Moving

Hello everyone! I have decided keeping up two blogs is to much work! So I have combined them.  Check it out at http://gardclaystudios.blogspot.com/

Surface

I recently came across some wonderful resources for surface and image transfer that you might be helpful. Watch, read, explore, try, and enjoy!

Meridith Host: Decorating Ceramic Forms with Screen Prints and Stencils

Jason Bige BurnettL How to Use Stained Slips and Newsprint to Make Monoprints on Pottery

From the Ceramic Arts Daily Webpage:
CeramicArtsDaily.org is an online community serving active potters and ceramic artists worldwide, as well as those who are interested in finding out more about this craft. CeramicArtsDaily.org provides a wide array of tools for learning about and improving skills, and a place for artists to display their work and to share ideas and perspectives about how their art and life interact to shape each other.
CeramicArtsDaily.org provides a free daily newsletter, access to Ceramics Monthly and Pottery Making Illustrated magazines and the Potters Council, as well as linking you to all the related products and services that these groups offer.

NCECA

This past week I was hard at work preparing for my thesis defense and spending time in the studio. My friends and classmates were in Seattle Washington attending the NCECA conference. NCECA is the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts. I was bummed I couldn’t be there but I have been fortunate to attend a few of these conferences in the past. Every time I leave filled with images of artwork, new technical information, and a mind exploding with ideas. I recommend NCECA for anyone who wants to learn about ceramics, see more ceramics in person then you have seen in your life, and have a wonderful time meeting arists. Next year the conference will be held in Houston Texas and I plan to attend. The following year Milwaukee Wisconsin and I can’t miss that one with half of my family residing in Wisconsin!

How to... Videos!

For those of you who do not know what I have been up to this past semester. I have been busy working away on my thesis. I recently completed two how to videos and I thought I would share them. For my project I have created a ceramic website that includes instructional videos among other resources for educators using clay in the classroom.You can visit my website at ohhappyclay.org

Click here to watch the Video on Reclaiming Clay.



Click here to watch the video on Applying Kiln Wash.

Verdant Earth and Teeming Seas

Currently at the Harn Museum of Art

Verdant Earth and Teeming Seas: The Natural World in Ancient American Art

February 11, 2012 - November 4, 2012

This exhibition highlights the Harn Museum of Art’s collection of ceramic figures and vessels, stone sculptures, jade ornaments, and textiles from diverse cultures of Ancient America including, Mesoamerica, Central America, and the Andes. This exhibition explores the many ways in which Maya, Inca, and Aztec cultures were inspired by the natural world. It introduces the natural materials they used and features various portrayals of flora and fauna from ancient American environments. The ways in which these cultures depicted animals and plants range from highly naturalistic and humorous to abstract and symbolic. While many works show a keen observation of the natural world, others show that Pre-Columbian people drew from the world around them for their mythology and for symbols of power. The exhibition draws from the Harn’s holdings, from private collections, and from the collections of the Florida Museum of Natural History. Co-curated by Susan Cooksey, Curator of African Art, and Maya Stanfield-Mazzi, Assistant Professor of Art History at the University of Florida, the exhibition is made possible through the support of the Dr. Madelyn M. Lockhart Endowment for Focus Exhibitions at the Harn Museum of Art. This endowment was developed to foster collaboration between Harn Museum curators and University of Florida faculty to enhance teaching at the university.

art, art…

For all the artists out there, this is for you. If you do anything for yourself this week take time to watch this short video. It’s a music video for the song “Art” by Tanya Davis. It has been my favorite song for some time now and as I was listening this morning I thought that all of you might need it as much as I do!

For me this song, addresses all the issues that I ask myself everyday and it speaks to my deep love for art and making! Why do I make art? Is it making a difference? Is there good in my art? Will making art give me purpose and is it worth it?

Making Meaning Part II

Last night was busy as ever it was the opening for the University of Florida School of Art and Art History Student Juried Exhibition. I had a piece entitled ‘Gymnastics Plates’ excepted into the exhibition. These plates were made with a part of me and I consider them a self-portrait. Everything I make I consider a self-portrait but it was not always like that even a year ago I would not consider this true. I enjoyed making work but what created that shift in meaning. What made meaning so deep that I consider each piece a self-portrait? Well I will tell you as I unfold the night’s events. The art opening and the gymnastics meet were scheduled for the same time this past Friday night. This left me conflicted. Do I go to the gymnastics meet? I do not miss those for the world. How was I going to manage being in two places at one time. Well I headed out early for the art opening and took my time but as I walked around my heart was racing as I thought about the gymnastics meet underway. No one would have known the excitement that was running through me as I casually walked through the exhibition enjoying pieces created by many friends.





I soon enough headed over to the gymnastics meet as I walked in the Gators were on bars and I had only missed vault my least favorite event. I sat and watched clapping, cheering, and my body felt as though I was doing each skill with them. I am entranced with the movement and the energy of the human body especially when it involved flipping, twisting, and jumping through space. My mind, heart, and body become one at these meets and I have no other way to explain this physical reaction. Last night as I pondered how I would convey this to the readers of my blog I thought of a video I had seen in undergrad on Mirror Neurons, it was put out by PBS some time ago but I feel it is still very relevant. It runs 14 minutes long perfect for a short break or to play in class. I highly recommend you take the time to watch it. It highlights a “recently discovered system in the brain may help explain why we humans can get so worked up watching other people.” It makes a connection between the seeing the doing.

As a graduate student I came in with no real direction in my artwork because I was never told I needed one. I made art to make it and out of enjoyment but it never went deeper then that. If I could change one thing about my art education it would be an educator who took time to ask me and required me to think, write and reflect on what was important to me. To help guide me to meaningful making. I am all to fortunate to have found this gift later in life. I will never let go and I have made it my personal goal to not only share my love of ceramics with other but also my personal connection to making. I believe everyone has the ability to connect art to life and life to art. If only we encouraged our student to go beyond physical making.

This post is dedicated to Linda Arbuckle a passionate educator and artist herself who took the time to ask me these questions and pushed me to become the best artist I am capable of being. Thank you.