Here is the result of the second firing. The black underglaze vitrified in a way that makes it look almost metallic. The pre-bisque underglaze dots that I applied ended-up bubbling and creating a layer of texture in a way that really works with the final piece. You can see the effect to the right, on the protruding form.
: debra :
: debra :
Friday, December 4th is the opening reception. If you haven’t come to one of these before, it is a fun night.
The studios are also open daily until December 13th. The hours are:
Friday, December 4
6 – 10 pm
Saturday & Sunday, December 5 & 6
10 am – 6 pm
Monday through Friday, December 7 – 11
10 am – 9 pm
Saturday & Sunday, December 12 & 13
10 am – 6 pm
For information and directions, visit:
http://mudflat.org/general/sales.htm
I’ll see you there.
: debra :
: debra :
More good news. Dinopod has been accepted to the show Craft Forms 2009, 15th International Juried Exhibition of Contemporary Craft. The piece will be on display at the Wayne Art Center in Wayne Pennsylvania on December 4, 2009 – January 23, 2010.
: debra :
Good news. This piece, Species 248, was just accepted into the Nellie Allen Smith Juried Competition in North Carolina.
: debra :
It is official. I moved into my artist residency studio on September first. Corks were popped. Sketches got pinned up, bags of clay opened, and the shelves have already started to fill up.
My first month goal is to make as much work as I can, as quickly as possible. Working with nothing but speed and volume as the goals has been liberating and instructive. I’m honing my intuitive relationship with the clay, perfecting the dance, and discovering new forms.
Part of the rush to make is that I’m adding terra cotta to my repertoire and I need to get a feel for this clay body as quickly as possible.
At first I felt very disappointed with this body. It feels so lifeless to me. I’ve worked with only about 100 pounds so far, but I’m finally noticing that it does have something special to offer to my process and I am looking forward to working with a new glaze palette.
Stay tuned. I’ll share some of the results here.
: debra :
: debra :
: Debra :
I’m sending out a big, ‘THANK YOU!’ to Mudflat Studio in Somerville for choosing me as their 2009-2010 Artist in Residence. I’ll be the 12th in the history of the studio. The other 11 former Artists in Residence are:
2008-2009 Deborah Schwartzkopf
2007-2008 Cathy Lu
2006-2007 Nicole Peters
2005-2006 Ryan Takaba
2004-2005 Angela Cunningham
2003-2004 Monica Ripley
2002-2003 Gabriel Penfield
2001-2002 Meghan Sullivan
2000-2001 Ruchika Madan
1999-2000 Karsten Kunert
1998-1999 Randy Fein
This is a very special opportunity to work in a private studio, surrounded by other amazing Mudflat artists and faculty. I’m looking forward to working in collaboration with many of them. Wahoo!
: debra :
: debra :
Ever spend several hours alone in the woods, on a winter day?
Time stops.
The clacking of dry leaves in sleeping trees is the loudest sound you’ll hear — unless the stream finds an opening, or the odd woodpecker happens to be flitting around.
The sun feels precious.
Everything seems remarkable.
: debra :
Pieces from the ‘Flock’ series. Photography: Debra Fleury.
A friend of mine very kindly offered me the use of her private studio for two weeks, while she was away on holiday.
I was mad with excitement. For the first time in my clay experience I was going to be able to work behind a closed door, alone with my sketches and my thoughts. When the time came I spent every moment I could behind that door, making the same form over and over again.
What happened was magical. My thinking sharpened. I forgot myself for hours at a time, completely engrossed in the making. Soon I was surrounded by work, which was informing the work in my hands. Nothing was in the way of the process.
Two weeks and 202 pieces later I feel like I grew a dog’s year as an artist. I gained tremendous insight into my creative process and the ways of working that will feed it best.
And yes, there is definitely a closed door in my future.
: debra :
How do you spell epiphany? I’ve been in the conceptual weeds for a couple of months — trying to find my way to forms that speak to me, and straining against my technical boundaries. My studio situation was getting me down, too. I work in a community studio, which is wonderful and challenging at the same time. So many bodies milling about and not a lot of space for reflection, no room to spread out, no place to post sketches for contemplation.
This workshop was a revelation. Beth started with little formal clay training. She forged her own way with clay, failing a lot and developing techniques that aren’t supposed to work (if you listen to clay lore). Her process is remarkable. She makes these often enormous pieces that are completely hollow when she’s finished. They start as solid masses of clay thrown onto carefully constructed armatures. The mass of clay is then cut apart and each section is hollowed until the walls are 1/4″ thick. The thin walls make for a stronger piece, because the stress is spread out over a larger surface area.
Once the hollowing is complete, she puts the form back together again. After some adjustments, the piece is often cut into a couple of sections for firing. The process continues after the firing with grinding, reassembly, cold finishing, and sometimes porcelain slip application with a refire. Amazing.
Her risk-taking, explorer attitude and self-deprecating good humor really got me fired up to get out of my own way in the studio and forge a path to my own unique creative process. Thanks for a great workshop, Beth.
Here’s an image of Beth in her Washington Studio. Notice the Plastilene mockette on the far right.
Below are some images from the tile show going on at the Clay Art Center in Port Chester NY, where the workshop was held.
: debra :
: debra :
: mark :
: mark :
At the end of a dead-end street, right next to a roaring highway and a grocery store parking lot, there is a bench where no one sits. Behind the bench are three ordinary little trees that bear this curious fruit in the fall. Each is shaped, sized, and stemmed like a cherry — but they are a toxic-looking red with spiky protrusions.
On my way to the studio in the fall, I often find myself veering down this street to see if any have fallen. The juxtaposition of the familiar and the alien is fascinating to me.
: debra :
