My Adventure with Mono Print

Here is my first experience making a mono print.  
The initial step is spreading colored inks  onto  a mylar surface, using a hand roller. This is Akua ink, with a soybean base, which comes in many colors. I chose my favorite dark red, purple palate. Since I was at a print maker's studio, there were lots of stencils and objects to use as texture. I chose this nautilus stencil, and added some string for further random effects.The final paper is put over this surface; covered with protective paper, then felt, and set on the press surface. 
 Next the press is turned on, and  the weight of the wheel presses down into the paper as it rolls along. It was a 1950's Dickerson Combination Press  which worked great, et voila, this  finished  page.
I used print paper for this, after soaking it  beforehand. However for this final page, I took rice paper , and got a second," ghost" print of the same image.Two views of the same process.
 It was a great experience. While I have no immediate plans for this paper, I am sure it will be used in a future piece of calligraphy,  or maybe a hand made book. Create now  so the inspiration is before us!

The Red , the White and the Blue

Here is my appropriate 4th of July  ceramic platter. Entitled " The Red, the White and the Blue", it is currently showing at the Jerome Artists' Cooperative in Jerome, AZ. 
I like to abstract the familiar. I have created in this theme before, with each piece still totally a one of a kind.The American flag, with all its significant colors, yet interpreted in my own  particular style. I like our flag, with its bold colors and symbolism. An artist can be inspired. 
Rather large in size, almost 15" across, it has a foot to stand on, but it usually hung on the wall. To get these bright colors I use four coats of lower temperature glaze; fire in my kiln for durability, and then finish it off with a primitive fire to create that crackle look.I like the juxtaposition of the modern colors with the older patina, like the image I am portraying.  
So, on the evening before  the 4th of July, I choose this art  to send out to all of us, everywhere. 












 

"Holiday Horsehair" Pot

Here is my latest ceramic creation entitled "  Holiday Horsehair". It is currently in the show at the Sedona Arts Center, where it also adorns the invitation.
It is a rather large pot, measuring about fourteen inches in height. I also made the red beads that I used for adornment. Red berries on a winter landscape came to my mind as I was decorating the tall vessel.
This is a burnished, wheel thrown piece, which is fired in the kiln to make it strong. The surface is smooth, and soft to the touch. It goes back in the kiln, and while it is still very hot, I bring it out and use the individual horse hairs to create the random pattern. There is essentially no glaze, so it is decorative rather than functional. 
The light color is the white porcelain clay with which I throw.That creates the background for the elements of design provided by the sizzle of the horsehair on the hot surface. There is a long tradition of using this technique among  native potters.
I am happy with the results. My desire to create something special for this holiday season is met. Enjoy.

White Bowl

The snow is falling.The color of this winter day is white. It covers the pathways around my studio. It weighs down the branches of the trees and the rose buds peeking out from their stems. It reminds me of this recent bowl I created in the picture below.

It is rather large, measuring twelve inches across and three deep.On the corners are the petals of white flowers. The outside is the brown stain from an oxide, like a stem. I like the color white.It shows off what is in a bowl so definitively. A red apple stands out so clearly. A green salad is a visual delight. 
What  I am actually doing is using  a clear glaze over  the porcelain clay body. What you see is the color below. Like many things I guess. We see a reflection and assume that is the truth. It can be in art; relationships; many facets of our lives. Sometimes it is more than we expect. Occasionally  it is less.This bowl pleases me. So that is my final criteria.
The snow outside is just another  reflection.
  

Turquoise Kitty Box

I have been hanging around kitty cats lately. I started putting them on my ceramics before I ever really knew any personally. This one has a nice turquoise color. That may not your usual color for a cat, but I  get to go into my imagination with my cat ceramics.Plus I like to make you smile when you look at my " critter" art. 

 Of  course it has to have whiskers, so I make mine using snippets of  horsehair. It is a hand made vessel, rather than wheel thrown. I like the irregularity of using  hand rolled slabs of porcelain clay  for this particular series. I've made a red cat box too. Different colors will resonate with different viewers.

Kind of like cats, I guess. Some are all one color. Others  have stripes, and there is even one called a tuxedo cat that looks like it is dressed in evening clothes. Not only is it color we notice, but personality. Some cats like human touch a lot. Others, I have noticed, will receive  the human hand,but only  on their own terms. Size is not uniform either. Seeing a lion in the wild is to notice some of the same amusing kitty mannerisms we enjoy in the tabby cat.We  don't  forget the element of raw  power based on their sheer size and strength.

 The more I write about cats, the more I think I am writing about different people I have encountered in life. We are all so connected, aren't we? 

A-mer-i-ka

This is a ceramic wall piece that I have currently hanging  in a show  at the Sedona Arts Center. The show theme is "Freedom", and my abstract rendering of the red, white and blue,  interpretation seemed to fit that theme nicely. 

 It is a large platter,@ 14" across, hand built rather than wheel thrown.While it hangs nicely on the wall, it has a foot, so it could sit on a surface as well. I like creating  those options.  When it gets that big across, there can be a possibility of cracking, so it is a victory not only in style, but survival.The freedom to push the clay to its outer limits and see how far I can take it. 

We just finished celebrating the 4th of July.I watched great fireworks! I thought of the  immigrants coming into the United States. In all those accents , arriving at Ellis Island,a new life in a new land of freedom, which they might call "A-mer-i-ka."

 I travel a lot. I like to see first hand what I read or hear  or have a fantasy about.What is that place is really like, compared to where I live?  Reality turns out to  be more interesting to me than all  my speculations. I am grateful that I can do this. I know there are countries where woman cannot. I have visited there. 

The Power of Words

This is a close up of an 8 foot long wall hanging I created for a show. The title is Words. Since that is the art media I am using  at this very moment while writing my blog, I naturally think  about their impact.
  Words have a lot of power , don't they? They can influence us to have certain feelings. If they are good words, or words of praise , than we feel very happy. If they are words of criticism or anger then we might feel upset or angry also .
When I look at this watercolor, I notice I am using lots of colors to bring in my desired impact to the audience. Certainly colors evoke reactions, or subtle mood alterations, don't they? Isn't red a color  that jumps out, like the oranges and yellows? The greens, purples,  and the blues are more subtle aren't they?   Consider  the contrast of which colors go next to each other. These are certain artistic choices we make when we we are looking at a blank page, a  clean slate, the  tabula rasa.With our color choices,we artists can have an effect on our  audience.  With our words, we can all have a lasting influence on each other.Whether verbal or written, our  words can stay out there in time and space, or on a page, for a very long time.
 Any thoughts on times your words had more impact than you expected?