in ILLINOIS) will apply to each sale. Just call or email if you would like to purchase, I can send you a paypal invoice, you can mail me a check or call with a credit card.
...some things I've been working on in clay...
Clay2 Commentscarved this one on my birthday.
april was tough this year.
carved this back in january...did i mention our house is for sale?
recent works in clay...
Clay3 CommentsI continue to take Corinne Peterson's "Dreams, Myths & Pillars" class at Lill Street, it's a form of therapy for me - and her class is always filled with the most interesting and genuine souls. The piece at the top is about as close to a pillar as I will probably get, there is a 3rd component that the top 2 pieces will stand on. Photo coming soon, once it's all glazed. The other 2 pieces, tiles that I carved, the middle glazed with white and the bottom one still wet, with slip that I carved directly on. Love this carving process. Hope you are having a wonderful weekend, it was a sunny day in Chicago with lots of people out and about, and popping into the studio. I worked on commissions, most of the day.
terra cotta..in process
Clay1 CommentTrucks + Grain + Women
Clay, Events, Shows & Ar...Comment My trucks have finally found utility...I will have several on display at the Women In Grains Show...(a Coast to Coast Perspective) opening this Friday, July 16th at the Woolen Mills Gallery in Reedsburg, WI. This gallery is part of the Worm Farm Institute which is "dedicated to integrating culture and agriculture, an evolving laboratory of the arts and
ecology and fertile ground for creative work." The show was curated by fellow artist/friend and notorious CORN LADY, Cathi Bouzide and encompasses the work of 18 women from around the country...there will even be a limited edition Women in Grains Beer microbrewed by Cathi's husband Paul. Should be a fun filled and very interesting evening!
When invited to participate, I decided to use my trucks. My initial hope
was to actually plant grain in the beds of them, this required that I
work outside of my comfort level and build bigger rigs. It was
challenging but I learned a lot and had new ideas along the way. Time
and circumstances prevented my use of live plants so I opted to fill
them with grain: corn, oats, rice, rye, buffalo grass and black popcorn.
Most of which were brought to me from the farm of artist, Dan
Brinkmeier in Mount Carroll. Still wondering why I'm in a show called
Women in Grains? Read my statement below...
artist statement
Trucks started showing up in my work in 2007, shortly after moving to a new neighborhood not far from the Kennedy Expressway in Chicago. The sound of the trucks lull me to sleep at night and once the leaves fall, I see the trucks up there on that ribbon of elevated expressway every time I walk out my front door to walk the dogs.
I actually like the sound these trucks make and I have a fascination with their scale and design. Growing up in quiet small town Sparta, Wisconsin, the sounds of the highway lulled me to sleep at night and reminded me that there was a whole other world out there full of people traveling and venturing to other places. I also love road trips, so trucks are a part of my visual landscape which I associate with the freedom and vistas of the open road.
So how do these things tie in with ‘Women in Grains’? I feel a certain grain connection due to my experiences at the Fields Project Artist Residency in rural Oregon, Illinois, not only painting images of the farms and fields, but actually making one of my images into an 11 acre field sculpture. I also consume my fair share of grains and in the end, no matter what I just said: trucks carry grain.
Snicker gets his wings...
Clay1 Comment
My dog sculpture of Snicker is complete...came out pretty well with the exception of a hairline crack across the base...oh the joys of working with clay! Luckily there are some great epoxy products out there that may save the day if it decides to split. This piece is about 23" long and 13" high. Follow the link for the story behind this piece.