Washington Clay Arts Association "Bountiful" Show in Ellensburg

installing my work in Gallery One

This weekend lots of clay is happening in Ellensburg. I just got back from installing my Ericano bulb installation at Gallery One for the Washington Clay Arts Association juried exhibition, "Bountiful."

a detailed view of this installation in Seattle

The Bountiful exhibition opens Friday, June 1 with a reception from 5-7 and runs through June 30. Bountiful is in the second floor gallery space, while downstairs is another clay show, featuring work by the Dirty Canteen, a collective of military veteran artists. I read about work by three of these artists in the most recent issue of Studio Potter. One of the artists, Ash Kyrie, was at U-W Madison as an undergrad when I was earning my MFA there.

my planning grid on the wall, ready for drilling

The Bountiful show is a juried show of work by Washington state ceramic artists. I entered the show because the theme seemed a good fit for my installation work. Before I'd heard about the show, I had titled my most recent sculpture "Bounty."  Of course I forgot to bring Bounty to Ellensburg when I drove up today today.

"Bounty" (the piece I forgot to bring this time)

I drove up this afternoon after my office hours. I needed to be back in Yakima for something by 4pm, and this is a busy week with the holiday, the installation, raku firing tomorrow and the fast-approaching end of the quarter. I was paying careful attention to timing today and making sure I had everything with me to do the installation fairly quickly so I could get back in time. I brought my paper grid, pencil, ruler, level, tape, drill, drill bit, and L-screws. I confirmed ahead of time that I'd have access to a step stool. I dropped off the kid, went to work, left school basically on time, and got about halfway to Ellensburg before I realized I had packed everything for the installation, but not the second sculpture.

my work and other pieces partially installed

So, I installed the wall work and promised to bring the sculpture before the opening on Friday. The installation went fairly quickly--I had a little less space than usual (less height than I'm used to), so it took a moment to figure out how to reduce the installation, but once we'd figured out the location, I was able to hang the paper grids, drill the holes, and screw in all 80 L-screws in a little over an hour. I then brought in the boxes of bulbs and started hanging them. It took about an hour and a half to bring the stuff in, get set up, install, and bring stuff back out to my car. It was warm in the gallery space, so I remembered to take pictures early on in the process, then forgot entirely to take a picture of the finished product because I was anxious to get to a cooler area.

Part of this installation at Yakima Maker Space

If you'd like to see the work installed, or if you want to check out all the other ceramics in the gallery, join me on Friday from 5-7 for the reception. Friday is also the Ellensburg First Friday Art Walk. The Dirty Canteen artists are doing an artist talk at Gallery One on Saturday. The shows will be up through the end of June if you'd like to visit later.

Updates on Various Winter Projects and Shows

It has been a busy winter, but some of the things I'm doing don't really have images to go with them yet.* So here's a few updates on some upcoming and ongoing projects and shows.

NCECA Presentations (March)

I spent a chunk of time today working on my presentations for NCECA. Yes, I said presentations, plural. Last week I wrote about what I'm planning to do for my Blinc 20/20 presentation: "Grappling with Politics in Art." 

I'm also going to be leading a Topical Networking Group on "Culture's Impact on a Classroom Studio" on Wednesday March 14 from 2-3pm. Here's the program description: 

"Under-resourced students bring different cultural expectations and behaviors to the studio. How can we design projects and approaches that value students’ diverse cultural backgrounds? How can we develop clay studio classrooms that are vital to student’s educational experience and development?"

NCECA is the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts. The national conference features demonstrations and talks by artists and educators and lots and lots of related shows featuring ceramic sculpture and pottery. I went last year in Portland, but apparently didn't write about it. Perhaps because Janice passed away right after the conference. 

YVC photo setup for sculpture

This year's conference is in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately it is also during finals week, so my students and I are going to beta test online submission for glazed work. We've been getting ready for it by starting the firing process early (we unload our first winter 2018 glaze firing tomorrow) and using our photo booth in the studio to document work.

Top Pottery Blog of 2017

While I was waiting for some pictures to load (I got a new phone and am struggling with making all the updates to all the different logins and settings--like iCloud), I finally got around to looking at Pottery Making Info's blog and found my name on the list of Top Pottery Blogs of 2017. Last year I only got honorable mention, this year I'm the tenth (of 17).

Grappling with Politics in Art, the Shows (February & March)

As I've written about a few times, I have work in the Nasty Woman show at Yakima Maker's Space through February 24. I got in there this weekend to take new pictures of the work with better lighting than last time.

first amendment bulbs

When the show closes (open 10-2 on Saturdays), I'll pack up the work and drive it down to Hood River for the "Raising our Voices: Art as Activism" show at the Columbia Center for the Arts. That show opens March 2 with a reception from 6-8pm. This second show runs through April 1.

installation (detail) at Yakima Maker's Space

Studio Cleaning (January, February, and...?)

One of my least photogenic (and probably least interesting to anyone else) winter projects is my multi-month home studio cleaning project. This one has been overdue for years and years. On our first 3-day weekend, I spent some time pulling everything out of my studio cupboards, cleaning, tossing junk, and reorganizing things to be more accessible.

shelves, in order and a clean countertop

The biggest improvement in the use of the space (so far, at least) is the reorganization of my underglaze bottles. I bought some sliding two tier wire drawers. Each drawer fits exactly eight bottles of underglaze and each two tier set just fits inside my lower cabinets. I can slide out each drawer and bring those underglazes to my work space. In the past, I had them in boxes that would break or be too heavy to move. This is a huge improvement in convenience for me in my home studio.

underglazes, in order

I've got a ways to go on the whole studio clean up project, since I pulled junk out of the cupboards, some of it has to find a new home. As long as I was at it, I figured I'd do a thorough job of cleaning the whole room. I figured with two 3-day weekends in winter, there'd be plenty of time. What else am I trying to do this quarter anyway?

egads, I have more cleaning to do

YVC Studio Projects (Fall and Winter)

I've also been working on my flipped classes this winter. I've written about the winter class I'm flipping and the one I started flipping in fall. Last Monday a reporter for the Yakima Herald came to my class to talk with me and the students about flipped classes. It looks like the article was just posted as I was writing this. I haven't read it yet, but it was interesting talking with the reporter about the classes. Talking about what we are doing and what is working so well about it helped me see it from a slightly different perspective even than when I wrote about it.

student work, cut apart for hollowing

Northwest Artists Ceramics Invitational (April)

I've got one more show coming up this April. I was invited to take part in the Northwest Artists Ceramics Invitational at the Robert Graves Gallery on the Wenatchee Valley College campus. The show runs April 2 - 26, 2018 and there will be a reception April 6 from 5-7pm.

a new piece I'll probably bring to Wenatchee

The Slowest Commission Ever (2018-2018)

There's one last thing I want to mention: I started a commission for my Aunt about 100 years ago. I thought I would be able to finish it before Christmas, or maybe before the new year, but I kept getting stymied by the support for these pieces and how to make them stable and weather resistant. The pieces are meant to go into a large vase in my Aunt and Uncle's yard. I made a teeny tiny bit of progress this weekend, but I've got a bit more work to do yet. And then I'll need to figure out shipping for these large pieces.

commission pieces still in progress

*Often the process of writing helps me think. I discover ideas or approaches I couldn't think of before I began to write. Today, as I actually wrote this post, I realized I have a number of events, projects, and ongoing stuff that I haven't posted about yet but that do have some associated images. I guess I'll be posting about them soon.

Nasty Woman Exhibition at Yakima Maker Space

Resist Bulb in progress

Come see my NEW work in the Nasty Woman show this coming Saturday, January 20, 2018 at Yakima Maker Space. The opening starts at 6pm and there will be live music and TWO interactive art pieces. I have no idea what they are, but can't wait to find out. One of the interactive pieces will be done by my talented friend, Kelly McKnight.

I have an installation of 30 Resist Bulbs in the exhibition, the composition similar to my last installation at YMS, but with a very different subject and intent. Some of these new Protest/Resist/Patriot Bulbs (I've been playing with titles) were shown previously at Larson Gallery for the Membership Exhibition, but some are new, including several with the First Amendment text stamped onto them.

First Amendment bulbs being darkened with oil (I had some trouble with the surface color)

I worked on the bulbs during the summer, with an eye to this exhibition at Yakima Maker's Space in January. The exhibition coincides with the one year anniversary of the Women's March. This year Yakima will hold another Women's March on January 20. I'll see you there before the YMS Nasty Woman show.

Gerrymandering 

I started making the bulbs last year for this Nasty Woman exhibition, but also in reaction to the current administration and the divisive political climate we now live in every day. I felt, for the first time, really, that I couldn't not address current events in my work, which has usually remained abstract, inspired by nature, and fairly apolitical.

Incarceration

I started these pieces because I felt I had to--for me--but three opportunities have come along this year because of these pieces. I had spoken with Eunsil Kim, the curator and organizer of the YMS Nasty Woman show early last year. Over the summer, while discussing plans for a different show down in Hood River at the Columbia Center for the Arts, I was invited to show these pieces in CCA's Art as Activism show coming up this March (I install in Oregon the day after the YMS show closes).

#SayHerName Sandra Bland

The third opportunity came as a bit of a surprise. I applied to talk about these works, and, in particular the urge to transition from abstract to narrative work given the current political climate, in a short presentation at the NCECA (National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts) Conference in Pittsburg.

Flint Water

And here I am, writing about the showing of the work, but skimming over the content of the work. Content, especially content that is not meant to be wholly open to interpretation, is something I haven't had to address much in talking or writing about my work, as it has pretty much always been abstract, ambiguous, and personal, not to mention not my main source of income. 

Russia

These bulbs are ambiguous up to a point, but taken together my intent is certainly to make people think about a particular set of issues, most of which have I have strong views about. Some of the topics, like gerrymandering, dirty water in Flint, pollution and police violence come across fairly unambiguously just in a single image. Others, I have designed to be unambiguous, by showing the Monopoly man hoarding money and by collecting some of 45's less impressive tweets and statements in one place.

Tweets

I also have bulbs in this collection that are simply images of symbols of our country that are worth preserving and considering in our calls to action, such as the flag, the first amendment, and the Capitol Building. 

US Flag

There has been fairly little publicity about the Nasty Woman show (PSA, be careful Googling this show) at Yakima Maker Space and one theory was that the YMS wanted to avoid controversy because of the tone of this show. (I suspect lack of paid staffing is the more likely culprit for the missing advertising.) However, I've found more than one person discussing the exhibition by downplaying the controversy and politics and focusing on the raising up of women's voices. True, some of the work is not explicitly political, but I think mine is fairly clear, at least if one spends any time with the work.

First Amendment, Trapped

As you can tell by my writing about it, I'm still working out what it means to begin making political work now, but I am hoping that by the time I have these two shows done and am ready to present at the NCECA Conference, I'll have a more comprehensive view of the work and its reception. Help me out: come talk to me about the work at the YMS opening this coming Saturday. Or, you know, reply here or on Facebook. I'd actually love to hear from people (ahem, not from Trolls).

Installation view of part of the earlier iteration of this work at Larson Gallery

Come See My Work

The next two weeks are fairly busy with art exhibitions and openings, several of which feature my work.

my work at Boxx Gallery

First, this Thursday, November 2, the Maker Space Gallery is hosting paintings by Amanda Ontiveros. Opening reception at 6-9pm. Yakima Maker Space is on 1st Street between Yakima and Chestnut Avenues.

Amanda's work at Maker Space

You can see my work twice this Saturday, first at Boxx Gallery in Tieton with a reception from 11-1pm and at Larson Gallery in Yakima with a reception from 3-5pm (awards at 4pm).

my work at Larson Gallery

The Boxx Gallery show is called "What's on Your Plate?" and features works related to plates, eating, kitchens, and associated imagery and forms. I've got a completely non-functional plate sculpture and a wacky mug in the show. I haven't seen much of what other folks have.

The show at Larson Gallery is the annual Central Washington Artists' Exhibition, featuring a small sculpture of mine. Also showing at CWAE is Meghan Flynn, drawing and design instructor at Yakima Valley College. Her hyperrealistic drawing of rocks is worth checking out.

All three receptions are free and open to the public, so stop by and join us. Boxx Gallery is open on Saturdays from 11-1 and the exhibition is open through the end of the month. Larson Gallery is open Tuesday-Friday 10-5 and Saturday 1-5, except for Veteran's Day and the Thanksgiving Holiday. The exhibition closes December 2.

one of my mugs (soon to be) at Oak Hollow Gallery

Also opening next week is the Holiday show at Oak Hollow Gallery. I will have some mugs and bulbs for sale. The show opens November 7, but there will be an open house November 11. The show runs through the end of the year, but work is only there until it sells.

Decal Mugs

this mug is fairly big and bright, didn't photograph as well

Last week I applied and fired some decals on some functional mugs. Some of the mugs had decals over-fired previously, but some of the decals were applied to fresh mugs.

double decal cat on a leaning mug

I made the mugs near the end of the summer quarter when I was testing out my new ball openers.

the Temmoku glaze works well on this slipped surface (no cat)

I was using some cone 6 glazes I had used last summer, as well as some new (to me) Potter's Choice glazes. I applied decals on most of the mugs, but skipped one with a lot of texture because I'm happy with the glaze on its own.

I played around with some wiggly bases

The mugs don't match each other, mostly because I was trying out a variety of different shaping and decorating techniques and was just entertaining myself.

I just like this bottom swirl, even if the photo is odd

I was especially happy with a few spiral trimmed bottoms which I highlighted with underglaze colors.

 

the cats worked better on the curved surfaces than other decals

The decals I used the second time worked very well, for the most part. The cats show up well in both gold and black on all of the glaze colors. 

this cat seems to be floating in space

I particularly like when the cats seem to be interacting with the landscape of the mug.

I like the way the cats use the line of the mug to stand on

Some of the mugs are less successful, in part because the glaze colors look a little odd in the second firing.

the cat shows up ok, but the color has become a bit metallic

I used mostly cat decals, but I had a few other science-y decals. These worked out less well, in part because they were applied on top of darker glazes and in once instance because they were incompletely applied.

the decal didn't completely adhere to the curved surface, and therefore fired off and out of round

It's tough to get the decals to stick well on curved surfaces, so after trying for a while, I decided to just try it out and see what would happen.

the mottled glaze color obscures some of the decal color

A few of the cat decals showed up with a line around the exterior of the cat. The line is where the clear part of the decal was cut. 

the edge of the decal shows up on this glaze

I cut them haphazardly because I thought the edges would be invisible--and they were on most mugs. On the darker, more metallic glazes, those edges showed up as sloppy outlines around the cats.

boo, hiss

The frustrating thing is that the fix would have been so easy, I could have simply cut the cats out closer to their edges, but I didn't and now it is too late. Maybe these are a good cups for someone with poor eyesight or a dark kitchen.

mug with a line around the cat

I plan to take a few of the mugs to Oak Hollow Gallery for the holiday show. The show opens in November and runs through December. I will bring some mugs and some bulbs, which will be sold individually. Let me know if you have requests, I deliver the mugs and bulbs at the end of this week.

"Ericano Bionica" bulbs installation from 2015

Besides the mugs I made for the holiday show (well, I made them for fun, but some are going to the gallery), I also made a few smaller mugs with some clay that was recycled by my young helpers this summer. I used decals on these mugs, too, and the helpers each got their own mug as thanks for recycling clay with me.

I like how the cats seem to be playing in the grass on these mugs.