Novie Trump

Ceramic Sutra

2012-01-19T18:27:00.000-08:00

I was delighted to be asked to not only curate, but to contribute two pieces to this fabulous show of book themed ceramic sculpture. It was a national call for entry and we had some fabulous entries. I was also asked to invite artists as well and they all rose to the challenge with great verve and creativity.

I have always been a great lover of books. My home is filled to the eaves with them, bursting forth from beneath beds and inside closets and everywhere there is a spare nook. The invitation from Mary Cloonan, the Exhibitions Director at Baltimore Clayworks,

to curate a show which melded books and ceramics

was a dream come true.

My piece: Virgil's Georgics: On the Care of Bees

Work by Andrew Reid Eastwood

The Book of Forgetting by Laurel Lukaszewski

Volumes I and II by Elizabeth Kendall

L to R: Beth Kendall, Novie Trump, Liz Vorlicek, laurel Lukaszewski

My Piece: Dreams of Far Away Lands

Calligraphic ribbons by Laurel Lukaszewski

Book Covers by James Walker

Bianka Groves

Piece by Gretchen Schermerhorn

Piece by Leigh Taylor Mickelson

3 Works by Andrew Meyer

Paul Andrew Wandless

Book piece by Mary Cloonan

Me and the ever lovely Mary Cloonan

Joni Maya Oye

Barbara Hashimoto-

Most of these photos were taken by Laurel Lukaszewski. Thanks Laurel!

2011-06-02T16:51:00.000-07:00

I am so pleased to announce our new

Emerging Artist Program at Flux Studios:

Accepted applicants will receive a 45 sq ft work space,

24 hour access with free parking,

equipment and kiln access,

an annual solo exhibition at Flux,

immersion in a professional art studio,

and the opportunity for mentorship in their

art practice as well as in areas of

professional development.

$200 /month, one year commitment

Flux Studios is now accepting applications for this program.

If interested in applying, please contact Novie Trump at novie@novietrump.com

www.fluxstudiosdc.com

2011-04-10T19:28:00.000-07:00

We at Flux were delighted to be invited to make an outdoor nest installation for The Nest Project,

a four part exhibition organized by the The Target Gallery of theTorpedo Factory in Alexandria, VA.

We have spent the past month or so working on a collaborative piece for the show.

After much brainstorming and debate, we decided upon a bee hive to be made of

steel wire and clay. Jessica Beels made a fabulous wire hive, cleverly using
recycled coat hangers as the base. Laurel Lukaszewski made 200 cherry

blossoms from black stoneware and locally dug red clay while I made over 300
porcelain bees.

Here is the hive in our studio, waiting to be loaded into the car.

A close-up of the hive

Today we installed the hive from a majestic sycamore tree in the park

along the water, beside the Torpedo Factory.

Jessica adjusts a wire

As part of our installation we also installed bees throughout the park and factory,

near each artist made nest installation.

It was great fun to walk through the park and meet the other artists

and see what their nests looked like:

Alison Sigethy working on her collaborative nest with Lisa Schumaier

Lisa Schumaier and Alison Sigethy working on their collaborative nest

ArtDC featuring the work of Michael Winger

Pyramid Atlantic Art Center featuring the work of

Sabeth Jackson and Gretchen Schermerhorn

microWave project featuring the work of Pam Rogers

Washington Alexandria Architecture Center (WAAC)

featuring Virginia Tech's Master of Landscape Architecture Graduate Students

led by Laurel McSherry, program director

Convergence

Art Outlet featuring the work of Roy Utley & Heather Schmaedeke

The Art League featuring Carlos Beltrán Baldiviezo

Come on out to the opening on Thursday night- it should be great fun!

More info from their website is below:

What Is The Nest Project?

The Torpedo Factory’s exhibition space, Target Gallery, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia, is excited to share with you, The Nest Project. The Nest Project is in conjunction with the Target Gallery's juried exhibition Nest.

This is a four-part collaborative project that includes:

*A Juried Exhibition in the Target Gallery with a special reception, April 14, 6-9pm

*15 Outdoor Installations along the waterfront

*Community built nest in the main hall of the Torpedo Factory

*In-Studio nests created by Torpedo Factory Artists

More Details

Nest Exhibit - April 2 -May 15, 2011

Reception: April 14, 6-9pm with gallery talk at 7pm

Nest is a juried exhibition which examines the nest as a symbol for home and refuge, both literally and conceptually. The juror for this exhibition is Gretchen Shermerhorn, Artistic Director for the Pyramid Atlantic Arts Center in Silver Spring, Maryland. As part of this exhibition the gallery will host additional programming that includes both indoor and outdoor community nest installations. A reception on Second Thursday, April 14th from 6-9pm includes a gallery talk with juror Gretchen Shermerhorn at 7pm, a nest scavenger hunt, community nest building with Habitat for Humanity and more.

Outdoor Installations – April 10 – May 15, 2011

These nests will be installed along the waterfront of the Potomac River near the Torpedo Factory. Nest sites will include docks, decks, tree stumps, outcroppings of rock, and selected trees. Our goal is to inspire people to look more closely at their own habitat. Free maps will guide visitors on a nest spotting walking tour, along the waterfront, through a park, into the Torpedo Factory and ending at Target Gallery, where the exhibition Nest can be seen.

Participating Art Groups:

*Torpedo Factory Art Center

*The Art League

*ArtDC featuring the work of Michael Winger

*Art Whino featuring the work of James Walker

*Flux Studios featuring the work of Novie Trump, Jessica Beels, and Laurel Lukaszewski

*Hamiltonian Artists

*microWave project featuring the work of Pam Rogers

*Convergence

*Pyramid Atlantic Art Center featuring the work of Sabeth Jackson & Gretchen Schermerhorn

*Washington Alexandria Architecture Center (WAAC) featuring Virginia Tech's Master of Landscape Architecture Graduate Students led by Laurel McSherry, program director

*Art Outlet featuring the work of Roy Utley & Heather Schmaedeke

*Albus Cavus featuring the work of Rosina Terri Memelo

Indoor Community Nest – April 2 – May 15, 2011

The public will be invited to participate in the building of a large community nest installed on the main floor of the Torpedo Factory. Long strips of paper will be available for $1 for the public to answer the question “What does home mean to you?” They will then be invited to weave their paper into the nest structure. Proceeds benefit Habitat for Humanity of NoVA.

Sunday April 10th from 11am-1pm, Habitiat for Humanity volunteers will lead a kids nest building workshop made out of found objects. This event will be right outside of the Torpedo Factory on the dock and is open and free to the pulic. Click here to learn more!

In-Studio Nests – April 2nd – May 15, 2011

Torpedo Factory artists have been asked to participate by making their version of the “nest” in their studios – to be on display during the length of the Nest exhibition. Maps will be available to lead visitors around the building to find all of these Nests.

The Target Gallery, national exhibition space of the Torpedo Factory Art Center, is located on the waterfront in Old Town Alexandria, VA.

Come join our studio!

2011-04-03T20:17:00.000-07:00

Would you like to be part of a fun, dynamic group studio space?

Our studio, Flux Studios, is now accepting applications
for two studio spaces:

Available May 1, 2011- 10 x 16 ft, $400 a month

Available June 1, 2011- 14 x 17 ft, $595 a month

Flux Studios is a 3000 square foot arts space in the Gateway Arts District that houses the studios of six professional artists. Each individual studio has ten-foot ceilings, concrete floors and walls of finished drywall over plywood.

We offer a friendly and collaborative atmosphere, 24 hour access, free on-site parking, a large flexible common area available to all members for projects, installations or teaching, an exhibition area with gallery lighting, a computer controlled studio kiln available for rent and a loading dock with garage doors.

Click here to check out Flux and contact us!

Gallery Visits in Georgetown

2011-02-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

Susan and I took a day off from the studio to take a jaunt to Georgetown to visit some galleries and meet my friend and colleague, Tamara Laird for lunch.
We were gifted with a gorgeous bright and sunny day, with a brisk spring breeze, perfect for Georgetown, which is best explored on foot.

Arriving early, we visited Maureen Littleton Gallery, which is one of the most prominent contemporary glass galleries in the US and is tucked away in a quiet townhouse. Our friend and Washington Glass Studio neighbor, Michael Janis ,is represented by Maureen Littleton and it was lovely to see his luminously layered works on diplay.

We then hiked to Cross Mackenzie, the only gallery in the DC area devoted exclusively to ceramics. The gallery is small but meticulously curated by the owner, Rebecca Cross, and features works by leading contemporary ceramicists. We were there to see Tamara's solo show of monumental ceramic forms:

Left to right: Elizabeth Kendall, Rebecca Cross and Tamara Laird

Tamara Laird with one of her sculptures

For our first exhibition of the year 2011, Cross MacKenzie Gallery is pleased to present Paisley Monuments, the monumental new ceramic sculpture by D.C. artist, Tamara Laird. An accomplished professional artist,RISD grad, and ceramics professor at the Corcoran College of Art and Design, Laird draws on her extensive world travels to inform her art.

While still a young ceramic student, she traveled to England to meet the world famous Bernard Leach and other British ceramists. Then in 1982, while visiting Zaire, Laird developed a number of illustrated training guides for use by the Peace Corps. In 1984 she moved to Nairobi, Kenya, where she worked at the National Museums of Kenya on a project funded by the United Nations and she also taught art at the Kenyatta University. Her next destination was Bangkok, Thailand with her family, where she carried out extensive research in local ceramics including individual artists, traditional village production, and full-scale industrial ceramics factories. She was invited to participate in an educational tour for traditional northeastern Thai ceramics, sponsored by the Thai government. She has also traveled to Mexico where she participated in a tour of ceramic factories that integrate traditional and contemporary industrial majolica production. Majolica was her focus when in Deruta Italy at the Grazia Majolica Artistiche Artigianali factory, as well. It is not surprising that she currently teaches majolica techniques for a annual summer study abroad program in Amalfi Italy.

Laird is interested in finding the connection between local culture and artistic development. Her current work is based on the paisley motif, a universally recognizable pattern that has been used for thousands of years. The form makes reference to botanical imagery, water, fruit, and fecundity. Usually applied to textiles, the shape is transformed into an elegant yet whimsical and expressive three-dimensional form in Laird's hands – resembling a plant shoot. Last year her work was included in the show Flora: Growing Inspirations at the U.S. Botanical Gardens where they were placed outdoors in the Conservatory Terrace at the foot of the Capitol. The artist makes the sculptures in high-fire stoneware with various glazed surfaces from flat black to reflective metallic lusters demonstrating the material possibilities inherent in clay, a material essential to human development as she discovered first hand all over the world. I have paired this essential element with a universal symbol to create a monument to ornament, says Laird.

I was in a show at the US Botanical Gardens with Tamara last year. The US Botanical Gardens' designers and gardening teams designed and built an outdoor garden room around her works and I think to really appreciate the lyrical beauty of these you must see them nestled in a green garden, with the sunlight glinting off of her sumptuous bronze glazes.

After that we walked to Baked and Wired, which not only has the most elegant display system, but has the most delicious, melt in your mouth, transform you back to the bestest ever, shiniest birthday party you ever had as a child...yummm!

2011-02-05T07:36:00.000-08:00

Unloaded the test kiln this morning and I'm so pleased at how the butterflies turned out!

I am using a new clay for me, an ultra white, very translucent porcelain called Frost. You can see the ethereal qualities of this clay best when back lit. I am now thinking of clustering hundreds of them on a lit globe pendant light...hmmmmm.....

2011-02-03T18:28:00.000-08:00

I have several exciting projects and exhibitions coming up for 2011 and have been busy in the studio experimenting and making work.

One of the projects is an installation of over a thousand porcelain butterflies. I've been experimenting with different ways to make the butterflies- press molds, slipcasting and cutters. Here are some tinies I made using a cutter and very thin slabs of a white porcelain.

Each one is hand shaped to convey movement, refined with a knife once dry and then loaded into the test kiln. The container is full of broken ones- they are incredibly delicate while in greenware state.

Fingers crossed for opening the kiln tomorrow!

2011-02-02T18:19:00.000-08:00

Susan, Jessica ( my talented studio mate) and I all took a quick trip to Terrapin Traders today. Terrapin Traders is the surplus warehouse for the University of Maryland and just a quick 20 minutes away from the studio.
Filled with dusty stacks of old desks, dented file cabinets and piles of obsolete lab equipment, it is definitely a hit or miss type place. I was in search of an old fashioned overhead projector for an upcoming project and Susan and Jessica tagged along for fun.
We found a sturdy 3M overhead projector right away, plugged it in and voila!

Nothing else caught our eye until on the way out, Jessica's keen eye found a cardboard box high on a shelf- full of these fabulous brass tubes. The tag said they were " Ice Tube Shields", conjuring up wonderful images of a mysterious laboratory hidden in the depths of the science building.

We bought the entire box- I love treasure hunting!

Welcome to the Daily Art Muse!

2011-02-01T07:02:00.000-08:00

Today we had our first meeting with Susan Lomuto, the the Daily Art Muse. Susan is the creative force behind this must see website and blog devoted to contemporary fine craft.
If you haven't read it yet, click on the link above now and go check it out. Don't worry, I'll wait.

Isn't that the most glorious visual feast? I have always loved her blog and was ever so delighted when she found my work online and featured it a year or so ago. ( Click here )
Susan has embarked on a grand adventure for the new year:

"It’s time to get out of the house and hit the road. After bringing you the results of the hard work, dedication and commitment of more than 2,000 artists, who better than me to take you deeper into the life of the working artist? I want to show you their daily rhythm, the daily grind, the solitude, the camaraderie, the highs, the lows.

To do that, I’m getting my hands dirty working as an apprentice for established and emerging artists across the country. I’m doing their scut work, sweeping floors and learning – about art, about life as an artist, even about life in general – as I gather material to write in depth about the working artist’s life. A lot of it will appear right here on Daily Art Muse – a multimedia experience complete with pictures, video and text."

And lucky us, she is spending six weeks with us in the Gateway Arts District, working with seven artists. She will be spending time with us at Flux as well as time with the The Washington Glass School, Ani Kasten and Margaret Boozer at Red Dirt Studios.

Today we had our first meeting all together to talk about the schedule and to discuss the individual projects that Susan might be interested in assisting us with over the next six weeks. It was a great meeting- lively and fun, we all can't wait to get started!

If you would like to help Susan with this project she is accepting donations via a BUTTON on her website and also awarding some really great donor rewards, to which we will be adding some art pieces in the near future!

Elizabeth Kendall show at GRACE

2010-12-23T17:26:00.000-08:00

My friend and fellow ceramic sculptor, Elizabeth Kendall has a stunning new solo show, Double Sleyed, at the Greater Reston Arts Center this December. Go see it before it ends!

I work with lush white porcelain and dense textured black clay using tools and processes that are familiar to the kitchen, the sewing room, and the clay studio. Inspired by personal memories and family stories, the shapes that emerge are an ongoing conversation between my hand and my material as well as a response to the space in which they are installed. Borrowing a weaver’s term, the work is “Double Sleyed,” where two threads exist side-by-side in the same space.

Shadow does not exist without light. Volume requires line. Something has to have been present for its absence to be felt.

In life as with art, there is more than one side to any story, more than one answer to a question. My sculptures can be bricks and windows, walls and archways. They frame a story and are a story in their own right.

Art Basel Continued!

2010-12-17T17:20:00.000-08:00

Day two in Miami was spent exploring more of the satellite art fairs and happenings.

In the morning we attended Just Right, an interactive food installation by Jennifer Rubell at the Rubell Family Collection/ Contemporary Arts Foundation. Visitors climbed through a hole in the wall of the back of the museum garden and traversed an empty lot to an abandoned house. Based on the tale of Goldilocks, in each room were items needed to fix the perfect bowl of oatmeal, um, I mean, porridge. Visitors were invited to make a bowl of oatmeal to their liking and enjoy.

Nearby, were four fairs: Art Miami, Red Dot, Art Asia and Scope.

At Art Miami, I found two artists of note.

One was my friend and studio neighbor, Tim Tate, whose video and glass reliquaries were exquisite as always.

We also saw this huge, fantastical mixed media installation by Federico Uribe:

At Red Dot, we visited the gallery booth of one of my favorite bloggers and art critics, Lenny Campello, whom many of you know as the writer of the influential and widely read DC Art News.
He had some great works in the booth, notably a few of his own works, as well as that of Judith Peck, a fabulous local painter.

Lenny Campello

Work by Judith Peck

One of the most powerful exhibitions was by Beth Cavener Stichter, whose work I find to be some of the most darkly compelling work being done in contemporary ceramic sculpture today.

It was also great to see a Deborah Butterfield horse outside of a museum.

At Art Asia were three breathtaking installations:

From the exquisite to the absurd at Scope!

This huge six foot before and after popsicle made me laugh out loud!

Art Basel In Miami

2010-12-14T15:00:00.000-08:00

Chris and I decided to take a weekend off in the beginning of December, to attend Art Art Basel Miami.
Art Basel Miami is an international art show featuring over 250 leading art galleries from North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa exhibiting 20th and 21st century artworks by over 2,000 artists.
It takes place in the historic Art Deco district and is an overwhelmingly massive art show.
I found that most of the artwork was not to my taste but there were a few absolute treasures that made the
day.
Featured prominently by the gallery Shanghart , was a Chinese artist named Sun Xun, born in 1980 in Liaoning Province. His illustrations and animations had the most magical steampunkery imagery:

One of the best parts of the show was the opportunity to see works by modern masters outside of a museum setting. Calder is one of my favorite artists and numerous galleries carried his work. As I passed by this gigantic one, I overheard a man ask the gallerist if it could be painted

a different color to match his house.

Joking? Let's hope!!

I found very few ceramics in the show. One piece I loved was at Tilton Gallery. A suspended sculpture by Simone Leigh entitled Emperor Jones, it featured ceramic pods fired in a raku crackle white glaze, with clear blown pods filled with graphite.

And last but not least, I loved the absurdity of these installations of palm trees and turf within the building-

and that people were actually treating them as they would a small public park!

The best part of the weekend in Miami, though, were the small independent satellite fairs. My fave was

Aqua Art Miami , which takes place in a small funky hotel in South Beach. Galleries took over each hotel room, which ringed a large palm tree filled courtyard. I found the artwork featured by the galleries there to be much more interesting and accessible, and dare I say it- current!!

Based in Seattle, Aqua's organizers have made it their mission to promote innovative programming from the west coast as well as the greater USA and abroad, with a particular interest in young dealers and galleries with strong emerging artist programs.

Innovative book works at Donna Seager Gallery

Krause Gallery was featuring Rob Tarbell, one of my favorite artists ever since we had a two-person show together a few years ago. Please check out his website, these unearthly works are made with smoke marks on paper. Yes, you read that right- smoke!!

More tomorrow!

2010-12-12T14:40:00.000-08:00

Thank you to everyone who made it out to our fourth annual Open Studio!
We always love it when we have a chance to share our studios and give everyone a glimpse of our current projects- always fun!

FLUX-Front Gallery

FLUX- Front Space

Installation of Porcelain Leaves by Laurel Lukaszewski

Detail-installation of Porcelain Leaves by Laurel Lukaszewski

Novie Trump's Studio

Paper and Steel Pod Form by Jessica Beels

Paper and Steel Pod Forms by Jessica Beels

Detail of Paper Installation by Maggie Gourlay

Tape Installation by Elena Patino

Wall Boxes by Novie Trump

2010-11-28T17:46:00.000-08:00

Oh frabjous day!

I got a call as I was heading home after a long day at the studio from a friend of mine, the talented jeweler Tamara Laird, that I had to get to southeast DC "RIGHT NOW" for an estate sale.

"Right now?" I echoed.

"Yes." And her voice lowered to a whisper. "He was a watchmaker!!"

No further persuasion necessary- I think I left skid marks in the studio parking lot.

Here are some photos of the goodies I scored. I can't wait to add them to my new mixed media pieces.

Washington Craft Show

2010-11-19T17:52:00.000-08:00

This weekend several friends were exhibiting at the prestigious Washington Craft Show . My studio mate, Laurel and I spent a lovely morning last Friday seeing the show.

Filled with top notch contemporary craft, the show featured work by 190 artists.

We first visited the booth of our studio mate, Jessica Beels. Jessica makes sculptures and jewelry of steel and paper.

Next we visited our other studio mate, Judit Varga, a talented ceramicist from Hungary.

And on to the booth of our studio neighbor, Ani kasten.

We actually own one of her boat forms and it is one of my favorites in our collection.

Last, we visited the booth of Elissa Farrow-Savos. These remarkable sculptures are created using polymer clay, mixed media and found objects. My favorite is the girl with the wind up heart that can be reeled in, It Was Wonderfully Convenient To Be Able To Reel It Back In When Necessary.

Potfest

2010-11-14T07:59:00.000-08:00

I was delighted to be accepted to Potfest in the Park , a three day international ceramics fair in the Lake District of England. It takes place at Hutton-in-the-Forest, a 15th century English estate. It was absolutely lovely. Over 100 ceramic artists from Europe, Australia, the UK and America ( that would be me!) set up in massive white tents on the rolling green lawns in front of the castle.

Below are some pictures of setting up:

Will, holding down the fort

Unloading in the rain

David and Wendy plotting out the wall installation

Most artists camp at a nearby campground

Dave setting up the tents

Dinner at the campground kitchen yurt

My booth

Wendy's booth

Margaret Frith

One of the things I loved about this fair was the sense of community. Courtesy umbrellas- at a fair that draws thousands! And all were returned.

There was also a remarkable sense of community amongst the artists. Chris and Geoff Cox, the organizers of the show, go to great lengths to foster this sense of community. One of the greatly anticipated events every year is the cup exchange amongst the makers. The third one from the left is mine. The first cup that I ever made. We all stood in a circle and passed around the cups in a giant game of hot potato, except you get to keep the potato! This was followed by a catered dinner for the artists with awards given out to the best in several categories.

The work by the other artists at the fair was a visual treat. Below are some of my favorites. To see more you can visit the official Potfest 2010 photo album HERE

Boat by Mark Smith

Mark Smith

Each ceramic piece by Mark Smith draws its inspiration from the sea, and each piece has its own unique appearance and individual story to tell.

As he makes each piece its own narrative develops often revealing the tale of a journey or maritime adventure.

Objects discovered on the shoreline are incorporated and find themselves becoming part of the rich story.

Mark uses a variety of decorative techniques as his ideas continue to flow, moving on to create different avenues and new approaches.

Ships, boats, and wrecks are the main focus of the work which is made from clay that has the texture of metal and wood from objects that have been salvaged by Mark. The clay is press moulded and patched together to produce a variety of forms that look as though they have been weathered from long voyages and amazing adventures on the high seas.

Gayle Cherry, his lovely partner

Mark Smith

The Work of Craig Underhill. I loved his dreamy landscapes.

They were so softly detailed and evocative of a distant place.

My favorite. Love the flock of birds taking flight.

Craig Underhill

Dave Binns on left chatting with Wayne Clark. I bought one of Wayne's lidded jars to hold tea.

Sally and Alasdair Neil MacDonnel. One of the loveliest and most gifted couples you will ever meet. I am in love with their work and have long admired Sally's figures. When she wanted to do a trade I nearly did a cartwheel right then and there!

Below on the right is my figure. On the left is Wendy's.

Kathrin Najorka and Christophe Zange from Germany,

and their gorgeous woodfired functional ware below

Chris Cox

Meri Wells figure

Life Size figures on the lawn, by Meri Wells

The Work of Paul Young

Paul Young was brought up in Clowne, Derbyshire.
His interest in slipware, particularly the large medieval jugs, early pew figures and the Eighteenth-century baking dishes, emerged from a series of lectures at College, and later was enchanted by the French rigid tile figures, epi des faitages. These influences can all be seen in his recent pieces alongside some Persian and Japanese inspiration.
He set up a workshop in Leicestershire producing electric and wood-fired earthenware. He was short-listed for the UK Trade Export Award at Origin, 2007.

Paul Young

Every year, the festival has a themed contest on the lawn. This year was "Shrines, Altars and Markers" Below are some of my favorite entries.

Shrine by Meri Wells

This garden bench by Jan Lewis-Eccleston was the first place winner, deservedly so. The procession of tiny flightless penguins bearing gifts to the giant, looming winged bird made everyone who saw it laugh out loud in delight.

My entry

The food tents. Best brie and chutney sandwiches EVER.

This artist collected kiln mistakes from many of the artists exhibiting at the fair and created this shrine to kiln disasters. Something all of us can relate to as ceramic artists!

Mickerloo Gallery

2010-11-13T17:49:00.000-08:00

Mickerloo Gallery, in Chester, England is owned by the very talented Raven sisters, Emma and Sally. They have carried my work since last year and it was so lovely to finally meet them and see the gorgeous gallery. Mickerloo is a contemporary craft gallery on Cheshire plain that also features a tea room and cafe.

Sally Raven, who is an incredibly gifted potter, manages the gallery while her sister, Emma, runs the tea room and cafe. And you haven't lived until you have tasted one of Emma's regionally acclaimed pastries!

Below are gorgeous wood fired porcelain pieces by Sally Raven. I traded a reliquary for several of her pieces and my husband and I absolutely love them and use them every single day.

Wendy and I visited on a day that they were catering an event. They have a modern deck with sweeping views of the Cheshire Plain. This coupled with the elegant gallery full of art and scrumptious treats by Emma make for a popular venue.

I couldn't resist taking some pictures of the food, as a former caterer and restaurant manager. Yummm!

And last but oh, not least, the gorgeous artwork. They carry a very enticing array of jewelry, glass and ceramics by well-known makers as well as emerging artists.

Janice Parker is one of their resident artists. I loved her whimsical, fun works!

Based in Chester, Janice is a contemporary artist/maker
who combines various materials and techniques to produce
three-dimensional imaginary worlds. She is drawn to the
kitsch and quirky - things which make her smile such as
automata, robots and flying plaster ducks.

In the past she has used resin, fabric, felt, wood and
copper to realise her ideas.However, her most recent work is

constructed from slip cast and hand built porcelain to
which she has applied her own illustrations in the form of
transfers. These porcelain pieces are then further enhanced
by the addition of patinated copper and wooden elements.
The design of the individual pieces harks back to the
tradition of 17th Century Staffordshire flat-back figurines.

Entitled 'The Thieves of Time, the Magpies and the Star
Machine, this piece is a scene from a tale from my imagination.
The Thieves of Time control the movement of the stars and the

production of 'time' - they make the world go around.
Having trapped and trained magpies (rewarding them with
peanuts!) to steal items concerned with timekeeping - watches,
clocks, egg-timers, etc - they then extract the tiny bits
of time still contained in the mechanisms by putting them
into their star machine. These stars shoot out into the
universe and thus replace the time we humans are frittering
away.

2010-11-13T14:42:00.000-08:00

Yes, yes, I know this is very late! I had so many deadlines this fall that time has been in short supply but I am determined to return to the blog!

To catch you up:
As many of you know, I spent July and part of August in Wales, doing an artist residency at the studio of my friend, Wendy Lawrence. I had irregular internet connection so I couldn't post from there but I did want to share a bit so you can get a taste of gorgeous Wales and the amazing ceramics community there!

July 5, 2010
After a 23 hour journey I finally arrived at Wendy's lovely home and studio in Denbigh, Wales. I always forget just how gorgeous Wales is until I return.

For six weeks I worked at Wendy's house and studio, creating a body of work for a three day outdoor ceramics show in August. Thanks to Wendy's amazing generosity, I got to escape the blinding heat of DC in July ( 100 degrees and climbing) to the cool misty summer days of northern Wales and her fairy tale stone house and lovely light filled studio.

Below are pictures of the village and Wendy's gorgeous house and studio.

The Ever Loyal Will, who kept me grand company during the day

Work drying outside in a rare ( and fleeting!) patch of sunlight

in Wendy's courtyard

Wendy in the studio we shared, working on one of her large disks

One of my pieces, mid process

Plotting out the interior pieces

Wendy's disk piece, just as she finished carving it

A new direction for me- a large scale house with a niche

A street in Denbigh, the town where I stayed

David and Margaret Frith, well-known traditional potters, are Wendy's neighbors. They give amazing workshops to which participants come from all over. We popped by one Saturday morning to see the results of the current workshop participants' wood firing.

Cords of wood for the firing

A pleased student!

Margaret dissecting a glaze with a student

Wendy and Will admire a pot

The Frith's home and gallery

The Koi Garden by which the class celebrated with champagne and sweets!

I was lucky enough to be living with Will, as I missed my two dogs terribly. This is some of what we saw on our daily walks together.

The now endangered phone booth, beloved by all of us Dr. Who fans

One of the meadows by Denbigh Castle, a five minute jaunt up the hill

Denbigh Castle

And lucky me, it was strawberry season while I was there. Delicate, old-fashioned explode-on-your- tongue in tart sweetness heaven.

Wendy and I worked 14-16 hour days for weeks, getting ready for Potfest, a huge international ceramics fair in the Lake District in England in which we were both participating. See her above, glazing like mad. We did take one day off to go to Chester, England, a shopping boutique heaven. Below are pics of the coolest antique import store EVER.

Next post will be Mickerloo Gallery and Potfest!

2010-06-24T18:34:00.000-07:00

This week I was browsing upcoming shows on the website of Blue Spiral 1 Gallery , my favorite gallery in the Southeastern US.

I was immediately captivated by the work of Heather Allen-Swarttouw ,who recently transitioned from making colorful textile works to creating these gorgeous ceramic and mixed media sculptures. I was struck by the fact that she gave herself over eight years to experiment with the new medium. I think as artists we don't always give ourselves permission to experiment and explore paths far from the work for which we are known. What a brave thing to do. And just look at the results.

I find her work, which is made from ceramic, encaustic, steel, found objects and gut, to be poetic in its simplicity of form and surface. A perfect example of the quietly powerful quality of her work is the boat form below which utilizes a Coptic binding and contains antique book pages.

Voyage of Knowledge

Blue Spiral 1 Statement about her work:

For Heather Allen-Swarttouw the metaphor of an ongoing journey in her architectural series has evolved into exploring a sense of place. There is a sense of a journey, of being ready and poised to go yet simultaneously grounded in a sense of destination and place.

The vessels, rendered in textiles and in ceramic forms, are grounded but not aground. Vessels, boats, and sarcophagi become a symbol for self and the journey of self.

Transition n. a development or evolution from one form, stage, or style to another

For years the staircase has been my muse. Stairs that I encounter are sketched in my journals and then a select few have a special resonance and inspire a piece. Once the piece is begun, it takes on a life or a story of it's own. As I respond to the process, a dialogue develops between the piece and me. The stairs allude to a journey, becoming metaphors for expressing various paths, transitions, and thresholds within life's experiences. This work draws on the viewer's intimate involvement with steps and portals to elicit feelings and personal interpretations. Similarly, a boat symbolizes a journey and a vessel can symbolize self. The vessel is a metaphor of interior and exterior, of containment, of transport and journey, and as a tool like the boat or tatting shuttle, with the ability to create. It is both universal and personal. These vessels are enigmatic being boat pod shapes or pod tool shapes or tool vessel shapes. The vessel and boats allow me a vehicle to investigate new ideas, narratives and relationships.

As I entered my 40's, death and marriage shifted my focus. No longer "alone," the work explores relationships and inter-relationships between individual pieces, their materials, forms and ideas. I am interested in duality and the idea of two (or more) things that are intrinsically bound together, made by the same hand. Created separately, individual pieces are presented in pairs or groupings that strengthen and highlight this sense of similarity and contrast. A dialogue is created by the contrast of 2D and 3D, of male and female, of clay and cloth, of hard and soft, of line and form. The negative spaces and shadows enter into the dialogue, extending the pieces and representing the unsaid between individuals or spiritual world. The 3D pieces are designed for the wall and the pedestal allowing them different expressions or personalities. It is my goal that in presenting different groupings and installations, provocative relationships and dialogues are created.

-Heather Allen-Swarttouw

2010-06-22T05:20:00.000-07:00

My friend and well known DC painter Sondra N. Arkin, has organized Delicacies,

an invitational show of small works at DC's favorite artisinal chocolate boutique,

Biagio Fine Chocolate.

There will be a second VIP reception this Thursday June 24 from 6-8 pm in the tasting room.

Just follow the utterly delicious smell of sumptuous chocolate and come on out if you can!

2010-06-18T22:38:00.000-07:00

My husband and I recently took a trip to San Francisco for the wedding of one of my best friends.
I love San Francisco but we decided to take the opportunity for a side trip to Monterey Bay as I had never been. It was unexpectedly touristy and Steinbeck's gritty Cannery Row has long ago been replaced by t-shirt and ice cream shops jammed with throngs of sunburned tourists with strollers and flip flops.

We stayed right on the water and had a balcony that perched twenty feet over the bay. Every morning I would grab the binoculars provided in the room and enjoy the sunrise as light crept across the water. I saw otters float by with rocks clasped to their chests, teen-aged seals bobbing their heads in and out of the waves in rapid games of tag and many a bird diving for their breakfast.

Of course we had to visit the very highly rated Monterey Bay Aquarium. Usually I am not one for zoos or aquariums but this place had me riveted for a solid two hours.

The 28 foot tall aquarium holding the kelp forest is unearthly. The sun-lit kelp, which grows up to four inches a day, sways gently in unseen currents as silvery schools of fish dart in and out of its feathery fronds.

But the very best part was the darkened room with the huge tanks of jellyfish. Below is a short video I took of the largest jellyfish. One small tank held countless tiny, tiny ghostly jellyfish from an inch to a quarter of an inch

in diameter which were amazing in their miniature perfection.

But these, which were over two feet in diameter and were a marvelous glowing orange colour, were simply moving to view.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6UiPTp-2Ho

2010-06-17T04:53:00.000-07:00

I have been working the past few weeks on several projects before I leave for the UK for an artist residency.

One of the main ones has been sample tiles for a commission for a new hospital wing in Charlottesville, Virginia. Each bathroom in each patient room will be getting its own artist made tile, set directly into the wall. The project is being overseen by gifted curator and art consultant, Lillian Fitzgerald who works a great deal with arts in healthcare settings. I have been commissioned to do twenty tiles and have been working on carving some samples, which I am very excited about!
It has been an enormous challenge as the tiles must be 12 inches x 12 inches, square and 1/4 inch thick, which is VERY thin for a tile that big. I've been drying them for two weeks and just put them in the kiln today for a long, low heat firing. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

2010-06-16T15:47:00.000-07:00

My friend Beth Kendall ( some of you may remember her as the goddess who fired all of those huge bridge bones for me in the middle of Snowmageddon this past December)

is having an opening this Friday night June 18 from 6-8 pm

at Cross Mackenzie Gallery in Georgetown.

Her work is always beautiful with its interplay of light, shadow and movement.

If you have a chance go see it!

cross mackenzie gallery is pleased to present new ceramic work by local artist Elizabeth Kendall.

The evolution of Kendall's dynamic and original clay wall pieces is worth noting.She calls the series, "Button Boxes" and they look like dozens of oversized black and white buttons bursting out of their container and showering to the floor. Their inspiration comes from time spent with her grandmother learning how to sew. Young Kendall was mesmerized by the myriad of buttons collected over time with their various colors and designs piled in the sewing box. Her grandmother instructed Kendall in the techniques of the seamstress; attention to the cloth's delicate edges, altering shapes with stitching, basting and appliqué, employing layering and texture of the fabrics and the importance of the fine details of the decorative fasteners. When translated to clay, these approaches are all evident in her art.

Kendall's first fabric-inspired pieces were her functional cups that she hand-built with thin porcelain slabs exposing the seams and making the clay imitate the soft quality of cloth, mimicking the folds and sags of the material. She then began creating cups without bottoms as an element for sculptural installations. In her last exhibition at cross mackenzie, Kendall filled the window with hundreds of these empty cup units, stacked to the ceiling to create a lace like see-through screen, quite fittingly a new kind of window dressing. Her small groupings of bottomless cups made into wall pieces will be on view.

The 'Button Box Series" explodes the button-like disks out into the space. They protrude from the wall on steel rods, pushing into the room and creating a sense of a three dimensional black and white digital image, the dots act like physical pixels. The gallery will have the feeling of an inverted pincushion with steel rods spiking into our space from both sides of the room - the domestic imagery skewered.

Elizabeth Kendall is a graduate of Smith College and studied pottery at Penland, Hood College and Arrowmont with residencies at Watershed, the MacNamara Foundation and Guldagergaard, Denmark. In addition to her studio work in ceramics, she is also a contributing writer and art critic for ceramic publications such as Clay Times, Ceramics Monthly, Studio Potter, and Pottery Making Illustrated. An award winning and active clay artist, she has participated in numerous juried craft shows, exhibitions and invitationals including the recent NCECA conference in Philadelphia. She teaches workshops and demonstrations and serves on the board for Cub Creek, VA. and is vice president of the board of the prestigious Watershed organization in Maine.

Glass Imagery Workshop by Michael Janis at the Washington Glass School

2010-06-13T16:26:00.000-07:00

"Inspired by ways we transform ourselves, I work at creating creates glass pieces that have both visual and spatial depth. By layering and fusing sheets of glass with overlapping elements, I strive for an interactive commentary using simple forms with intricate glass powder drawings. These works are a continuation of my frit powder drawings that I have been working on for some time now. The layered compositions allow me to make unusual juxtapositions of imagery.

My kilnformed work takes scenes and suspends them within layers of fused, formed and coldworked sheet glass. Using crushed glass powder to create drawings, I like to play on the elements of light, color and also sequence. The glass powder is sifted onto glass sheets, and by scraping and scratching the sifted black glass dust I craft my artwork. The glass panel is then fired in an electric kiln at temperatures up to 1600°F. This time consuming process facilitates drawn out contemplation of often overlooked imagery.

I work hard to create some kind of meaning out of my artworks - dream-state surrealism using figures, text and common objects, and hint at questions. The artworks suggest meanings but they encourage the viewers to draw their own conclusions. The work has an intrinsic meaning for me, but they remain open to multiple interpretations. I want to encourage the possibility of exploring meanings beyond those I put there – I count on the viewer bringing something to the work." - Michael Janis

On Saturday I had the pleasure of being the TA for Michael Janis' workshop on Imagery in Glass at The Washington Glass School. I love Michael's work, two sample of which are above, and was excited to learn more about the processes used in creating imagery in glass.

The process predominantly used by Michael is the use of glass frit powders which are manipulated with sieves, paint brushes and fine blades to carefully create the images in multiple layers of glass, which are then fused together in a final firing. I have a new appreciation for the extreme level of technical difficulty this process requires and the copious amounts of patience it takes!

We also learned about markers that can be used to write on glass, stencils, waterslide decals and special paints that can all be applied on glass and then fired in kilns.

I can't wait to apply these techniques to glass panels which can then be incoporated into my reliquaries!

2010-06-12T09:05:00.000-07:00

Radio Silence is broken at last!

My apologies to all who have asked where the heck my blog went. It's funny how eight weeks can disappear when life is crazed. Hopefully, good things only from here on out!

As an update to how some of that eight weeks was spent I've prepared a highlights reel for you:

April was spent making 24 wall boxes for the Affordable Art Fair of New York. This show title always makes me smile as "affordable" is defined as art sold for under $10,000. My work was taken to the show by Lenny Campello, respected art blogger, gallerist and art critic.

Below is opening night which was a madhouse with live DJs, great wine and food

and many interested collectors.

My wall boxes which were shown in a tight grid.

I'll do another post later about the process of making these as I get so many requests to show my techniques and working method.

I assisted in throwing the Patron Dinner for the James Renwick Alliance , an independent national nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing scholarship and education on contemporary American craft. It took place in April during Craft Week in DC. The inimitable Tim Tate, well known glass artist and also my lovely neighbor, conceived and executed a fantastical cirque themed dinner. It was tons of fun to work on this event with him and very staisfying to see the end results.

Imaginative and utterly delicious food provided by Alchemy Catering

One of our patrons, modeling the flashing, glow-in-the-dark rings, which were a HUGE hit! I guess it doesn't matter if you are six or sixty, glow-in-the-dark rules!

The Cute Juggler, and yes, this is her real stage name- totally deserved

In early May we had our Spring Open Studio, which was part of the Gateway Arts Open Studio Tour and Mount Rainier Day, which always features a parade with a kickin' marching band. We had a great turn out and I must say, I felt our space looked the best it has ever looked!

More to follow tomorrow!

2010-03-31T04:12:00.000-07:00

The dance performance by the Jane Franklin Dance Company that featured the bone bridge went very well. I love this photograph from the performance.

2010-03-30T19:41:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I received a studio visit from Candace Groot, Christina Bothwell and Stanley Shetka, who were all in town to jury this year's Virginia A. Groot Foundation grant awards, along with Tim Tate, who was last years recipient of first place.

The Virginia A. Groot Foundation was founded in 1988 to award grants to sculptors so that they may have the opportunity to devote a substantial period of time to the development of their work. It's a foundation that has made a significant impact on the lives of many sculptors.

Below is a group photo, showing Candace Groot in the center surrounded by former winners of the award, two of whom have studios in our complex!

Left to Right: Martha Jarvis Jackson, Tim Tate, Candace Groot, Stanley Shetka and Christina Bothwell.

The visit turned out to be great fun. It's always a treat to talk shop with other artists, especially if they work in your medium.

After meeting Christina, I was intrigued by her description of her glass and ceramic work
and was delighted to discover her work online. Simply incredible. I especially love the glass birds embedded within the figures.

Christina Bothwell

In my work I am drawn to the processes of birth, death, and renewal. What lies below the surface fascinates me and I try to capture the qualities of the "unseen" that express the sense of wonder that I feel in my daily existence. I am attracted to glass because it can do everything that other sculptural media can; in addition, it offers an inner space and transmits light.

My subject matter includes babies, animals, and children as they embody the essence of vulnerability that is the underlying theme in my work. Currently I am exploring metamorphosis as a topic, and have been incorporating figures within figures in my pieces. Within each glass figure there is a smaller figure seen through the surface of the glass.

I think of these pieces as souls, each being pregnant with their own potential, giving birth to new, improved versions of themselves.

Christina Bothwell

SOLO SHOW Laborious Futility by Elena Patino

2010-03-06T21:10:00.000-08:00

Friday night was the opening night for the solo show of my studio mate, Elena Patino at Hillyer Art Space near Dupont Circle and, as usual for their openings, was hugely crowded with live music and tons of people.

It was so much fun and really gratifying to see the works completely installed after only glimpsing small sketches in process in the studio.

One of the things I enjoy the most about sharing studio space is being exposed to work that is 360 degrees different from my own. I have been really intrigued by Elena's transformation of small, common, everyday objects into larger installations, a process so different from my own work with clay.

It was difficult to determine my favorite piece- I was torn between the rhythmic installation of clear drinking straws that wrapped around two walls and the colorful installation of wire and felted balls that exploded in orderly profusion from the wall.

Elena in front of her installation of felted balls and wire

Materials: Felted wool balls, wire

Materials: Glass baby food jars, water and colorants

Materials: Drinking straws and pins

Materials: Clear plastic tubing and fiber

The accumulative processes used in the making of Elena's pieces make reference to a variety of different aspects of the human condition. Labor, migration and consumption are all subtly examined through her obsessively replicative methods of construction and systems of assemblage.

Laborious Futility adapts from Patino's previous engagement in the construction of organic structures based on repetition with a strong connection to fiber arts. While not always made with fiber materials, the work borrows from the pliable quality of textiles.

Hillyer Art Space

9 Hillyer Court NW, Washington, DC 20008 USA

T 202.338.0680 | F 202.333.0758 | www.artsandartists.org |

Gallery Hours: 10am - 5pm Monday, 10am - 7pm Tuesday - Friday, 11am - 4pm Saturday.

2010-03-02T07:12:00.000-08:00

I went to the American Craft Council show this past weekend and saw some gorgeous artwork. One of my favorites was Michele Renee Ledoux, who creates lyrically beautiful encaustic paintings which incorporate found objects. To see more images and read more about her work CLICK HERE

"Tapping into primal archetypes—recurring symbols and experiences shared by all across time—is a primary focus of my work. A philosopher at heart with a passion for metaphysical debate, I am drawn to the duality of all things, the complexity of simplicity and the perfection of imperfection. I am further inspirited by the study of quantum physics and theories of consciousness and energetics, all of which are reflected either explicitly or obscurely in my work.

Free from commitment to any single style, my work reflects an ever-evolving organic synthesis of mixed media including found objects, recycled material, printmaking, photography, painting, drawing, poetry and encaustic and aims to reveal our original source—a peeling back, if you will, to reveal our deepest truth. By means of building up and breaking down, texturing, and layering, my work seeks to scratch the surface of true human nature and often addresses social, political, environmental and spiritual matters.

Cloaked in abstraction, stark horizons split the work into two fields, one above the other, and refer to a more spiritual landscape highlighting the energetic alignment of subject to source, but more abstractly represent the link between science and spirituality. Although the element of “line” is prominent in the work, the found object framework and carefully arranged recycled elements also play a significant role. And, underpinning all the work is a constant theme—the intention to evoke spirit and inspire alchemy—the transmutation of the mundane into magic."

2010-02-22T18:21:00.000-08:00

Oh! Oh! Oh!

Don’t you love it when you have an idea for a piece and you Google the technique to get started and an amazing artist pops up in the search?

I Googled how to slipcast twigs and the work of Dawn Stetzel came up in the search. Intrigued by the poststamp sized image on my screen I clicked on her blog post about her MFA thesis show.

What a beautiful show!

It addresses many of the same themes which resonate with me as an artist. Nature, twigs, earth, eggs, leaves – all rendered with a delicate strength and pared down elegance.

To see the entire show and read her full statement CLICK HERE

Tower is a precarious structure about the vulnerability that comes from needing support from other humans in order to survive. Tower begins with thin, almost transparent, porcelain slip-cast leaves, each oval leaf with an individual pattern of delicate veins. Numerous leaves are placed, one-on-top-of-another, to create a precarious, six foot tall, towering stack of white leaves. The instability of the tower is enhanced by the undulation of the leaf column and its placement high overhead. The structure supporting the leaves is sparse; it begins with a minimal platform of thin, spindly twigs attached to the wall, and continues upwards with a few twig pegs jutting out of the wall for additional brief support. The platform and pegs create a structure which makes the propped up stack of leaves possible, but just barely. A thin-shelled, warmly toned, porcelain egg perches atop the teetering stack. The egg is so far out of reach and similar in color, that it is almost not visible, requiring careful, or sustained observation in order to see the partially camouflaged egg. The leaves create a fragile landscape in which the egg may rest, but not a completely safe place to rest. The survival of the stack, thus the egg, is in peril.

Fragile Environments

I remember myself at nine years old, on a warm summer day, walking through a dense, moving carpet of seven hundred and fifty yellow goslings at my neighbor's apple orchard. The goslings' fuzzy, delicately small bodies, huddled together, creating a widespread layer of fragile life. My steps were careful as I walked within this sea of life, and at the same time, the goslings responded to my movement through their mass. The awareness, and the quiet, gentle responsive motion between the goslings and myself, continues to inspire and influence my work.

2010-01-28T13:28:00.000-08:00

While installing my show in Philadelphia I visited Eastern State Penitentiary, a Quaker prison opened in 1829 and decommissioned in the 1970s. When it was built it was a radical break from the prisons of its time. Its Quaker founders believed that silence, spiritual reflection, hard labor and solitude were the keys to true change within prisoners.

The prison was a popular tourist destination throughout the past two centuries and remains one to this day.

What is remarkable about this historic site is that they invite artists to submit proposals for installations. Installations have varied greatly, some have dealt with criminal issues, some have been responses to the physical space itself or to the history of the prison.
I was fortunate enough to be given a tour by Francis Dolan, the site manager. The space is at once eerily beautiful and chillingly haunting in its decrepitude. I honestly had a hard time finishing the tour.

Below are some snapshots of the prison:

The interior of a cell

A cell with a video installation by Alexa Hoyer, the television screen shows excerpts from seven decades of prison films, challenging the viewer to re-examine their notions of prison life

The greenhouse

An abandoned hallway

This piece by William Cromar I found especially chilling. He recreated in authentic detail a cell at Guantanamo Bay. It was a shameful moment as an American to view it- the two five gallon buckets, the paper thin mat on the concrete floor, the lack of running water or privacy...

An installation of suspended shards, that act of decay caught in mid air.

One of my favorites, Linda Brenner's installation of 39 Ghost Cats, referencing the feral cat colony that took refuge in the prison after 1971.

This is the intrepid site manager, Fran Dolan, who generously braved chilly winds to play tour guide and answer my many questions. He is standing in front of a small sunken courtyard which really captivated my imagination. I have been mulling my proposal over in my mind in every spare moment and I can't stop imagining huge piles of porcelain bones on this site....

2010-01-25T13:05:00.000-08:00

I am now thoroughly convinced that all of my electronic devices are meeting secretly under my bed at night to conspire!

As my modem has died I am now at a free WIFI spot, sipping tea and answering e-mail and updating my blog.

I have managed to get to several shows the past few weeks all over DC and must say I am intrigued by what young artists are producing today.

I popped into Art Whino last Friday, a fun gallery at the National Harbor which features work by hip young artists, " innovators of the New Brow Art otherwise labeled Pop-Surrealism, Lowbrow and Urban Contemporary".

While perusing the display of graffitied sneakers and skateboards I spied a show along the left side of the gallery entitled Quiet Little Stories, by Graham Franciose, an illustrator based in Colorado. These small, intimate ink and oil paintings alternately drew me in and pushed me away. They are the embodiment of the modern fairy tale- using fantasy to explore social themes of isolation, trust and distrust, sadness and happiness, apathy and caring. I am not normally drawn to this style of illustration but I found them oddly compelling and spent a great deal of time examining each small canvas.

I also love the fact that the artist invited viewers to write their own stories about each piece, with the stories to be used later in a project along with the images. What a great way to involve the viewer and to invite further thought about the works, which each managed to convey a single mysterious moment in an ongoing narrative.

Below is the show statement:

Relatable and honest, Graham's works are some of the most gentle, yet emotionally evocative works ever featured at Art Whino. His imaginative illustrative paintings are small in size and big on emotion, each depicting its own little narrative, often dreamily reminiscent, reaching deep into the human condition and showing us all little pieces of ourselves along the way.

The exhibition will go beyond the typical gallery experience, letting the viewer in on the action with an interactive story-writing component. The artist will invite viewers to share their take on the images with little written thoughts and stories that will be added to the walls along with the works.

Location: Art Whino Gallery

173 Waterfront St.

National Harbor, MD 20745

I also went to an opening at another new gallery in DC, the Fridge DC. It is located down an unmarked alley in south east DC. We were at a loss, standing on an extremely cold and dark street corner, trying to call up Google maps on our phones when we saw three people, dressed in black and carrying cases of wine duck into a nearby alley. Wisely following them, we emerged into an empty lot with a building covered in murals.

The show was entitled Uncle Cory's Art Show! I've never been to such a packed opening, there were hundreds of people jammed into the space, talking, laughing and enjoying the live DJ. Oh, and looking at what art that could be seen through the huge throng of bodies...

Below is text from the gallery website for the show:

Cory Oberndorfer has invited some friends to come play with him
at The Fridge for Uncle Cory's Art Show!
The result is a collection of works that illustrate
what happens when an adult's innocence
is lost but the sense of childhood play remains.

While a common thematic thread exists, each artist
approaches it with their own unique flair.

Megan Blafas plays with dolls.
Megan is a Washington, DC artist who creates
figurative collages and assemblage sculptures.
Her small-scale work is inspired by found
object and DADA artists, Hannah Hoch a
nd Baroness Elsa von Frietag Loringhoven.
Megan’s plush collages are created by
jumbling vivisected stuffed animal parts
and reforming them into unique
mythical creatures.

Davis McLane Connelly likes bunnies and teddy bears.
Have you ever wondered what kind of lives
your toys lead when you are not around?
Davis Connelly has the answer.
His masterful drawings illustrate the
inner turmoil of stuffed animals at their
most vulnerable moments. Davis is a
Brooklyn artist. His realistic drawings
often contain soft children's toys within
dimly lit interior home settings.
Davis holds a Bachelor's degree in
Psychology and is the Director of
two programs for youth in New York City.

DIABETIK melts peeps for s’mores.
Whether it is bitten, broken or dropped,
no sweet treat is safe from DIABETIK,
whose work has a ubiquitous presence
on the streets of DC. For Uncle Cory's
Art Show, DIABETIK focuses on the
most overexposed of pastry trends –
the cupcake.

Amy Misurelli-Sorensen was a
catholic schoolgirl.
Proving that appropriate behavior is
in the eye of the beholder, the drawings
of Amy Misurelli-Sorensen depict
young schoolgirls in a genuflection pose.
Removed from outside context, these
pious girls may be viewed as naughty or nice.
Amy’s work, which she calls
“drawings concerning piety, hypocrisy,
depravity and subversion” are
distorted images of female sexuality
imposed by an Italian Catholic upbringing.

Cory Oberndorfer knows
how many licks it takes to get to the center.

In a society that color types gender,
Cory Oberndorfer emasculates
our finest soldiers. His graphic
pop style gives us pink plastic army
men engaged in the heat of battle.
Cory is an artist best known for his
colorful paintings of rollergirls and candy.
The presentation of his figures questions
traditional gender roles. He is a grown man
with careers as a professor and an artist,
but his inner child still gets excited by
candy shops and the opportunity to play with toys.

As a child of the seventies, I especially liked the meticulous chalk
pastel and charcoal drawings by Davis Connelly
of well known puppets, seemingly
captured in their daily lives away from the set...

I find what young artists are doing today
can be fun and provocative, often all at the same time.
In this exhibition Cory Oberndorfer, the curator,
has created an energetic, thought provoking show.

2010-01-19T11:02:00.001-08:00

I apologize for the lack of posts. All of the machines in my life have apparently been meeting secretly and planning a massive revolt!
As you know, my laptop died a few weeks ago. Last week my phone beeped it's last beep. And on the same day my Internet modem joined the resistance and refused to connect. Skynet, I'm onto you!
On the good news side, I got a long coveted IPhone to replace my battered Blackberry. Just walked right into the store and bought one and was happily surfing for cool apps 10 minutes later. Which is how I am sitting in a waiting room and blogging all at the same time. Yayy!
I spent Saturday in Philadelphia installing a piece in a show called ACDCPC, curated by Cheryl Harper. She chose my piece " Waiting". I will have to embed a link later as this app, cool as it is, won't let me embed links.
The piece is composed of 400 pounds of porcelain bones stacked in a nest form, cradling an egg. This piece was inspired by a trip to the Galapagos Islands I took in 2008.
The line between survival and death is razor thin there and the tenacity of the animals who DO survive, and even thrive there, was humbling. On one rocky island there lived an entire flock of flightless cormorants. Having lost their ability to fly they now live on fish caught by diving in the ocean. As the island they live on consists of bare rock and nothing else they have adapted by building their nests from intertwined seaweed,driftwood and bones. I thought they were such an inspiring symbol of resiliency and resourcefulness. And that life goes on.
The piece is approximately 3 feet tall.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

2010-01-11T20:03:00.000-08:00

My absolute favorite thing to do in NYC is to visit the Metropolitan Museum.
For someone who did their studies in ancient civilizations and archaeology, it is the the proverbial candy store.

One of my favorite things about this museum is their collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts. I find it riveting to look at objects from everyday life and to imagine who might have made them and what their daily lives were like.
I look at a pair of woven sandals woven 4000 years ago and can't help but wonder about who made them: what were they like, short or tall, funny or dour, where they might have gathered the reeds, was it a sunny day or overcast when they wove them, where they might have had their workshop in the city, what they ate for lunch the day they wove them- the questions are endless!
I especially love it when you examine a clay object and you can see the maker's fingerprint still preserved in the clay after all of these thousands of years. It is simply dizzying to imagine all of the millions of people born since- and none have had the same fingerprint.

Below are some of my favorites, all buried in ancient tombs in order to help the dead with tasks in the afterlife:

The aforementioned sandals

Linen sheets were an essential household item often included in tombs. They ranged in quality from a rough, almost burlap texture to the finest weave of tiny threads. The ones shown here were found perfectly preserved in their white linen chests.
Some tombs have been found with thousands of sheets within them.
Oh what I would give to touch one!

I'm always intrigued by the ubiquitous boat models found in tombs. I have dozens of pictures of boat models that I have taken in museums in Europe and in the US; I find the curves of the boat to be simple poetry. I have sketches based on these boat forms for a large installation piece

involving a body of water.

These are models of various buildings that were found in tombs. The slaughterhouse was quite disturbingly authentically detailed, down to the bright crimson splashes of blood, so I will spare your sensibilities and show the lovely garden. This piece gives me ideas...hmmm.....

This oval woven basket is filled with tiny clay bowls of seeds ( which ALSO gives me ideas for a large installation piece. Sigh. So many ideas, not enough time, the lament of EVERY artist!)

Ever since I read that scientists have planted seeds that they found in Neo-lithic tombs and have had them sprout I always want to see what would happen if you could only swipe a few and pop them in some dirt...

A recreation of the wigs worn by the aristocracy.

Not quite as sexy as Liz Taylor made them look in her 1950's Hollywood glam version of Cleopatra!

And the crown jewel of it all, The Temple of Dendur, given as a gift from the Egyptian government to the United States when it would have been destroyed during the building of the Aswan Dam. Dismantled and reconstructed in its entirety in a special building designed to house it,

it literally takes your breath away

as you cross over the moat

and through the ancient stone entryway.

2010-01-07T20:51:00.000-08:00

I'm finally back from the holidays! A little delayed in blogging again as my laptop was the unfortunate victim of a tidal wave of water in the studio. It had been a bit sulky and finally breathed its last death rattle right before the holidays. On the one plus side, I now have a new shiny Macbook Pro with a 15 inch screen. No more squinting-yay!!!

For Christmas Chris surprised me with train tickets to New York City and we spent several days there right before the New Year. The cold was just brutal, 8 degrees below with 50 mph winds. Guess I'm glad I gained those five holiday pounds or otherwise I would have just blown away, al a Mary Poppins! Minus the cute talking parrot umbrella of course. And those really cute boots.

We began our afternoon in NYC by wandering through Central Park, almost a 1000 acres of lakes, bridges, fields and magnificent old trees. If you've ever wondered " Does it really look like that?" while watching a movie, yes, yes it does. But even prettier if that is possible. Just try not to get run down by the

never ending line of carriage horse, plodding gamely along, nose to tail.

We emerged from the park onto 5th Avenue. Wow!

One of the absolute best things about NYC at Christmas time are the truly amazing window displays. Bergdorf Goodman's had the most gorgeous, intricate and just plain jaw dropping tableaus of fantasy. They were so fantastical that people were jammed up 20 deep on the sidewalks surrounding the entire block, staring up at the windows in awe.

This year's BERGDORF GOODMAN holiday window display was entitled A COMPENDIUM OF CURIOSITIES. It featured a wild cast of characters, tinged with op-art and references to M.C. Escher, paradoxical points of view, vintage Victoriana, laced with Lewis Carroll "Alice" books. (information from the BG website).

Bergdorf Goodman Christmas Holiday Window Display 2009:

A COMPENDIUM OF CURIOSITIES

Reflected Serenades and Meticulous Metronomes. Every surface is mirrored, including ceiling and floor. Mirrored lion and unicorn stand guard.

Potions Imbibed and Perspective Rearranged. A myriad of miniature staircases form a mind-bending backdrop. The girl reappears several times, miniaturized to fit each room.

Improbable Lodgings and Feline Mischief. A miniature Victorian mansion, complete with white rabbit tenant. A Cheshire cat observes from the wings.

Afternoon Amusements and Sovereign Gambits. A bird's-eyeview of a tea party in progress, with Bridge, Chess and Backgammon providing diversion for a quartet of Royals.

Illogical Lexicons and Convivial Characters. This window is made entirely of paper, including the architectural trimmings and furniture. And the hedgehog!!

Also loved the Saks Fifth Avenue building which was covered in enormous lighted snowflakes that merrily flashed off and on to the tune of " Carol of the Bells". This one was so popular there were literally hundreds and hundreds of people in the streets stopping to watch.

Click Here for You Tube Video

More to come tomorrow!

2009-12-27T19:06:00.000-08:00

The bone firing was a success!
Beth Kendall, my friend and fellow sculptor, generously fired them over the weekend before Christmas, carving out a path through the two feet of snow to get to her kiln shed to fire them for me! They took two days to cool down and I was able to pick them up on Wednesday the 23rd. She rousted her son, Eli, from bed early in the am and the two helped me carry them into her house for packing and organizing and then to my car for the final delivery to Jane Franklin.
Thanks again, Beth and Eli- I owe you BIG!

2009-12-21T16:01:00.000-08:00

Over the past two months I've been working on a bridge of porcelain bones for a modern dance performance by the Jane Franklin Dance Company. The metal bridge has been fabricated and I've made over 80 thirty inch long porcelain bones that weigh 8 pounds each. Due to the tremendously damp weather the bones had been drying under constant fans for weeks.
I finally couldn't wait any longer and decided to load them into my kiln with a reeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaally long pre-heat cycle. Only to find that the bones had shrunk but not enough to fit into my kilns. Damn you, quarter of an inch!!!

Upon hearing of my dilemma, my lovely neighbors at the Washington Glass School generously offered their long, low kilns designed for firing glass. Thanks guys!

Bisque firing went well minus a few explosions from steam escaping the thick bones. Good thing I made 20 extra for unforeseen disasters!

I then unloaded the first load, layered them with a black copper oxide wash and reloaded them for their final firing.

Alas, I did not realize that glass kilns only go to about 1700 degrees. My porcelain clay needs to be fired to almost 2300 degrees. Oh dear! They came out of the kiln fragile, powdery and a really sickening orange where the oxide was in the recesses.

My dear, dear friend and talented ceramicist, Elizabeth Kendall, happened to have given me a ride to the studio and she VERY generously offered to fire them in her huge gas kiln in Virginia. So, we loaded up her tiny car with 5 layers of 72 huge clay bones and drove the hour and a half to her kiln. And she loaded them in 20 degree weather, like the amazing friend that she is!

She is firing them now as we speak, a three day process. Fingers crossed!

As an artist, we are all dependent on our community of fellow artists in many ways.

For that honest critique, that bit of technical advice, a cup of coffee on a cold afternoon, for showing up on a rainy night during your opening reception, for loaning you ( insert tool/art supply/paint/etc here) when you run out and need it right away, for that support when you need it the most...

FOR LOADING UP YOUR CAR WITH 72 BONES AND DITCHING ALL OF YOUR PLANS FOR THE DAY TO STAND IN A FREEZING COLD SHED AND LOAD UP YOUR KILN AND THEN FIRE IT IN TWO FEET OF SNOW!

I worship at your altar, Beth.

I am so lucky to have all of you- apparently it takes a village to fire a bone bridge!!

2009-12-20T13:12:00.000-08:00

I was fortunate enough to be chosen to be part of a a studio tour this past Saturday, 36 Studios in 36 Hours, organized by the Washington Project for the Arts. Mera Rubell, a well-known art collector, toured 36 studios in DC in 36 hours straight, spending a half hour with each artist and going on through the night.

The studio visits were covered by Kriston Capps in an article for Art in America and my photo was featured! Please read full article below:

Washington, DC: 36 Artists in 36 Hours
by kriston capps 12/18/09
Still shy of 7 AM on a Saturday morning, Adam de Boer had just opened his Chinatown warehouse studio to art collector Mera Rubell. For a young artist like de Boer—a 25-year-old figurative painter and recent graduate of the University of California-Santa Barbara—the attention might have felt as puzzling as flattering.

VICTOR EPKUP AND MERA RUBELL, ALL PHOTOS BY JENNY YANG

You could forgive Adam de Boer for his unguarded question for Rubell. "What are you looking for?"

Rubell was visiting Washington, D.C., on a quixotic campaign that can only be described as a massive studio crawl. Beginning before sunrise this past Saturday morning, Rubell began the first of 36 studio visits she would conduct over a consecutive 36 hours, a whirlwind effort to select artists for her section in the Washington Project for the Arts' 2010 Annual Art Auction Gala. Many of the artists she visited might have thought to ask the same question as de Boer (whom Rubell selected for the auction). A slightly different question seemed equally pertinent to de Boer's: Why was she looking here?

In fact, the Miami-based Rubells—Mera and Don—have recently expanded their footprint in the nation's Capital. In 2002, the Rubells closed on a 13-year effort to acquire the Capitol Skyline Hotel, an eclectic seven-story hotel in Southwest designed by Morris Lapidus, the architect responsible for the Fontainebleau Hotel and other Neo-Baroque properties along Miami Beach (and a friend of the Rubells). They filled the public hotel rooms with furniture by Frank Gehry, Eero Saarinen, Philippe Starck, and other design heavyweights. At the same time, the Rubells began admitting artists from a number of D.C.-area galleries into their world-class art collection.

"The reason we even bothered to find a business [in D.C.] is that the art is amazing," says Mera Rubell. "A hotel is a natural place to create a kind of home. I want artists there—it's exciting for my existence here whenever I'm here."

In Fall 2010, the Rubells will bring "30 Americans"—a survey of works by African-American artists from the 60s to the present owned by the Rubells—to the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Sarah Newman, curator of contemporary art for the Corcoran, said the show will be "scaled down and reconceived" to fit the museum, with work by "foundational, seminal figures"—among them Robert Colescott, David Hammons, and Basquiat—anchoring rooms with works by artists influenced by those "Old Masters." The exhibit, which opens in mid-October, is bound to find a profound relevance in Washington, D.C., known locally as "Chocolate City" and host to the nation's first black First Family. (LEFT: LISA GOLD, MERA RUBELL, NOVIE TRUMP)

The WPA received around 200 applications in response to a call for submissions, from which they selected 36 artists at random for visits. "It was not the supposed 'best' I saw," said Rubell, "but I was very impressed. They had to rise to the occasion. There was a tremendous amount of dignity in their professional practice. It was not about a sale."

(One of the best will be included anyway: Dan Steinhilber, the first D.C. artist collected by the Rubells, will enjoy special Rubell alumnus place in the show, which opens on January 30 at the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, before the March 6 auction.)

Rubell's attention was not lost on the artists she visited. The Rubells collect Jeff Koons and Glenn Ligon; collectors of their stature do not troll this city's studios, which are scattered between warehouses in Northeast and Northwest, units in the suburbs, and—to be sure—artists' apartments. "Mera knows how to look at her some art," explained Mary Early—a sculptor admitted into the auction—after she invited Mrs. Rubell into her studio for a bracing 5:45 a.m. Saturday morning visit. "She had more insight than most curators and collectors who've visited my studio in years."

MERA RUBELL AND KENDALL NORDIN

"I think they expected me to reach into the artists' contacts I have," said Rubell, discussing the WPA invitation to curate part of the organization's auction. Rubell acknowledged that she had had little exposure to local artists or their studios before the tour. "When my husband and I travel, we ask ourselves, what goes in Beijing? What goes on in Warsaw?" she explained. "Why can't I come and see what goes on in D.C.?"

A severe schedule meant that Rubell and invited guests—I embedded with the collector, WPA director Lisa Gold, and Corcoran photojournalism student Jenny Yang for the Saturday—sunrise leg of the studio visits-had to get down to business. Twilight studio visits did not always accommodate. Photographer Victoria F. Gaitán, who saw Rubell well after midnight on Saturday night, noted that a "huge beefy Marine" and a petite woman were engaged in a drunken fight at a party taking place in her Arlington, Virginia, apartment lobby when Rubell arrived.

Minutes after stepping into de Boer's studio, Rubell began a percussive volley of questions that probed matters beyond practice. She asked him about his travels in Nicaragua (the subject of much of his work) and the two discussed his faith-an intimate discussion, given that studio visits typically consider archivability, not eternity. Rubell saw connected his work to the Leipzig painters. De Boer admitted to being embarrassed to work in a representational vein. Rubell sympathized with de Boer's experience with the problem of painting: "Who gives you permission? Who makes it OK for you to do this?"

By hour 37, Rubell had arrived at some conclusions about the art scene in D.C. "I think they're hungry for community. I'm not saying it's unique to D.C., but it's the reason so many artists go to New York." Less prosaically, Rubell offered what she perceives to be the impact of international museums on local artists. "This is a place with some of the greatest museums on earth. But artists aren't part of that family. They're more strangers than the tourists. It makes them feel provincial. If you put a kid down enough, he gets discouraged." (LEFT: ADAM DE BOER AND MERA RUBELL)

The Rubells' collection shares many of the artists who grace the East Wing of the National Gallery. But Mera Rubell's sympathies lay with the artists working to build a scene from hidden warehouses. When the Rubells decided to buy the Capitol Skyline Hotel, located in an area of town that has only just begun to gentrify, her friends expressed their doubts. "Wrong side of the tracks?" she sniffed. "That's the only side of the tracks."

2009-12-10T17:06:00.000-08:00

Onward with our open studio sneak preview series!

I am lucky to share my studio with four other artists . They are uniformly smart, talented and all around great studio mates! I already featured Laurel's work so below are Mila Kagan, Noah Armstrong and Elena Patino.

Mila Kagan is a mixed media artist working in a variety of media such as glass, rubber, porcelain and reclaimed materials.

In my journey as an artist I have moved from mark making as a painter to exploration of ceramic vessel forms and to sculptural investigations with glass. I utilize soft black rubber penetrated by elongated strands of white glass, icy white transparent porcelain, and metal structures. I am interested in the juxtaposed relationships between these mediums which allows me to examine issues of transparency, opacity, tensile strength, gravity, brittleness and flexibility.

Noah Armstrong is a painter who creates sculptural paintings on reclaimed wood panels. They are often gouged, etched and scraped back to reveal multiple layers of pigment. These pieces have a massive presence and are imbued with quietude.

I refer to my work interchangeably as paintings and as constructions as they have begun to straddle the two- and three-dimensional plane. My objective is to explore what can happen when a stage is created that allows for limited and semi-intentional control in its manipulation. I want to plan and build and to react and deconstruct. I find great beauty in the balance of the two.

Elena Patino is our newest addition to the studio. Born and raised in Peru, her recent work consists of labor intensive installations of colored tapes.

For the past 2 years my work dealt mainly with different aspects of identity. Gender and race have been examined through materials and questioned through analogies and processes such as my still ongoing work around skin tones "Me by Others, Others By Me". While still interested in this never-ending investigation, I have re-discovered my passion for detail-oriented, painstakingly labor intensive processes.

My current body of work takes from my previous engagement in the construction of organic structures based on repetition with a strong connection to fiber arts. While not necessarily made with fiber materials, my work borrows from the pliable quality of textiles.

2009-12-08T17:25:00.000-08:00

Now that I've shown you a few of our guest artists that will be featured during our open studio on Saturday, its time to give you a peek at one of our studio members.
Laurel Lukaszewski is a gifted sculptor, Flux Studio member and long time friend.

You may have seen her award winning work recently at her current solo show at Project 4 Gallery, which features a breathtaking installation of thousands of porcelain cherry blossoms drifting across the walls, spiraling upwards for two stories.

Below is a description of her work from her website that I thought summed up her work perfectly.

Laurel Lukaszewski creates installations and sculptures primarily from clay—usually porcelain or stoneware. Most of Laurel's works are composed of extruded forms resembling three-dimensional line drawings or calligraphic brushstrokes. Her work is based on line, rhythm and form, playing with positive and negative space. The interrelation of the pieces has roots in Laurel's study of Japanese Buddhist mandalas in graduate school and a habit of incessant doodling. Her works range in size from just a few inches to pieces as large as sixteen feet.

2009-12-07T11:48:00.000-08:00

One of the other jewelers who will be participating in our Open Studio this Saturday is my dear friend Tamara Laird. Tamara is an amazingly talented sculptor and jeweler who teaches ceramics and jewelry design at the Corcoran College of Art and Design and maintains her home and studio in Takoma Park, MD.

Tamara will be showing her porcelain jewelry inspired by forms in nature.
Her work utilizes gold, silver, precious gems and porcelain forms that have been gilded with real platinum, silver and gold lustre glazes.

To say I love her work is an understatement. I find her work to be graceful, innovative and oh so elegant.

2009-12-06T14:15:00.000-08:00

Continuing in our series of sneak peaks for our Flux Holiday Open Studio on December 12, 2009
is a look at Gayle Friedman, one of the jewelers taking part in our Ceramic Jewelry Trunk Show.

I love Gayle's work and own two pieces by her (lucky, lucky me!)
I love it so much I asked her to come be a part of our open studio event.
Gayle is the owner of Studio 4903, a very cool studio in DC focusing on contemporary jewelry.

I can't wait to see her jewelry on Saturday- I better bring my check book!

Gayle in her studio at Studio 4903

2009-12-05T13:22:00.000-08:00

As we get ready for our Holiday Open Studio on Saturday the 12th I promised I would give a sneak peak of our special guest exhibitions each day this week.
Wendy Lawrence, the talented UK sculptor who was the artist-in-residence at Flux this spring, will have a small exhibition of work created during her residency.

Wendy Lawrence is a UK ceramist who is a Professional member of The Craft Potters Association of Great Britain and maintains her home and studio in Denbigh, Wales.

The inspiration for her work is derived from forms, textures and surfaces found in eroded rock, and the landscape of antiquity: architecture, culture and worship.

Making combines a number of hand-building techniques: coiling, slab-building and working from solid lumps of clay. She works both spontaneously and at other times painstakingly carving leather hard clay, attempting to imbue pattern and a sense of erosion.

Glazing involves layering reactive and eruptive materials, often very thickly, creating rich textural surfaces. This process of glazing aims to further the sense the eroded antiquity whilst simultaneously providing an exciting element of chance and uncertainty.

2009-12-04T17:21:00.000-08:00

We are gearing up for our third annual Holiday Open Studio On December 12th at Flux, which should be really terrific this year.

We will be featuring recent works by all six Flux artists as well as four special guest exhibitions. I will give a sneak preview each day on the blog for the open studio.

One of our special guest exhibitions will be a showing of thirty miniature porcelain figurines by

Meri Wells, well-known Welsh sculptor.

These whimsical figurines inspired by myth and fairy tales are delicate and fantastical, each a one-of- a-kind creation.

Meri's work is rarely shown in the US so this is a unique opportunity to add to your collection. Works range in size from two to six inches and will be priced under $100 each.

Meri lives in an enchanting Elizabethan-era stone cottage on a farm in Wales.

Below is Meri in her loft gallery with some of her larger works:

Meri's studio:

Meri's house:

Meri's wood firing kiln, where the porcelain pieces above were fired:

2009-11-30T05:22:00.000-08:00

Above is a bridge that I am currently working on for a dance performance entitled Of Bones and Bridges by the fabulous Jane Franklin Dance Company , a modern dance company based in Arlington, Virginia.

Jane contacted me last year, asking if I would be interested in collaborating with her dance company, designing and building an interactive piece for a dance performance. After much spirited and fun brainstorming, we decided upon a bridge that the dancers could build on stage from a metal framework and porcelain bones, with the building of the bridge comprising the actual performance.

The process has been incredibly challenging, as the bridge needed to:

come apart into sections easily transportable by car
be capable of being dismantled in 5 minutes by 2 stage hands
be light but sturdy
still look like my work

After many, many trial and error attempts to build the bridge that resulted in rejected piles of crumpled copper pipes and mangled lumber ( metal is NOT my medium!), I happened to ask my second cousin, John, if he knew of someone in NC who did custom metal fabrication. Turns out my Uncle Gary currently works for the best one around and they made one in 2 weeks with an ingenious joining method- thank you Uncle Gary!

I then made 90 porcelain bones to make the cross beams, each one measuring 30 inches long and 8 pounds each, which are now drying under 24/7 fans. And of course, the bridge still needs painting and spikes affixed to it.

It all should be ready by mid- December for the dance company to start rehearsals.
I can't wait to see what Jane comes up with.

So mark your calendars now!

Of Bones & Bridges
tension and connection between humanity and the natural world
Source, 1835 14th Street, Washington DC 20009
Feb 27 at 8 pm and Feb 28 at 2 pm
For more information click here

2009-11-29T17:27:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, I had shoulder surgery a few weeks ago and have been in an immobilizing sling ever since, with orders not to drive. Wednesday I went to the doctor and they took x-rays of my left shoulder and generally poked and prodded and mmm-hmmmmed. Turns out, final diagnosis, the surgery was a success!
Now I only have a year of rehab to go. It will all be worth it to be able to lift something in my left hand heavier than a peanut jar. No,seriously, even the small one at this point would thrill me.
It has been greatly humbling to only have one hand. I tend to always have a ton of projects going on at any given time and tend to just muscle through when I encounter a problem or physical obstacle. You're talking to the maniac who once moved an entire apartment's worth of furniture to another apartment with an old Buick station wagon and sheer will power. Of course, that WAS in college and boy was I sorry later.
The point is, I have a new found appreciation for the small things in life now- like elastic waist yoga pants. And husbands who will help you tie your shoes. And tv remotes, giant cozy robes that fit over a sling and clean hair after not being allowed to take a shower for 4 days. And a husband who loves you anyway through it all AND brings you take out every night.
I've been given the all clear for light duty in the studio this week as long as I don't take off my sling.
CAN'T WAIT!!!!

2009-11-12T19:20:00.000-08:00

Lenny Campello, art critic and writer of the ever popular blog Daily Campello Art News, reviewed my recent solo show at the McLean Project for the Arts. He even included a charming video of the entire show!
To read it please visit his blog at www.dcartnews.blogspot.com

Or, you can read the text here below:

Novie Trump at MPA

Titled "Uncharted Sky: Recent Sculpture by Novie Trump", the exhibition that just closed at theMcLean Project for the Arts certainly charts a new path for this talented DC area artist and in my opinion can be considered as the breakthrough exhibition by Trump.

At McLean Trump flexes her artistic muscles in 11 works in ceramic, porcelain, glass, found objects, metal, stoneware, cork and an elegant assortment of porcelain bees. She also joins an emerging new movement centered around the Greater DC area that is breathing artistic life into genres of art historically associated with craft rather than high art. It is clear to see that over the years, artists like Margaret Boozer and the various artists working out of her Red Dirt Studio, as well as the wondrous Laurel Lukaszewski have begun to do to clay and to porcelain what the artists of the Washington Glass School, DC Glassworks and others have been doing to glass over the recent last few years. They are all the Alfred Stieglitzes of their genres.

And you can add Novie Trump to that select list of new revolutionaries dragging clay and porcelain away from the "crafts only" realm and erasing the lines that segregate craft from high art.

The exhibition is not only a triumph of technical skill, an inherent part of the genre itself, but sheer minimalism begins to emerge from some of the work as well. In "Out of the Fire," a gorgeous porcelain set of wings installed in a row on the wall, Trump uses the repetitive motif of the wings to set a sense of order to the piece and extend that sense of order and alignment to the rest of the show. It is the key work in the exhibition, the simplest and inherently the most elegant. It was also red-dotted, and so it will soon adorn a collector's home somewhere in the area.

Novie Trump. Out of the Fire. Porcelain. 7" x 50" x 2"
It happens again in "The Way Home", a dizzying wall piece of dozens of porcelain bees and a Stoneware hive that makes us wrestle with the visual idea offered in such elegant stylized manner that it allows Trump to marry a traditional piece in the Stoneware hive with a minimal and repeatable bee form that distills the art to its simplest offering. This piece also begins to demolish the Berlin Wall of art between art and craft.

Novie Trump. The Way Home. Porcelain bees, Stoneware Hive. 6' x 6' x 8"

2009-11-11T05:30:00.000-08:00

I spent the past four days in Chicago, attending SOFA, the Sculptural Objects and Functional Art Show, where top galleries from around the world showcase their artists.www.sofaexpo.com
Once again, stunning. And thought provoking. And creatively stimulating.

There was a great deal of glass this year, much of it fantastic. And, of course, phenomenal work in clay. Below are some of my favorite works:

My dear friend and talented glass artist Tim Tate, with his new series of Illuminariums. Loved the way the light shone through the delicate glass blossoms and lit up the nest and bird perched on top. To learn more CLICK HERE

Another dear friend and talented sgraffito glass artist, Michael Janis, whose work I simply love.

His imagery is mysterious, delicate and deliciously evocative. His addition of gorgeous handwritten text that is almost, teasingly, legible adds another layer of mystery and unknown meaning to the work. To visit his website CLICK HERE

Cristina Cordova, a studio artist living in NC. Her figurative ceramic sculptures are always emotionally riveting and not always easy to look at. Loved the subtle variations of color on this massive wall piece.

To visit her website CLICK HERE

Marc Petrovic had gorgeous bell jars with delicate glass nests, birds and branches. To learn more visit his website at www.marcpetrovic.com

Myungjin Kim had stunning ceramic still life assemblages at Ferrin Gallery. The carved detail was just astonishing. To see more images of her work at Ferrin Gallery CLICK HERE

A standing figure covered in crows by Mark Chatterly, a well-known figurative sculptor from Michigan. You can't see it in the photo but at the base there is also a scattering of crows. To visit his website CLICK HERE

Loved these ceramic figures by Kathy Ruttenberg. At first glance they seem sweet, like something out of a fairy tale. Then you come closer and realize that they are deliciously dark and slightly bent.

To see more please visit her website HERE

2009-11-09T14:07:00.000-08:00

Tiles! Tiles! Tiles!

I was approached a few months ago by Madeline Tyler at Pine Crest Elementary School to donate my time to teach during their A.R.T.S. Day, a day where visiting artists come to the school and teach workshops to groups of kids for a day. I enthusiastically agreed to do it as I was fortunate enough to participate in several similar programs when I was in grade school and I think they are important. I also thinks it is important to pay it forward and give back what you can to the community.
I have to say I had an absolute blast. The kids were funny, polite and totally engaged. It's so great to be around that kind of unbridled enthusiasm and creativity!
At various points in my demonstration, as I would show them how to do different textures with the tools and stamps I brought along, gasps of oohs and ahhs would actually roll through the watching group of students. My favorite, though, was when I showed one of my tiles and a boy pronounced it, "Totally sick, man!" A high compliment indeed....