Here are a couple of things I am currently working with:

New, green ideas, since we don't have a glass recycling program in Bismarck!

New pots!

Wedding vases!

Wedding bouquet!

Wedding Preparations

Very creative weekend--but no pix! 

Many table runners, complete with hand printed designs, and a full kiln of bisque ready to be painted.  Will photograph tomorrow.

Oh, yes!  We agreed to purchase a 1950's tractor, too.

New Pots!

These are painted forms with my own designs...

This one is mostly underglaze, with some glossy details...

Love the details of this glaze!

Finally--a few new images of what I've been doing.  Linae

Giving it a shot this weekend

My son is home (finally!) and I'm going to give it another shot to get things posted...I have a lot of work done since my last post!

OOPS! Lecturing about Creativity...

Tell me, do you consider yourself creative?

If so, Where are you Creative?

When is your most creative time?

Who is around when you create?

Why do you do it?

Teaching at BSC 4/15/10!

I am presenting  talks at BSC tomorrow on creativity!  Check it out!

Oh my goodness! 20 Pots!

Yes, I threw 20 pots this weekend and my back is killing me!

I will photograph the glazed ones tomorrow!

It will take a miracle!

The two things in my way this weekend are:

I worked the overnight shift last night on my "day" job.  I'm pooped!

I REALLY need to organize my work space.  It has become totally dysfunctional!  I know I like it messy, but that is now simply an excuse for not cleaning it up.

I am going to make an effort to create and get something posted, but it will be late late late.  You get the idea...

Working Through It

New Pots!

These are not fired yet!

Check back next week for the fired version!

there and back

the age-old debate...where does my motivation come from?  inside or out?  I've been going around this loop again and I can only guess that it is the transition in the seasons or just plain boredom that is getting to me.  So a night of soaking--movie, food, good conversation with my kid, and reading.  I will start again tomorrow.

Supplies, supplies, Supplies!

I am SO excited!  After dropping a little cash, I have 175 pounds of fresh clay, new underglazes (really underglazes!!!!), PMC, Thai Kozo, and Gampi.  Unreal.

That is the funny thing...we have such a wonderful, open, creative space in ND, but supplies are non existent!  I hate paying for shipping!

A shout-out to the man who assisted me at Continental Clay.  He had a wealth of ideas, plus made up a small bottle of one of the underglazes when the shelf was out.  He also opened my mind to doing watercolor techniques on bisque.  Ah!  The world is expanding!

This is what I mean when I talk about the disparity between the urban and the rural.  An incredible wealth of human knowledge in the city and an incredible wealth of natural wonder in the rural.  I want to bring them together, at least in me.

One last thing--I visited MCAD early on Saturday and saw the newest works in the Made at MCAD exhibition.  Unreal!  4 or 5 pieces coming directly out of fiber tradition.  I know now that I could go there for my MFA.  I could fit there.  We'll see what the future brings!

Weekend Away

Time for adventure and restocking supplies in Minneapolis.  Also time to take stock of myself, as relates to my former hometown and the choices I continue to make to live more rural (sleepy, lovely Bismarck).

What I wrote this a.m.:

I am always surprised at the "nature" of things in this metro area.  Of necessity, the relationships between people and things becomes primary.  Nature/wilderness is more a matter of backdrop, rather than foreground.  The forces of nature, unless extreme, are pretty much conquered.  This is NOT to say that the wilderness of ND is primary for people.  There is just a lot more space in between humans and so the natural world plays a larger part. 

However, there are humans here who seek the wild, but I wonder if it isn't for a purpose?  But hold on.  When rural folks seek the wild, it is for their purposes, too.  If I seek the wild, I do so for my own purposes.  Is this because the wild is so large, so expansive, that it doesn't seem possible to do something for its sake--other than leave it alone??

Wirework Neckware

Finally figured out a better way to photograph these wire pieces!

Love making them! Very relaxing...

 Here I am thinking about wire as a "fiber"...

And vibrant color comes into play! 

Almost looks like a symbol for nuclear power....?

In closing, its been a quiet weekend for creativity, as I haven't been feeling well (it will pass...), but I did manage to get the hang of photographing these pieces!

I've FINALLY found my "thing"!

Oh my goodness!  These pots are SO wonderful!  I am having a hard time believing that every piece of this work is mine!                                                                                          
 

 I threw the pots, painted the designs and fired them.  If they have wirework, I did that too!

Here's the detail on the wirework!

One last tasty pot and its detail...

Some of you have asked about the wirework jewelry I am making in tandem with this work...I need to work on the photography so you can really see the details!

Not an art picture, but related!

Yes!  Its gone!  The era ends...

I bought this pick up when I was moving out on my own after my divorce.  It was the vehicle that brought us to ND and transported my goods to all those art fairs! 

What is next?  Working on my own themes and ideas, and considering the next move!

Transformations

 

Late night and lots of work pouring out.  These are three raku clay pots, fired to 06 with underglaze paints and semi-matte overglaze.  They were grooved to allow for the addition of metal handles to be added later.  I worked in a progression, becoming more effusive and less functional as the night progressed.

This was my work this a.m.--adding barbed-wire motif to the edge of this pot and dangling 19 hand-wrought charms from it.  Here's a detail:

 

And finally, a decent picture of my favorite side.  As architect, sculptor and educator Gerry Allan taught, the picture of the work should be better than the work itself.

Four Hours at Creative Clay, Bismarck!

These are my hand-thrown pots painted at Creative Clay.  Next step is to overglaze and fire.  This is next weekend's work, when I am at Cattail.

It was wonderful--and chaotic--to be there.  Once, during the four hours, there must have been 30 people in the smallish space!  When I am at home or Cattail, I am alone and it is very quiet.  I think the variation is good for me.

These pots will look SO different after they are fired.  I am becoming attached to their pastel good looks and they will be darker and more vibrant.  That is part of the wonder of pottery--the shifts in color and changes in surface.

I am wondering today why I always step away from expertise I've gathered?  I feel so uncomfortable telling people how to do things.  I learn best when I am left to work things out for myself.  That is the nature of the self-directed learner.  But it is a different thing to always be stepping out of the expert box because I am uncomfortable...

One more pot image...

Shipment from Firemountain Beads!

 

Yup, got here yesterday evening!
I have all night tonight to work with them.  Just like a candy store!

Planning for the weekend

What am I working on this weekend?

I am waiting for a box from Firemountain Beads that contains lots of malleable wire, crystals and fun tools for bending/blending metal.

I also plan to glaze-paint the many pots I fired last weekend.  Mel, of Creative Clay in Bismarck, has agreed to let me paint at her studio, so now I can have greater control over my colors.

Probably try to get the "3-ring circus" going, with at least one more creative activity to pursue at once.

And of course, a good fantasy-adventure book to read!  Gotta keep the "trout pond" full!