YVC Clay Sale

YVC's Clay Sale (Thursday, November 29)

YVC Clay Sale Poster (Fall 2018)

The annual pre-Christmas clay sale at Yakima Valley College is coming up this week! The sale will be held in the Palmer Martin Hall lobby (building 20) on Thursday, November 29 from 11am - 7pm. This is the first time we've run the sale all day and we're hoping it will be more accessible for both on-campus and off-campus shoppers.

Palmer Martin Hall

The clay sale features pottery and sculpture made by current and former YVC clay students and some work made by me, too. We take cash, check and credit cards and prices are always very reasonable. The proceeds from the sale go to purchasing equipment, supplies and tools for the clay studio and this year the proceeds will also help us pay for our hourly employee in the studio.

An old photo of work for the clay sale, colors and shapes are similar to what you might find this year.

The Joys of Having an Hourly Employee

I have to take a moment here to crow about how wonderful it is to have an hourly employee in the studio. During my 12 years at YVC, I've almost always had work study students, but the quality of work-study students can vary dramatically. Over the years, I've had four extremely talented, hard-working, and reliable work studies, but I've also had a number of work studies who've added to my work load by being unreliable, unable or unwilling to do certain tasks, or even disruptive in the studio. 

Our studio is enormous, come check it out on Thursday before or after the sale.

This year I was able to hire an hourly employee whose duties include regular studio maintenance and upkeep (just like the work studies), but this employee also is able to both train new work studies (it seems like we are constantly gaining and losing work study students throughout the year, so training might need to happen in August or November or March, when I have time and when I do not) and oversee what needs to be done and who can do it when.

Palmer Martin hallway, looking towards the lobby

My incredible hourly employee, Betty, has taken on the kind of organizational role that I didn't realize was lacking in the studio. There are a number of tasks that always need to be done in the studio (cleaning, laundry, cleaning, putting tools away, cleaning, and more cleaning) and there are a number of tasks that need to be done when there is time by someone trained in how to do them (recycling clay, mixing glazes, and restocking materials). There are also some tasks that need to happen some days and not others (loading or unloading kilns, emptying sinks, organizing supplies).  

our new t-shirt design (see the next section)

Betty understands the big picture and has taken responsibility for assigning the tasks on a day-to-day basis. She makes sure that all the work studies (I have three now) are trained in how to do the interesting tasks (like mixing clay and glaze) and makes sure that everyone gets a fair share of the boring or tedious tasks (cleaning everything, everyday). It has been incredible this quarter to come into a studio where the employees are always working on what they should be doing. I never walk in to see a mess and I never have to search for a work study to do the thing that should have already been done. I can check in with Betty once and assume it will be taken care of. We've gotten a lot more done done his quarter than we have in the past few years, and it is large part because I have an empowered organizer on the team.  Now we just need to make sure we can afford her all year.

Our studio, a fish eye view

I do have to say, this is not the first or only time I've had a studio with employees who are on task and getting things done without me having to remember to assign every little task, but it has been quite a while since I had a whole studio full of folks who were on task all the time.

YVC Clay T-Shirts

Besides keeping the work studies on track and making the studio run smoothly, my hourly employee has been helping get us get ready for the clay sale. Betty, as well as Les, my community helper, and some of my continuing students (in intermediate and advanced clay classes) and one of my work studies (who has taken a clay class before) have all been making and glazing work for the clay sale. Besides the usual assortment of cups, bowls, lidded jars, and strange beginner sculpture, we have made mugs, ornaments, planters (some with succulents already in) and hopefully a few yarn bowls (if we can get them done in time) specifically for this sale.

The text is a pun. A kiln is the "oven" in which we "cook" clay to make ceramics. Or, to put it another way, its the hottest piece of equipment in our studio. 

Additionally, this year, for the first time, we are selling YVC Clay T-shirts at the clay sale. They are each $15 and we have sizes S - 4XL. Gina, our talented and patient program assistant for Humanities created the imagery on the t-shirts and got them printed. Again, I am extremely lucky to have this help getting ready for the sale and keeping folks on task in the studio. I remember not so many years ago when I was in charge of everything to do with work studies and clay sale prep and-set up. Needless to say, we didn't have t-shirts or planters with succulents or a sale open 11-7 back then. It is much nicer to have help!

New Artebella Gallery in Yakima and YVC Clay Sale in November

While I've been running ragged keeping up with big changes to my online classes, a 3D printer that stopped working, new educational technology and preparing curriculum for our upcoming accreditation visit, I've neglected pretty much everyone online that doesn't involved Canvas.

Artebella Gallery

I have small work like this on display in Artebella

Though I'm barely keeping up with any kind of studio work since my August show in Hood River, I do have some work in a new gallery in central Yakima, south of Astria (Regional) Hospital. The new-since-this-summer space, Artebella Gallery is nestled amongst the cozy little medical buildings and offices on West Spruce Street, right next to Taste and See Deli.

This gallery is owned and run by Pamela Searcy and she and Meghan Flynn both have studio spaces in the small gallery, which is open from 10-4 Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and by appointment. I have smaller sculpture on display at Artebella.

Another piece at Artebella Gallery

Oak Hollow Gallery

Though Oak Hollow Gallery, between Wrays and Inklings in the Chalet Place Mall, is now under new ownership, I still have work in their regular sales gallery section. Stop by to purchase some cat mugs before Christmas.

Cat mug, like the ones I have at Oak Hollow Gallery

YVC Clay Sale

Speaking of holiday pottery, the Fall Clay sale at YVC is coming up in November. This year the Thanksgiving holidays fall early, which means we've moved the clay sale time back a week to November 29. 

The only official clay sale photo I can find (from home, because I forgot to photograph the new poster at school)

Not only that, we've also extended the time of the sale. Stop by Palmer Martin (Building 20) on the Yakima Valley College campus anytime between 11am and 7pm on November 29 to stock up on pottery made by current and former YVC students and faculty. Proceeds from sales go to support studio operations. 

Palmer Martin hall (which we now are supposed to call 020)

We can take cash, checks, or credit card and while you're on campus, stop in and see our beautiful clay studio!

The clay studio, pre-students

New Gallery in Yakima

Last weekend I was riding my bike home from the Folklife Festival and saw a sign advertising a new gallery in Yakima. The gallery, Artebella, had just opened that week. We stopped in to chat with the owner, Pamela Searcy, who invited me to show some work in the gallery.

small sculpture now at Artebella

I brought some work over this past week and she now has it on display. The gallery is open Fridays and Saturdays from 10-4 and is located at 1111 West Spruce St #33, in the medical office building area south of Yakima Regional/Astria Hospital.

small sculpture now at Artebella

The gallery is quite small, but the owner seems to be competent and conscious of what she's doing and why. Unusually for a small gallery, she had a contract ready for me and even emailed to set up a time for me to bring my work by. As of right now she has some small sculpture of mine, functional pottery by Mike Hiler, and paintings and bronze sculpture of her own. She also is working in the space. 

small sculpture now at Artebella

So, you should stop by when you get a chance. How about next weekend?

map of Artebella location

Kid's Art Project: 3rd Grade

This absolutely charming wolf has a turtle on his back. It reminds me of a story, but I can't quite remember how it goes.

Last week I went to a local elementary school to run a clay project with some 3rd Graders. My class was involved in the project in a couple of ways. I had several students who prepared clay shapes using molds that I use in my own work. These shapes were for the students to use in their own projects.

a box of student projects on their way to a kiln

I've been doing clay projects with some of these kids since kindergarden, so I thought it would be fun to introduce them to the idea of a mold. I brought in some of my plaster molds and each table of kids worked together to press clay into the molds. 

one of the molds we used, with a layer of wet clay inside

I explained that the molds are made of plaster, which has little tiny air holes inside of it. The holes in the plaster suck some of the water out of the wet clay, and the clay dries out a bit and can be pulled out of the mold in the shape of the mold. I forgot to tell the kids that this is how toilets are made. I thought they'd enjoy that.

This critter was one of two put in the box with legs up. The legs dry fast this way and are more likely to break, unfortunately. We talked a few times about how to strengthen the legs and they are thicker where they attach than they were when the artist started.

I only have about six half molds, and it takes a bit of time for the clay to come out of the mold, so the shapes prepared ahead of time by my adult students were essential for all the 3rd graders to have a piece to make their own, but they also all got to use the mold with wet clay so see that first step in the process.

 

I'm not sure what this is, but I like the symmetry. It reminds me of a fluffy rabbit with long ears, but I may be way off.

I also brought an adult student with me to the school so that I could have some help instructing the students. There are 27 kids in this third grade class, and they had a sub that day, so it was helpful to have another person who knew how to help with clay.

This cat came to the box very wet. the student brushed water on the back to create a fur texture.

Of course the project went really well. The students barely needed to be told some of the rules for using clay, given a few tools, and they were off. I always love to see what kids come up with when you give them some clay and let them experiment.

This guy has strong legs (attached well to the clay) and lots and lots of spikes.

This time around, unlike the bells projects I have sometimes done, the students had a slightly stiff, organic shape to build onto. When the kids work with wet clay (as in the bells projects), there is some risk of the form squishing when they push on it. With these forms, the risk was significantly reduced, though it was not impossible for the forms to squish. 

This piece became a little squished during building, but the horns, especially the middle one that reminds me of a hat, give this creature a lot of character.

The kids made a wide range of forms, with some clustering of type based on the table they were sitting at. Several cats happened at one table. Another table had a couple of legs-up shapes that were brought to me on their backs. 

The two cats were made by students at the same table. I can't tell if the face or the feet are more fun.

Overall, there was more variety than similarity, given that they started with fairly similar shapes. The molds my students used to prepare forms for the kids varied in size, so some of the creatures the kids made had smaller bodies than others. 

This student certainly had worked with clay before. She chose one of the smallest forms to start with, but carefully and patiently attached a whole cluster of different sized spikes to the back and fun feet and ears.

We also talked to the students about making feet and attachments that were strong and secure. Some kids even remembered the terminology from previous years' clay projects, like slaking, scoring and slipping, and kiln. 

The eyes stick up on this animal and the student rolled some texture on the creature's back like fur or even scales. It reminds me of a dog now, but once it is colored, the artist will let us know.

This student was patient and determined. She had a plan, she got some help, then she just went after it. She spend most of her time cutting out and attaching those huge frog feet.

I was a little concerned about transporting some of the pieces, because some kids found it hard to resist the urge to attach skinny legs or horns or tails. The problem with the skinny bits is that they dry faster and when wet, dry, and even after firing, they are much more likely to get bumped into and broken off. 

This one scared me with that skinny tail and the skinny horns. It made it to the kiln, and through the firing, but I'm not sure it will make it back to school. 

I talked with some kids about attaching the tails back to the bodies for added security, or making shorter fatter legs, but some of them chose to express themselves without the constraints of building stable appendanges.

This student had heard the lesson about connecting the tail to the body and she even used the tail as an additional support to help the feet hold up the weight of the cat.

Yeah, she's my kid, so she gets a extra picture of the cat from the front.

I also found it interesting that nearly the entire class chose the small end of the form for the head. Only one kid, as far as I can tell, put the head on the larger side. That form turned into a fish or whale creature. Before the project, I wondered if any of the students would try to stand the form on its end. I was actually considering how I could help them if they chose to do that, since the forms we provided were all open on the "bottom," but no one tried it.

The whale may have lost a piece in the front, but it looked good without it, and I wasn't sure it belonged there, so I didn't reattach it.

We spent a little over an hour with the students in the first part of the school day. The kids had an enormous amount of energy. It seemed to be a combination of the time of day, the fact that they had a substitute, the fact that it's the end of the school year and, of course, the fact that they were doing a clay project.

After firing, the grey clay turned white. The pieces are all hard and ready to go back to the kids. 

After the project, I took the work with me to fire it. I plan to bring it back this week and the kids can paint it either during class or on their own. The nice thing about the white clay we used is that it can be painted with acrylic paint or watercolor, or even markers or colored pencils can be used. I usually glaze my work, but since the pieces aren't functional, there's no need for them to be glazed.

We only found about two pieces broken off of the sculptures. They are packed up now and ready for the trip to school.

Stephen Robison & Kathleen Guss, Rachel Hall Kirk, and Meghan Flynn

Work by Stephen Robison and Kathleen Guss

If you are on the Yakima Valley College campus during Fall 2106, stop by Palmer Martin to see our newest display, featuring work by Central Washington University art professors, Rachel Hall Kirk and Stephen Robison, who collaborates with his wife, Kathleen Guss, and work by our new art instructor, Meghan Flynn.

drawings by Rachel Hall Kirk and ceramics by Stephen Robison and Kathleen Guss

Wood fired ceramic sculpture and functional forms from Stephen Robison and Kathleen Guss fill the center vitrines and one of the wall display cabinets in the downstairs hall of the new art building.

work by Stephen Robison and Kathleen Guss in the display cases

Rachel Hall Kirk's drawings features patterns found in nature.

work by Rachel Hall Kirk

Also featured in this space is work by the newest member of the YVC faculty, drawing and design instructor, Meghan Flynn.

work by Meghan Flynn.

One More Week to See Windows Alive

This is it, your last chance to see Windows Alive with my sculpture in downtown Yakima.

Some of my work for Window's Alive

Next Thursday, September 15 is the Downtown Yakima Art Walk. You can see my sculpture in the Window of the old Yakima Mall on the north side of Yakima Ave between 3rd and 4th Street. Some of my ceramic students also have work on display for Windows Alive. We take the work down the very next day!

My Window--Alive!

You can also see my work at Fourth Street Theatre Gallery as part of the Art on the Wall: Metal Exhibition. This show opens tonight, Thursday, September 8 from 5:45-7pm, but runs all year, I think. Join us at 14 South 4th Street in Yakima.

Detail of the piece at the 4th Street Theatre

You can also see YVC Photography instructor, Jennifer Saracino,'s photography downtown at Gilbert Cellars for next week's art walk. And lots of other folks. Check it out.

Windows Alive Opening Reception March 25

Join me this Friday from 5-7pm at Hotel Maison in downtown Yakima for the opening reception for this iteration of Yakima's Windows Alive Project. I've been told there will be snacks.

I have work on display in the window of what used to be Eddie Bauer in the old mall on Yakima Avenue (between 3rd and 4th street for those of you who haven't lived in Yakima for multiple decades). 

   

I installed the work a few weeks ago, but it has taken a little while to get everything ready. 

Down the street a few windows some of my clay students also have work on display in what used to be Gap (when Yakima had businesses in the old mall building). The last time I checked, five of my students have work on display, though one was planning to bring work down. 

I didn't manage to get good pictures of the student work, so you'll have to come see it yourself.