Happy New Year

by | Jan 2, 2016 | Uncategorized

another year come and gone. another one already underway….
what’s the future for musing to hold? 
hopefully more of the same, but also hopefully something better. 
i’m always open to suggestions and ideas of how to make the blog better or more useful for folks. 
i’m also always open to submissions of content – calls for entry, exhibitions, and artists profiles for eye candy or emerging artists. 
this year i’m also looking for a few willing folks to take over some minor parts of the blog. 
think you might have the time, the inclination, the desire to get involved? 
drop me a line @ [email protected]
thank you
 as always to each and everyone of you that has helped to make musing what it is. 
i’m deeply touched by each and every email and lovely comment or shout out. 
you guys are the best. thanks for sticking with me for so long!
all the best for 2016
xoxox – carole 
***
*also a reminder that musing is brought to you by volunteer hours rather then paid advertisments. should you ever feel so inclined to donate to keeping the blog up and running you can send donations via paypal to [email protected]
 

Lisa Clague & Debra Fritts workshop

by | Dec 27, 2015 | Uncategorized

Lisa Clague & Debra Fritts
DREAMING IN CLAY: The Human Figure, Fantasy and the Subconscious
Barro.Co Clay Studio, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

September 3rd – 11th, 2016


The Reliquary Figure: a personal journey
San Miguel De Allende is rich with inspiration, cobblestone streets,
religious imagery, architecture, and endless surfaces that show the
passing of time. During this workshop we will allow our surroundings as
well as our own visions to inspire us as we create the human figure.
We will visit the Mask Museum in town and the Sanctuary of Atotonilco in
the countryside, which will help fill us with a vast display of
history, imagery and imagination. Debra and Lisa will demonstrate
daily, their individual building techniques. Incorporation of metal,
found objects and slip dipped fabrics will be introduced. Both
instructors will discuss color and surface texture using the numerous
engobes available at Barro.Co Clay Studio. Discussion will surround the
human form as a spiritual vehicle to embellish with ones own vision,
narrative or surreal. In addition, we will begin the day with a simple
meditative exercise in clay to generate our energy, and the objects will
be used as test tiles for finishes. We will combine our intuition,
personal experience and the influence of the city to discover new
possibilities in our work.

Lisa Clague: Lisa Clague Sculpture
Debra Fritts: http://debrafritts.net

San Miguel de Allende, a colonial treasure in the mountains of central
Mexico, stands still in time with its pastel-colored houses,
centuries-old churches, and cobblestone streets. A UNESCO World Heritage
Site that was recently rated by Condé Nast as the best city in the
world to live, San Miguel offers a favorable year-round climate, an
active arts community and a laid-back environment that stimulates
creativity.

You can read more about San Miguel at: http://www.visitmexico.com/en/san-miguel-de-allende

PRICE: $1695 U.S.*
EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT: If you register before February 1st 2015, you will receive a 10% discount.
TO REGISTER: A 30% deposit is required for registration.

*Price includes: 6 full days in the studio (see itinerary below) with
all necessary materials, as well as daily coffee, tea and snacks, all
lunches, welcome dinner, farewell dinner, all listed tours and
activities.
**Not included: Flight, accommodation, optional cooking
class, alcoholic beverages, optional firing and shipping of sculptures.

McKnight Artist in Residence: Kathryn Finnerty

by | Dec 23, 2015 | Uncategorized

Residency: January – February 2016

Artist lecture: January 19, 2016

Join
us in welcoming McKnight Residency recipient Kathryn Finnerty, who will
be with us in January and February, 2016. Finnerty was invited to the
McKnight Residency program through a nominative process involving past
resident artists and other leaders in the field of ceramics. While in residence, Finnerty will provide a free lecture about her work on Tuesday, January 19, at 6:30 pm in NCC’s Library. 

Finnerty’s
work draws inspiration from 19th century English pottery, particularly
Victorian majolica, with classically inspired designs, raised-line
relief, and sprig and sgraffito images. Her current body of work is
evolving through an “abstracted landscape narrative,” and involves
larger, slab-constructed vessels; her use of bright, harmonious colors
is evident throughout.

Kathryn Finnerty has owned Pleasant Hill
Pottery in Eugene, Oregon since 2000, where she also teaches at Lane
Community College. Finnerty has recently had solo exhibitions at
Schaller Gallery and Red Lodge Clay Center. She has contributed to many
other exhibitions, including at Santa Fe Clay, LUX Center for the Arts,
James Renwick Alliance of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the American Pottery Festival at
NCC. Her work is carried by AKAR Gallery, Pewabic Gallery, and The Clay
Studio Philadelphia, and several others. Finnerty’s exquisitely
decorated surfaces have been featured in Making Marks: Discovering the Ceramic Surface (Robin Hopper, 2004) and others, including 500 Teapots (vol. 1, 2002, and vol. 2, 2013) and 500 Pitchers (2005).

We hope you will join us January 19 for this lecture, and to welcome Kathryn Finnerty to NCC!  Refreshments will be provided.

This
program is sponsored by the McKnight Foundation and reflects the
Foundation’s interest in supporting outstanding individual ceramic
artists who have proven their abilities, and are at a career stage that
is beyond emerging.
Northern Clay Center                  

2424 Franklin Ave East                
Minneapolis, MN  55406              
 www.northernclaycenter.org                      
612.339.8007

call for artists: Future Flux Prospectus for Concurrent Exhibition Proposals

by | Dec 17, 2015 | Uncategorized

51st ANNUAL NCECA CONFERENCE
Wednesday March 22 – Saturday, March 25, 2017
Portland, Oregon

Overview
NCECA is committed to the exhibition and expansion of contemporary
ceramic practice including diverse approaches that range from
utilitarian and designed objects to sculpture, installations,
site-specific works and performative events.

A member driven organization, NCECA is enriched by the innovation and
vision that emerges from our community to present ceramic art of the
highest caliber in the form of Concurrent Exhibitions (CEs). These
exhibitions represent an important feature of NCECA’s Annual Conference
experience bringing high visibility to the work of participating
artists. Moreover, NCECA’s efforts to site and promote Concurrent
Exhibitions expand awareness of and engagement with ceramic art for
audiences that travel to and reside throughout the conference’s host
region.

NCECA promotes CEs through the print conference guide, app, website,
Blog and social media. While NCECA makes efforts to cluster the shows
within art/ cultural districts to maximize viewer attendance, it is not
able to guarantee that all exhibition venues will be included on tour
routes.

2017 Exhibitions Focus
NCECA seeks exhibition proposals that have conceptual resonance with the theme of its 51st annual conference, Future Flux. The
conference will take place in Portland, Oregon and NCECA specifically
seeks Concurrent Exhibition proposals that resonate with our theme.  As
journey’s end for Lewis and Clark in the early 18th century, expedition and discovery have
framed our imagination of the Pacific Northwest. As we pass beyond
NCECA’s first fifty years, the interconnection of mind, materials, and
transformation at the heart of ceramic process, art and education can
serve as trail heads to our future. Our creative work in the 21st century increasingly engages with hybrid practices, issues of diversity, notions of community and dynamic change. How
will more sustainable models of ceramic art and education continue to
evolve? What are the essential competencies and capacities for ceramic
artists and educators today and for the future? How can we continue to
draw from rich historic traditions while reinvigorating their relevance
in rapidly changing global societies? Portland, Oregon, a city of
rivers, makers, and entrepreneurs is an ideal vantage point from which
to investigate these questions and others. NCECA seeks Concurrent
Exhibition proposals that will help transport us to the ways that
ceramic art and education will continue to matter going forward.

All proposals and accompanying support materials must be submitted online by midnight Wednesday, February 3, 2016 (EDT).  

Full details here: http://nceca.net/concurrent-exhibition-proposals/

call for participants: Kiln Raising @ Banff Centre with Robin Dupont and Dan Murphy

by | Dec 12, 2015 | Uncategorized

 


May 30 – June 24, 2016



Application Deadline February 3, 2016

Overview

In the spirit of a community barn raising, this residency will bring
together emerging and established ceramic artists to create new work and
explore kiln construction, culminating in the building and firing of
The Banff Centre’s first wood fire Train Kiln.

The use of wood to “fire” clay is a continuity of technology and
tradition from ancient history into contemporary practice.  The
characteristic earthen tones, ash deposits, burnt sienna flashings,
natural glaze surfaces, and spontaneous effects, are sought after in
atmospheric firing processes.  The Train Kiln, named after its elongated
rectangular shape reminiscent of a rail car, epitomizes these effects.
Soda firing techniques, surfaces, textures, and processes will also be
explored.

What does the program offer?

Participating artist will delve into wood kiln history, theory,
principles of design, construction and firing process with the goal of
understanding and maximizing the nuances of wood firing and its
relationship to form and surface.  Discussions and workshops addressing
clay-body formulation, wheel and hand building processes, loading and
firing strategies for atmospheric kilns, are also part of this
residency.  As well, artists will have time to explore independent
projects and push their work in new creative directions through studio
visits with faculty mentors and feedback from peers.

Who should apply?

This residency is for emerging and experienced ceramic-based artists
with an exhibition record and formal training in visual arts, or
equivalent experience and recognition from their peers.

Full details and application requirements: www.banffcentre.ca/programs/kiln-raising

residency opportunity : Kohler

by | Dec 5, 2015 | Uncategorized

   
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Apply for the Arts Center’s world-renowned Arts/Industry residency
program! Up to sixteen exceptional artists from around the world are
chosen each year for two- to six-month residencies in the Pottery or
Iron/Brass Foundry and Enamel shop in Kohler Co.’s Kohler, Wisconsin,
plant. With the guidance of an excellent staff, artists of all
disciplines can explore new ideas and technologies in order to create a
body of work impossible in their own studio as well as new ways of
thinking and working. Previous experience with clay or metal sculpture
is not required.

Artists
accepted into the program receive housing, transportation, materials,
use of equipment, studio space, photography services, and a small
stipend. Artists-in-residence may work in the Kohler Co. Pottery, Iron
and Brass Foundries, and Enamel Shop to develop a wide variety of work
in clay, enameled cast iron, and brass including but not limited to
murals and reliefs, temporary or permanent site-specific installations,
and functional and sculptural forms.

Applications for the 2017 residencies are now being accepted from December 1, 2015 through April 1, 2016. Click here for the online application.

Required Application Materials

  • 20 images of your strongest work
  • A resume or CV
  • Project proposal of 200 words or less accompanied by proposal images
  • List of four professional references

For more information on the application process, please contact the Arts/Industry coordinator at (920) 694-4548.

http://www.jmkac.org/index.php/artsindustry-residency/application-process