Gearing Up for Annual Art Show

Late nights every day this week as I scramble to get projects ready for our art show.

I did a quick load of Wabi Sabi pots yesterday.

A few of the 3rd graders need to come in at lunch to finish glazing their coil pots...

while 2nd grade artists need to do the same with their effigy vessels.

Ceramic dragons were painted with watercolors so no kiln necessary - woo hoo!

And after all that, I have to select, mat, tag and fill my six-sided panel with an assortment of our 2D work, including some Blue Dog paintings.

Show opens on Monday, should have pix posted by the following weekend. In the meantime, you can click on '2011 art exhibit' in my labels section to the right to see last year's work!

Wabi sabi '12

As soon as I get back from break this week, I'll have to start firing my Wabi Sabi pots...

I have 6 or 7 trays full to go into the kiln...

There are a few standout so far...

You can see examples from last spring in a previous post here.

Ceramic Studio Tour '12, First stop

Our first stop of the tour was at the studio of Patricia Sannit here in Phoenix. I wanted to see her demonstration of hand building and incising scheduled for 11 am. on Sunday.

Patricia creates her ceramic forms by reconstituting varieties of reclaimed clay from high schools & community college art classrooms as well as the studios of fellow ceramic artists.

The clay is poured into forms

or layered into slabs and left to dry in our hot desert sun. When leather-hard, she applies a white slip to the exposed edge(s) and removes the layer of slip to expose the clay beneath. She has no formal plan, just lets her creativity take her wherever it may lead...

I could see my students creating some of these small bowls or cylinders in my classroom...

The lovely hand in my pix belongs to my cohort in crime that day - stop by her blog to see more pix and read more about her take on the artist...

This idea of a functional planter could be accomplished by older students with ease...

Lovely, lovely work...

Thank you so much for the inspiration, Patricia!

Ceramic Studio Tour '12

Today I attended the 11th Annual self-guided Ceramic Studio Tour here in the greater Phoenix area with my buddy, the Artologist. Although we were out and about for 4+ hours, we only made it to 3 studios but saw the work of 2 - 3 artists at each stop.

The 2nd stop was at Hjalmarson Pottery Studio located in the beautiful historic Willow district of downtown.

Halldor Hajalmarson specializes in press molds, sprigging and decorated vessels.

There were stacks of his many labeled molds,

an example of his sprigging set out to dry,

shelves full of potential glazes,

a bisqueware platter set out to dry,

hand made clay stamps,

and a finished platter tucked into plants at the base of his backyard tree.

While there, I purchased a copy of his book, Old Dog, New Tricks that details his processes. It's available for purchase through his website.

In future posts, I'll share some of the other work seen today...

Fabulous Fish-ees

As I wrap up the last of my ceramic fish, I thought I would share some of my favorites. We spent three 45 min classes to create these and an additional 2 classes to complete the glazing after the bisque firing -

First class: learning about clay, how to manage clay dust, table set-up for clay and the technique used to 'pinch' the fish body & tail

Second class: learning how to 'score, slip & press' essential parts (dorsal & pectoral fins, eyes) to the basic form.

Third class: Elaboration!!! (tongue, teeth, texture, etc.)

I love the pattern on this one - very thoughtful choices.

The flirty wave this fish is giving - What a delight!

Have you ever seen a spoiler on a fish before?

Bows were contagious with some of the girls.

This one I call 'four eyes' for obvious reasons.

Here's Fang:

Great elaboration here!

Note: Fish were built with Laguna buff clay and color was added with Amaco underglazes and clear glaze.

Letting Go

This time of year, I have a bit of separation anxiety as I return the last of this year's projects to the kids.

This student has been thrilling me with her artistic talents since kindergarten...

now she's a 5th grader and on her way to middle school next year.

One of the benefits of this job is seeing creative one-of-a-kind artworks-

this from a 3rd grader

and a pinch/pull technique ceramic fish from a 2nd grader

and one of my favorite 1st grade animal sculpture - with its habitat!

I wish I could keep them all...
but considering the chaos in my disaster zone (previously known as my storeroom) maybe not...

Middle School 3D Artwork

Paper mache versions of Oaxacan wood sculptures (Alebrijes).

Ceramic vessel with stamped designs.

Clay whistle

Self-portraits

Northwest coast totems done in clay bas-relief.

Texture composition using a variety of papers to create the scene

A close-up

Ceramic bas-relief

Hope you've enjoyed the posts of our art exhibit. I know I've enjoyed seeing the many exhibits of other bloggers...

Ceramic Artwork from our K-5 Schools

Couldn't wait to show you all the great ceramics that are being shown during our current District art exhibit...

Isn't this just grand?

Clay whistles were popular with more than one teacher this year. For any small sculptures or jewelry, some teachers teachers use a plexiglass 'box' over the projects to discourage theft...

I'm not sure how these fellows are constructed - they're new this year - but I'll have to find out because they look great!

Never get tired of seeing these cute houses...

These face jugs were just wonderful - each and every one was so unique and had such expressive personalities. I also like the limited palette of only 3 colors...

One of my Wabi Sabi pots...

These ceramic lidded boxes were new this year & were a favorite of many...

And now for dessert...