art every day

Art Every Day 2.0 | A Fresh Start | Clay Peony

Since I graduated from UMW in May I began a graduate program in Art Therapy.

This is very exciting for me.

With this program I will be making a lot of art, and reading a SHIT TON of books, articles, and all that jazz.  Sooooo I thought I would re-start my Art Every Day via school stuff.  Some of it will be visual journaling, some in class exercises, and then just some miscellaneous stuff.

Sounds good right?

Right.

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This is something I worked on in my Process and Materials class.  It is clay.  We were working through sensory art making, so this piece was done with my eyes closed, with no preconceived notion of what it might become.

When I opened my eyes and looked at it I immediately thought of a peony. 

My favorite flower.

While I was working with the clay a flower was the last thing on my mind.  In fact, my mind was wandering through things that need to be read, clothes that needed to be dropped at the cleaners, toothpaste that needs to be bought...flowers?  Nope, but it didn't take my mind more than a split second to see a flower.

That seems like a good sign.

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Flowers... are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities of the world. 

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

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I proceeded to smash and smush this into a few other shapes before retiring the ball of clay back to the pile. 

This was all about the process.

Art Every Day 2.0 | Ceramic Bottle Sculpture 7 of 7

Finally able to give back again, fruit appears. 

The journey of this little tree and its seed has come full circle.

 

I loooove pears, something about the shapes, colors, varieties, love.  Also my wonderful friends' parents threw M- and I an ammmazing engagement party, and the invitations and little favors said "Aren't they a great pair?" with of course pears.  Lots of wine and pears. Lots of wine. and pears.

 

 

 

 

I love the way the blue really melts into the background.

 

 

I'm really happy with how this bottle turned out, the colors are just as brilliant as when I put them on, the glaze is crazed and beautiful, and the white, unglazed, slipped areas are pristine. 

This project was a real learning experience for me.  I handbuilt each ceramic bottle, and then the idea of turning them into a narrative was challenging and fun.

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You can see the first ceramic bottle in the series here.

You can see the second ceramic bottle in the series here.

You can see the third ceramic bottle in there series here.

You can see the fourth ceramic bottle in the series here.

You can see the fifth ceramic bottle in the series here.

You can see the sixth ceramic bottle in the series here.

You can see the seventh ceramic bottle in the series here.

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What did you make today?

Art Every Day 2.0 | Ceramic Bottle Sculpture 6 of 7

Take some rain, add a little sunshine, and what do you get?  A flowering tree.

 

 

As excited as I was to see this bottle after the firing, I was a little disappointed in the end.  The watercolor underglazes really disappeared more than on some of the other bottles.  I really like how the watercolor underglazes looked and how easy they were to work with, but the results were spotty at best.

 

 

 

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You can see the first ceramic bottle in the series here.

You can see the second ceramic bottle in the series here.

You can see the third ceramic bottle in there series here.

You can see the fourth ceramic bottle in the series here.

You can see the fifth ceramic bottle in the series here.

You can see the sixth ceramic bottle in the series here.

You can see the seventh ceramic bottle in the series here.

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What did you make today?

 

Art Every Day 2.0 | Ceramic Bottle Sculpture 4 of 7

parting clouds after the storm-- this may be my favorite.

 

 

 

 

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You can see the first ceramic bottle in the series here.

You can see the second ceramic bottle in the series here.

You can see the third ceramic bottle in there series here.

You can see the fourth ceramic bottle in the series here.

You can see the fifth ceramic bottle in the series here.

You can see the sixth ceramic bottle in the series here.

You can see the seventh ceramic bottle in the series here.

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What did you make today?

Art Every Day 2.0 | Ceramic Bottle Sculpture 3 of 7

This is the third of seven ceramic bottles I made last semester. 

The project was a sculptural narrative.

"Crying" ceramic bottle.

 

 

 

 

I just love the juciness of the glaze on this bottle, the bit of running some of the water droplets are doing, and the awesome craze in the clear glaze.

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You can see the first ceramic bottle in the series here.

You can see the second ceramic bottle in the series here.

You can see the third ceramic bottle in there series here.

You can see the fourth ceramic bottle in the series here.

You can see the fifth ceramic bottle in the series here.

You can see the sixth ceramic bottle in the series here.

You can see the seventh ceramic bottle in the series here.

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What Did You Make Today?

Art Every Day 2.0 | Ceramic Bottle Sculpture 2 of 7

This is the second of seven ceramic bottles I made last semester. 

The project was a sculptural narrative.

This is the trauma.

 

 

The tree has been chopped down.  All that remains is a seed...of hope.

 

 

Please excuse the broken axe.  During transit from school to home the axe handle snapped off.  I haven't gotten to fix it yet.

 

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You can see the first ceramic bottle in the series here.

You can see the second ceramic bottle in the series here.

You can see the third ceramic bottle in there series here.

You can see the fourth ceramic bottle in the series here.

You can see the fifth ceramic bottle in the series here.

You can see the sixth ceramic bottle in the series here.

You can see the seventh ceramic bottle in the series here.

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What did you make today?

Art Every Day 2.0 | Ceramic Bottle Sculpture 1 of 7

Over the next week or so I'd like to show you the ceramic bottle sculptures I made last semester.  We had to do a narrative sculpture.  I decided to do a series involving trauma, rebirth and healing.

Here is the first of seven ceramic bottles.

 

 

I chose the shape of a bottle, because it is a vessel that refernces the human form.  I hand built the bottles and tried to give them a child-like quality to them, kind of like a story book feel.

 

 

The bottles were slipped white, then I used watercolor underglazes, and hand dipped with clear glaze.  I was a little disappointed with the colors, I did a few tests and liked the results, but in the end the colors came out a lot less vibrant than my tests.

 

 

 

While these ceramic bottles were being hand dipped I left part of the base free of glaze.  I love the difference in texture, gloss, and even color.

 

I'd love to hear your thoughts!  These are from my second ceramic class ever, so I'm proud I was able to complete a narrative in an effective way, still working on my technical skills and craftmanship.

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You can see the first ceramic bottle in the series here.

You can see the second ceramic bottle in the series here.

You can see the third ceramic bottle in there series here.

You can see the fourth ceramic bottle in the series here.

You can see the fifth ceramic bottle in the series here.

You can see the sixth ceramic bottle in the series here.

You can see the seventh ceramic bottle in the series here.

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What Did You Make Today?

 

Garden Plate Flower Art Every Day 355

Living in the south leaves me dreaming of lush, slightly overgrown, chock full of kitch, baubles and bits gardens.  Now, I live smack in the middle of the suburbs and wanting to put a clawfoot tub in my backyard and fill it with flowers is frowned upon...right now.  The thing is, I still yearn for that kooky-eclectic garden. 

I have been slowly collecting bottles for my future bottle tree. 

I have a great tree and am searching for the perfect outdoor chandelier to hang from its boughs.

I have a pile of pennies and I'm looking for a bowling ball to attach them to.

I have proudly displayed my recycled vase and plate bird bath/feeder.

I have ideas of furniture painted bright colors for outdoor sitting.

I pick up a rock whenever I go somewhere new for my rock garden. **Bring me a rock when you come to visit!

See, I'm not really concerned about flowers, yes, they are lovely, but I really like green things, succulents, vines, andthings with leaves.  (okay, I admit I LOOOOVE flowers, I just have a black thumb, greens are lovely and easy!)

So when I am stumbling around the internetz I like to stop by Digging.  A lovely site dedicated to awesome gardens.

On a 'Digging' garden tour of Austin TX I saw some lovely plated on poles, like flowers...  I HAD to make one/some, a hundred.

Today I finally experimented and here's what I came up with:

Okay, there is only one spoon 'leaf' in the picture, but after seeing it this way I am going to attach at least one more, maybe two.

Looks sparse like this, but I think with 2 or 4 more the cluster will be perfect!

A Peacock No More Art Every Day 328

So how long have I been talking about a peacock?  5 weeks, right.  Well, it is a peacock no more. 

Remember that sketch from yesterday's post?  Forgetaboutit.

I have to say 5 weeks is NOT enough time for a sculpture of this size to be fully realized.  Well maybe for a professional, but not me.  But, I am not giving up, I am just going to have to morph these beautiful feathers into something else for the Thursday deadline.

I'm kicking myself for thinking that I would stick to what I decided on DURING THE FIRST WEEK.

I know that's crazy.

That's not how my brain works.

That's not how art is made.

That's not how an artist works.

I move on, I forge ahead; with more thinking, contemplating, trial, and error I will figure this out.

Mandala?

Up a wall?

along the floor?

inside?

outside?

Okay, I am clearing my brain here a bit so I am fresh a little later.  Let me share a sneak peak of what I have been working on today and the last 5 weeks.

Can I just say how scared I was of the glazing process?  When I was putting the oxides on I just couldn't SEE what it was going to look like in the end.  The color that is stroked or sprayed on is NOT THE SAME as what it looks like when it is done firing. 

I had no idea.

After removing the first half from the kiln I was pleasantly surprised, they looked nice.  I was happy with the decision to make each feather different and NOT follow a pattern for the colors.  They are all different and all equally beautiful.

The real magic happened when Carlos and I placed them in a simple formation. 

In this case the whole is greater than the sum of its parts--by and far.  My jaw dropped.  I had made those.  A vision had become more of a reality than I ever thought in my wildest dreams. 

Now, although I am stalled I know I will have a lovely presentation on Thursday, and while it may change over the next few months I will be able to look back at this project and smile.

 

 

 

Peacock Update and Printable Art Every Day 326-327

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sooooooo.  This peacock is killing ME!  Okay, not literally, but I am in waaaaaay over my head.  In the end I will prevail (or at least that is what I keep telling myself), but my creative brain is really being stretched right now.  A sketch from last night gives a glimpse into what's going on, although I'm not totally clear myself. 

Wish me luck!

 

 

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This is card number 16 for my goal of leave 100 art cards that inspire, anonymously from my Stupendous Life List.

This 3X5 card is kinda a reminder to MYSELF!!! more than anything! 

Remember, you are free to print and distribute to friends, family and strangers, but only to brighten their day!