Small Plates

After another spell of distractions, I'm back in the studio. Haven't made these small plates in a while so they are a good way to ease back into the process.

Finished Work

Here are the professional shots of the latest batch of work shot by Taylor Dabney.

vaModern

vaModern just posted a feature of my work so I thought I'd share the link to the article. http://virginiamodern.wordpress.com/2012/06/09/perfect-imperfection/

Repetition

While building these latest pieces I am reminded of how much repetition goes into a creative process. I once heard an artist remark that they had essentially tried to perfect the same piece over and over throughout their entire career. I feel I am at that point too. Certain shapes, textures and images from the past keep reappearing as if trying to achieve a type of perfection. It's not so much an endless loop as it is an upward spiral, renewed in time with layers of new experiences.

Bisque kiln

Kiln loaded and ready to fire. Chilly, damp day in Virginia...good day to heat up the garage. The kiln is great supplemental heat in the winter, not so good in July.

Work Life Balance

Juggling family, work life and personal pursuits is always a challenge. Over the years I've struggled how to fit it all in. The result is that something always gets short-changed. For me most of the time that was my studio time. I don't have the personality that really driven artists have to sacrifice all for art. It's a personal decision I made a long time ago and have no regrets about it. I found myself at times jealous of colleagues who have the luxury of being full-time artists. With a little time and added wisdom I realize that very few of them had it easy and making comparisons between my life and anyone else's served no purpose. I am extremely grateful with the where my path lead me.

Tiles

Experimenting with some tile ideas. I love clay for its responsiveness. I remember my first coil pot in college and how amazed I was that the medium seemed to pick up on my mood and how such a clumsy first attempt could convey emotion as if I was painting a self-portrait.

My Space

This is a shot of my studio that I share with my son's hockey and lacrosse equipment. There's definitely no room for cars in here. A small bunny named Rabbit shares the space too. We lock our dogs out a few hours each day so she has run of the place for exercise. This past winter a small family of mice moved into the garage. They definitely didn't hesitate to visit her cage to gather food for their own stores. I don't think Rabbit minded too much since I found bunny food stashed inside cabinets, rolls of tape and other cubby holes where they created storage bins. They are gone now but it wouldn't have surprised me to find one curled up with Rabbit in her cage.

Welcome to Day 1

I started this site as a personal journal in celebration of my new employment status, "retired". I accepted an early retirement from the ad agency I worked at for the last 22 years, I'm now launching full-time into my career as artist/potter. I finished college ages ago with the idealistic view that I would make a living as an artist and landed squarely into the reality that many art school graduates face...art rarely provides an income that you can live on. My goal with this site is to start a journal of work produced, ideas explored and a little philosophizing over a cup of green tea. As a yoga practitioner I may also share a few comments and/or meditations from the mat.