by Carole Epp | Apr 25, 2009 | Uncategorized
I can’t remember quite when it was that I first ran across Mickey’s blog and her work, but I remember being inspired by her energy for her work, all the while raising a gorgeous little one. She seemed to have the time and motivation for everything, making, teaching. It’s something I lack most days…I still tend to think somehow someone is stealing time from me…anyways Mickey is now one the many I get to chat with daily on that whole weird twitter thing I was telling you about. It’s starting to be fun, hearing what people are up to throughout the day and finding interesting links to things I would have never found otherwise, so I guess it’s worth it. But what’s really worth checking out is Mickey’s blog and her fantastic work!
I love that most of you have sent in some little written bit about your work and process. I find it not only interesting to see the work, but also to read how each artist expresses themselves verbally about their work. It’s an art form unto itself I reckon. So on that note here’s Mickey’s words:
Up until recently I kept saying that one day when I grow up I will be a Professional Potter.
Not to say I have grown up but I am a Professional Potter now. There is nothing much better than a bottle of cider the right music and freshly wedged clay on the wheel head ready to go. I become base, instinctual, feral, free.
I am in love with my craft.
My art loves me back just as hard.
I am self taught and have fit my Art Life in and amongst my other Lives.
Sewing-Writing-Inventing-Wife-Reading-Baking-Painting-Gardening-Homeschooling-Mama is the name of my other Life.
Oh most of you reading this know all about that kind of thing don’t you?
*wink-wink*
I have been Potting for twenty two years now.
Teaching art classes on and off for seventeen years.
I love that I can bring my babies with me to teach classes.
I love that I can host classes in my space with my family helping out sometimes.
I love that I can fill a big basket up with ” my fresh hot pottery”, walk it to a nearby business and sell most of it right on the spot.
Life that mingles the day to day family kind of stuff with the passion and obsession of being a an Artist.
It can be asking a lot of a person sometimes this Artist-Mama-thing.
I know no other way. Intense is good.
I am a Ceramicist Doing the abcedarian work of connecting my Soul’s Sight to a process.
For me the Process is Clay work. Now if I could just sell for what “Soul Speak” is actually worth worth! ha-hah !
That is the trick with any of our Art Work isn’t it?
I have one Gallery representing my work at the moment.
Cedar Corners in Tofino on Vancouver Island. Otherwise I sell out of my Studio.
So, if you feel the need to buy some Fresh Hot Pottery lets talk…
Meanwhile, be well my Artist Friends!
Be well.
http://studioterrafemina.blogspot.com
by Carole Epp | Apr 23, 2009 | Uncategorized
Jody is an amazing artist that I meet years and years ago when I first started in ceramics at the University of Regina. She was just finishing the program as I began so we had a brief cross over, but our paths in clay keep leading us back to each other. Her extensive portfolio of work has grown to truly encapsulate her personality, her energy for life and art, and her search for expression in clay through movement. She recently completed a fantastic video/performance work which demonstrated her addressing challenges in the studio, her experimentation and process and her amazingly hilarious sense of humor. Hopefully I can get my hands on a copy soon to share with you. In the meantime here’s a bit about her work in her own words:
“I explore traditional and popular concepts of wheel thrown pottery while challenging works that are typically representative of the pottery wheel.. Some of my more recent works are an exploration of movement, both in the sense of movement involved in the creation of the vessel forms and, more metaphorically, as a social concept within artistic and craft practices.”
by Carole Epp | Apr 22, 2009 | Uncategorized
I know it looks like knitting, and it is…but it’s also fired ceramics! No April fool’s I promise. This gorgeous work is by Helen Martin who I was lucky enough to study with when I was over in Australia a few years back. This body of work she’s been producing is so interesting in how it combines the time consuming processes of both knitting and ceramic work. Knitted objects are so enticingly tactile to me, as are ceramics I guess, but I love the trick these pieces play with the expectations of the viewer.
Here’s her artist statement about the work:
“Does your mother knit? Did your granny crochet?
My work celebrates the making process. The act of making takes me out of the present, into a gentle space where I can daydream to my heart’s content. This love of making is the common thread that ties me to other women and other generations in my family.
The need to make is closely connected to the needs of the domestic environment and nurturing a family, but it serves also to nurture and satisfy the self. Essentially, we, as makers of objects, are also making time – time for ourselves.
I make textile-like ceramic objects, bowl and plate forms, that are, in fact, twice made. Firstly, in relaxation mode, I knit and crochet simple forms from pure wool – square, rectangular, round. I then soak these in glaze, dry them, and fire them in the kiln. The wool burns out leaving the detail captured in glaze. It is this transformation, accompanied by its inherent technical challenges that drives me and excites me.”
If you’re in Melbourne make sure you take the time to see her work in person at her exhibition at NORTHCOTE POTTERY SUPPLIES Pan Gallery, which runs from May 1 to 27, opening reception on April 30th. Check out their website or blog for more info. Guest speaker is Kevin Murray, well worth the trip out.
Images are by Stuart Hayes, ANU Photography
by Carole Epp | Apr 21, 2009 | Uncategorized
I first came across Jeff’s work on one of my many procrastinating days in front of the computer (often spend browsing through etsy, i’ll admit it!) I was really drawn to the minimalism and repetition in the pattern of his forms and how they still evoke movement. I love how they play with light and shadow. Thus I was happy to get the opportunity to share it with you during Artist of the Day Month (which is already more than half over…so sad!)
So here’s a bit about the work from Jeff himself:
“The work is slip cast and made of stoneware clay. The textures grew out of a desire to make an ergonomic handle for the Braille mug a little over 10 years ago. How to incorporate them into usable vessels has been an ongoing challenge.
I decided to make Braille pots in the 1980’s after participating in various art fairs and seeing the occasional blind person visit the booth and interact with handcrafted pottery. (While their sighted friend described the work.) I thought a pot that spoke directly to a blind person was needed. I introduced Sixdot Braille Products in 1998.”
Please make sure to check out more of Jeff’s work at his etsy shop www.jefflongtin.etsy.com
by Carole Epp | Apr 21, 2009 | Uncategorized
I’ve just received an email stating that the artist “Matthias Ostermann ended his battle with HIV induced lymphoma yesterday at Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal. As was his wish there will be no memorial, although celebrations of his life are encouraged. A full obituary graciously written and provided by his longtime friend and art dealer Suzann Greenaway is available on PRIME’s website.”
There are also images of an exhibition of his work at Prime from January of this year.
Photographs of Matthias Ostermann and his work are available at his web site as well at www.matthiasostermann.com
by Carole Epp | Apr 20, 2009 | Uncategorized
“Parched,” triptych of hand built stoneware clay forms, each 5 ½” x 5” x 2 ½”, 2008.
I was instantly taken by Anna Freeman’s work when it turned up in my mailbox. Not only are her works terribly evocative of the beauty of the clay material, but her subject matter is moving and puts the viewer in a place where they can’t hide or avoid the issues she presents.
Here’s a bit from her artist statement:
“My work draws attention to a range of issues, including food-borne pathogens, monoculture, irrigation and water shortage, the use of corn for fuel production, and colony collapse disorder in honeybees: a syndrome that has caused massive die-offs of these vital pollinators. Through my work, I hope to generate a deeper contemplation about the sources of our food, its processing, and its impact on the environment and our bodies.”
Take the time to have a look through the work on her website. She’s created an interesting dynamic between presenting the charged subject matter in a material that is a part of the debate – the land – and serves up her subject matter relating to food on the objects themselves upon which we eat. There is also some great tile work and make sure you find the delicate slipcast “waste” pieces, they’re some of my favorites.
I can’t remember quite when it was that I first ran across Mickey’s blog and her work, but I remember being inspired by her energy for her work, all the while raising a gorgeous little one. She seemed to have the time and motivation for everything, making, teaching. It’s something I lack most days…I still tend to think somehow someone is stealing time from me…anyways Mickey is now one the many I get to chat with daily on that whole weird twitter thing I was telling you about. It’s starting to be fun, hearing what people are up to throughout the day and finding interesting links to things I would have never found otherwise, so I guess it’s worth it. But what’s really worth checking out is Mickey’s blog and her fantastic work!
I love that most of you have sent in some little written bit about your work and process. I find it not only interesting to see the work, but also to read how each artist expresses themselves verbally about their work. It’s an art form unto itself I reckon. So on that note here’s Mickey’s words:
