(Photographs and original art work copyright 2010, all rights reserved.)
Top: 18" tall, 18" diameter. Terra cotta, Gloss Black glaze wiped down, then covered in Matte Gray glaze and low fired.
Middle: 10" tall. High fired stoneware. Glaze is Temoku, which has been washed off, leaving only traces. Afterwards, the piece was dipped in yellow salt. Don't try this unless the kiln gods are smiling. This combination can run and destroy a kiln shelf.
Bottom: Terra cotta, Matte Gray glaze with Red Underglaze, low fired. The red wasn't supposed to be glossy.... Oh well.
Ok. For those that are curious, I'm talking to you, Schuyler, These are three recent pieces. I've been playing with the three-lobed base for a little while, and I think I'll do one more piece before I move on. I tend to do things in series and beat up a shape until I'm happy with it. these haven't quite hit the mark for me yet.
I also tend to go through phases where I'll fiddle around with one thing for a couple of weeks, so once in a while I have to take a break from that and make something in a couple of hours from start to finish. These are fiddly - I'm right now firing something that I did in a single three hour session.
Some of my best work is done in a short session using minimal tools. When I do this, I use my hands, a soft rubber rib, and a tiny dental spatula. I don't necessarily remove the tool marks or fingerprints, either.
1 and 2 are lovely organic pieces, Messy. 1 makes me think of wind blown silk over shoulders. 2 is rosy and rather striking. I love them both.
ReplyDeleteAfter the natural flow of the first two I have to admit I got lost on 3. It makes me think of the little cartoony monks that wander about during the intermissions on Monty Python. Some people just don't get art, I guess.
You got skillz, girl.
Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI admit to getting silly with the third piece. I even added a couple of extra heads to it. My brother-in-law says it's "like dancing Smurfs on acid", The Boy thinks the title should be "Alien Aorta".
The biggest one is REALLY big. As in it took most of a 25 lb. bag of clay to build. I like that it doesn't really LOOK heavy, until you try and pick it up.
Alien Aorta. Hehehe.
ReplyDeleteI was going to say "three-penguin autopsy" but didn't want to hurt your feelings...
That big one - #1, you mean? I keep looking at it - it's like a fragment of a Greek statue (hence the "praxitelean" reference in your reefer). It's really oddly pretty.
Oh me god, Messy, these are amazing pieces! I just love them. I don't know which one I love more, at first I thought it was the top one, because of its dynamics, but then I got focussed on the other ones and I keep on seeing new things in them.
ReplyDeletePlease please bring them to galleries and have an exhibit.... These are incrdible art works.
I love the middle one. It's like three vases fighting over who gets to hold that beautiful rose in the middle. (Ok, I admit to be highly pedestrian in my interpretation of most art.)
ReplyDeleteI keep looking at #3 and wishing it were titled, "Tell-Tale Heart".
ReplyDeleteSchuyler, you could say whatever you want and rest assured that The Boy is as big (or bigger) a smartass as you! Seriously, "Alien Aorta"? WTF? I have no idea where that came from.
ReplyDeleteLibby, my psychiatrist friend had a far more Freudian interpretation of that piece than most people seem to see. I don't know if it was subconscious on my part or he's just too used to seeing things that way.
The rest of you are being terribly polite.... You know you can tell me if the first thing that comes to mind is ???????
The first thing that came to mind was "Wow. Beautiful."
ReplyDelete(Tho the third IS a little ... rustic for my taste!)
Lovely work, thank you for sharing it.
The first two are very peaceful. The second one looks to me like the birth of a vase or something. I am not skilled in discussing art LOL!
ReplyDeleteThat last one looks like--like organs or something you'd buy at a cartoon butcher shop. Interesting.
You are talented and even more importantly, it looks like you are having fun with it. Bravo!