Art In The Yard

We've been blessed with warmer and sunnier weather than usual this fall. So my hopes were high for a nice day for our outdoor show "Art in the Yard" last saturday. When the thunder and lightning woke me at 4:30 a.m. I mentally prepared myself for the worse — setting up in a downpour and being cold and wet for the rest of the day. As I pulled out of my driveway at 6 a.m. the rain had slowed to a light mist. An hour later when I arrived in Land O' Lakes it had stopped.

As I started to set up and all my friends arrived with their gear, I couldn't help feeling optimistic. Rain or shine it would be another fun day with the Art Gypsies!




Our host was Jody Kennedy. Her gift shop Wild Expressions is just west of downtown Land O' Lakes on county highway B. Fall is in full swing in the northwoods.


Me in my trusty tent.


My whole set up.


Potter pal Anne Appel.


Photographer Carol Miller and a friend.


Debra Ketchum Jircik with her clay sculpture.


Weaver Jan Zindell demonstrates on her antique sock machine.


Kathleen Kimbal creates journals, collages, & wonderful hand made soap (the old fashioned way).


Wendy Powalisz (left) is a painter and jewelry maker. Cathy Wirtz (right) makes felted wool purses & hats.


Wendy's jewelry...


and her painting.


An Art Gypsy tip: always provide a seating area for husbands!


The real purpose of the fire is for wish sticks – an Art in the Yard tradition. Here Debbie composes here message for the flames.


One more wish for the fire!

New Finished Platter

Here is the completed platter from the previous post. It measures 14" in diameter. I was happy with the results. I need to explore this concept further with an entire series of decorative platters. I envision a wall full of them. It is very time consuming process, so I have been hesitant to commit time to it during the busy season. But now I am on the record. Hopefully this blog will keep me honest and I will work towards my goal over the long long long northwoods winter.

Decorating With Clay Sprigs

I embellish a lot in my work with clay sprigs. I learned the technique in a workshop with Matthew Metz at Santa Fe Clay. It is an easy way to make duplicates of a small object. I made most of my sprig molds by pushing objects such as buttons into blocks of wet clay. After pulling the object out, I let the clay dry completely. Then I bisque fire the sprig molds.

Once you have a mold the rest is pretty simple. I roll a small ball of moist clay. Drop it into the mold. Push the clay into the mold. Scrape and excess clay off with a metal rib. The moisture of the clay is drawn out by the bisque, so poppping the clay back out is easy. Just touch the back side with another ball of clay and pull it out. Then score the back of your sprig and the area of the pot you are going to apply it to. Then join the two together with slip or vinegar. I prefer vineger—less mess.



Here is the center of a large platter. I am using 3 different sprigs to build up a pattern.



Now the sprig pattern is complete and I have started carving.



I'm almost done. Now I need to texturize the area between the sprigs and carving and add other final touches.



Here is the completed platter. It took over 3-1/2 hours to complete the decoration. I'll dry it slowly under plastic. When I spend this much time on a piece I tend to baby it.



I will post the final glazed platter (barring disaster) in about 2 weeks.

Busy as a bee

After the family "vaca" I've been back in my studio for the last 3 weeks making work. I have 2 shows coming up back to back at the end of september. What to make, what to make? One part artist and one part business woman, I've been throwing like a madwoman and lining up the bats.



Freshly thrown pots are soooo beautiful!



I am working against the clock to finish what I've started. My bisque date is 9-17-08. Most of this work will be carved with patterns and embellished with spriggs like the greenware pieces below.



No brown & black pots this time. I plan to use my Josh Green, Slate Blue and other colored glazes on this batch. I bounce back and forth between my 2 distinct lines of work –– for my own amusement, and to satisfy two different "markets". Like I said, one part artist, one part business woman! I probably won't post again until I have some fired work. Stay tuned.

Save Arrowmont Petition

I received an email today regarding Arrowmont School of Crafts:

"Below is a link to a petition that was started to help save Arrowmont. Please let your voice be heard and show your support for the school. There are many unknowns at the moment and we don't have a lot of answers but if you have not already shown your support please consider it. Your voice is very important to the future of the school. Please send this message to everyone you know we are trying to gather as many signatures as possible before Friday the 22nd. Thank you!"

It only takes a second to sign the petition. Here's the link: Save Arrowmont Petition

American Pottery Festival

I just found out about this event that sounds totally cool. Northern Clay Center is hosting the American Pottery Festival. I probably won't be able to go. So if you do, please write and fill me in!

Take Pottery Workshops

One of the best ways to learn techniques, network with other potters and to motivate yourself is to take a workshop from a studio potter. I spent 8 years at Lillstreet Art Center in Chicago. One benefit was the opportunity to take 1 and 2 day workshops from some of the best potters in the country. I also lived close to Terra Incognito Studio in Oak Park, Illinois. They also have a really fine workshop program. In the span of just a few years I watched Jeff Oestreich, Julia Galloway, Linda Christianson, Bob Briscoe, Dan Anderson, Sam Chung, Malcom Davis, Linda Sikora and others lecture, make pots and answer questions. I always came away with some useful information, a glaze recipe or two, and a deeper understanding of how personal and individual clay can be.

But you don't have to stick close to home! If you can, taking a week or longer hands-on workshop is even better. When you go away to a workshop you can accomplish so much more. You work in the studio every day (a luxury for most of us). You see demonstrations of new techniques and get to try them on the spot. You get great personal feedback from your instructor and your classmates. You meet other potters and make contacts that can be very helpful later when applying for shows, etc.

The big names like Penland, Arrowmont and Anderson Ranch are meccas for big name talent. But there are clay centers all over the country that provide great workshops. I think it is more important to pick an artist who's work really inspires you than a location. I have taken two workshops at Santa Fe Clay in New Mexico. I studied with Julia Galloway first and spent a 2nd week a year later working with Matt Metz and Linda Sikora. Both these workshops accelerated my growth and prepared me for the transition from student to working potter.

I've also taken some really helpful "Business of Art" workshops offered by Arts Wisconsin. Although not clay specific, these long weekends have been invaluable information sources for marketing, funding, grant writing, tax procedures, etc. These type of workshops are very helpful for those of us trying to make a living. And you still meet really cool people.

Come to think about it, I ended up living here in northern Wisconsin because of a workshop. I took a woodfire workshop with a potter who ran one of those ads at the back of Ceramics Monthly. A group of us traveled up to McNaughton, Wisconsin to work with Joan Slack of Riverrun Pottery. We bonded over wood splitting and stoking. Our group returned several times over the next few years and when Joan decided to build an art center and gallery she contacted me to be her apprentice. So there you have it. Take a workshop. It could change your life!

Vacation

After the Northwoods Art Tour I needed a vacation. What's a poor rural potter to do? When you live in "vacationland" it's easy to lure your family to come to you. Mine came from Illinois & Ohio for a one week visit. They rented a great lake cabin about 4 miles from my house. Although I had to work 2 days during the week, I still had plenty of time to pretend I was a tourist. Fish were caught. Marshmallows were roasted. Naps were taken. Here's a photo collage of some of the fun. And the best part... I slept in my own bed every night!

But now they are gone and I'll be back in the studio. My next show is in 6 weeks. Pottery will be made. I'll keep you posted.

Who are the art gypsies?

The Art Gypsies are a band of Northern Wisconsin artists residing in Vilas and Oneida counties. We formed, to pool our creative resources and develop new avenues to show our work. Our group ranges from 4 to 9 artists depending on the event. We work in a variety of art media including; photography, clay (functional pottery and sculpture), fiber arts, beaded jewelry, watercolor, paper arts and collage. We travel around the Northwoods and beyond, offering fine art for sale in eclectic settings.



Our next show, “Art in the Yard,” will be held on Saturday, September 27th from 9am to 4pm at Wild Expressions Gift Shop located on Hwy B in Land O' Lakes, Wisconsin. The 6th annual show will feature 9 artists: (from left to right) Louise Engelbrecht, Carol Miller, Debra Ketchum Jircik, Amy Higgason, Kathleen Kimball, Wendy Powalisz, Cathy Wirtz, & (not pictured) Anne Appel, & Janice Zindel.

Past attendees of the event have learned to expect a memorable experience at “Art in the Yard.” We invite you to gather your good friends around the fire, laughter and really fine art. And don't forget your hula hoop!

The Northwoods Summer Art Tour

The Northwoods Art Tour started 9 years ago as an opportunity for artists in my area to demonstrate and show their artwork in their home studios. There are some artist-owned galleries on the tour, but for the most part the 23 tour stops feature private studios that are not generally open to the public. I have participated in the tour for 5 years, first at Riverrun and for the last 3 years at my studio in Lake Tomahawk. You'd think it's easier to do a show at your home. But as I wrote in the last post, there's just as much, if not more work involved. This year I cut it really close, but as I predicted everything got done in time for my first visitors on friday morning. Here are some photos from the 3 day event.


The south window of my studio is shaded by morning glorys.


Some inside shots of the gallery area.




These ladies had a great time travelling around to studios on friday. They decided to buy matching pendants from me. The "sisterhood of the travelling pendants" wondered if their husbands would notice at dinner that evening.


These are some of the tiles made by visitors to my studio during the 2007 summer and fall tours. We are in the process of mounting and installing the tiles on the exterior of my studio as a permanant clay guest book.


Here are just a few of my favorites.


Emily was just 3 years old last year when I helped her make a tile.


Here she is this year with her finished tile.


Here are some other visitors who came back to see their creations.








Biker babe Cheryl gave us a "gun show"


I couldn't have made it through the weekend without my helpers. Jeanne and Wendy were camera shy, but here is my artist friend Katlyn Koester during a brief break on saturday afternoon.

This was my best art tour yet. We had great weather, lots of interested visitors and terrific sales. I have several people interested in commissioning new versions of "THE PLATTER" (see photo below). Thank you to everyone who helped and attended. Come back in the fall. Till then I am headed back into my studio.

Panic Week

The Northwoods Summer Art Tour is in six days. Hundreds of people will visit my studio over the 3 day period of July 25-27. It's a lot of pressure. In between going to work and other responsibilities, I will have fired my kiln 3 times in 14 days. The studio is currently trashed from front to back. (So is my house.) I still have a days worth of glazing to finish. The lawn needs mowing. Nothing is priced. I've had to create a flowchart to make it through the week. At this point it seems impossible to get it all done.



Prediction... next friday morning at 9:01 I'll be sitting in my spotless studio surrounded by new work wondering when that first car will roll in. If you live in the area I hope you come for a visit. Here's a preview of some new pieces that are ready to go.







For more information about the Northwoods Art tour go to www.northwoodsarttour.com.