Bulbs with Bike Parts

At the end of the week I install my work at Esvelt Gallery in Pasco, WA. My show, "Biomorph" opens January 6 and runs through February 6 with a reception January 14 at 1pm. The gallery, on Columbia Basin College's campus, is open M-Th 8am - 8:30pm and Friday 8-noon. 

One of my installations will consist of 100 bulbs, each made from a mold and altered before firing and glazing. A few of the bulbs have non-ceramic bike part or mechanical additions attached after firing. The bulbs will be installed on the wall in a grid.

bulbs in a box waiting to be glazed and fired

bulb with a bike part taped on as the epoxy sets

finished bulb from above

bulb with a chain attached

The bulb installation at Biomorph is a version of an installation I have created several times before, the first time was with raku fired, hand formed bulbs as a part of my senior show in college.

"Ericano" installation from 2002

This year (next year, really, since I'm writing on New Year's Eve) I have limited installation time so I created an installation grid on paper so that we won't have to plan, level, and measure the placement of screws during installation. The paper should be able to just be hung on the wall and then all the holes can be drilled based on the paper grid. Making the grid was a huge pain, since we don't actually have a 7' x 7' space on the floor in our home. I laid out 3 different 4 foot wide rolls of paper and measured and squared the grid several times to make sure it was even. I did this on a rug, which added some frustration, and while my daughter was trying to play with her toys in the same room. Hopefully the frustration will be worth it on a fast installation day.

paper grid for bulb installation on Friday