New Works

Several shows are on the immediate calendar. 

One is coming up this week on Thursday, the Reflections Exhibit at Main Street Fort Pierce. This is always a fun and well attended show.  I look forward to it every year. 

The great thing about exhibits on the calendar is that they give you a date for which to produce. We can get caught up in the details of daily life and then not much gets finished creatively.  Another benefit is that once you start creating for that calendar date, the juices flow in all aspects of your experience. This is rewarding. It's a natural high that I strive for; such a good feeling. For me, that's my goal for my every-day feeling.

Here is some evidence of that flow:

Ignatious, or Iggy for short.

Earthenware Bowl

Glazes and underglazes.

Holiday Ornaments. 

And a teaser of what's to come.

Late Night In The Studio

Clay To Wear

I'm not much of a jewelry person myself

but I seem to be attracted to making jewelry. 

Clay lends itself to this expression readily. 

I like the juxtaposition of shiny versus matt surfaces. I'm also enjoying the addition of black underglazes to give depth and a sense of history to the pieces. 

The necklaces have a straightforward and practical approach

with the use of sliding knots to make adjustments.

And with an eye on reuse, I've discovered discarded guitar strings. They've found a myriad of uses within my art, the latest being the connection between the necklace and the pendant.

This adds the "industrial" touch that pleases my aesthetic.

Just the beginning.

I'm Ba-ack

Good Start To A Day

Morning coffee with my favorite cup.

Mmmmmmm, good!

Mug Artist ~ Gustav Miller.

Clay Works

For the new year, I've decided to amp up on the clay work. 

This decision was reinforced with an offer to be January's featured artist 

at Flametree Clay Art Gallery in Vero Beach. 

A few highlights are featured here.

I started with what I like to call clay sketches. These are

small plaques that I draw on and sculpt into images.

For the imagery, I referred to my collages. It's a great way to jumpstart.

"Gaynell Goes To The Beach"

collage

This clay sketch is called "Bad Hair Day".

"Hey! Over Here!"

collage

And this "But Why?"

I dusted off a few cobwebs from the wheel and threw this little pot

along with some other pieces and parts.

And of course, some Organiques. My little bohemians. 

The natural irregular accidents of these pieces delight me.

I threw in an Art Game. 

(You can check out more Art Games here at Ginny Piech Street.

Scroll down to see the games.)

Loving the combination of media. 

Thanks to my friend Janie, I had this lovely cigar box to transform

into the container. This game is called Archipelago. It consists of little islands,

houses and palm trees with discarded guitar strings for trunks

and tiles representing water. The pieces can be arranged in a myriad

of ways to create the archipelago of your dreams!

This little floral, called "Passion Trumpet" combines hand built with thrown pieces

and stacks on a central wooden dowel. Great fun to make. 

The bloom was pre-existing from a series of garden flowers I created.

It was too small to stand alone. So here's the initial idea toss.

I'm always intrigued by the transition between idea and finished object.

My favorite piece and biggest accomplishment of the work

for the exhibit was "Big Red Egg", a totem that stacked

on a central rod. 

Hand built with a few wheel thrown segments.

The greatest learning was with this piece, constructing

the various objects and experimenting with underglazes. 

I love the matte surface and soft colors that the underglazes have. 

(I'd like to thank all my clay artist friends for their patience 

in answering my numerous & repeated questions regarding

glazes, particularly underglazes. They helped me take the leap

from cold glaze - acrylic paint - to the real deal.) 

Of course, I'll still cold glaze.

Love the mix.

So

THANK YOU

Flametree Clay Artists!

For pushing me to grow in such a joyful way!