Seems like the last few posts have been all play and no work, but trust me pleeeennnnty of grind happenin as well. Ever since the influx of snowbirds tourists sailors and pottery lovers this season, our little studio has been jumpin! But this is what we love, connecting with the good people of earth under the auspices culture, art and form.
Turn up the music, its a whole afternoon of pot trimmin today.
Speaking of hard work......
My Wife Kelly has entered a whole new phase of her potting, specifically with the painting and adorning of pottery. This good woman works hard yall! In the studio we use a lot of colored slip and mason stains to achieve the painterly effect you see in our work. Kell and I actually both started our arts trod in the 2 dimensional realm and still really enjoy carrying the painted surface onto the functional form.
The historic old houses in Key Wet are typically called "Conch (like the shell dwelling creature) Houses"... kelly has been rendering the conch house facades on my large, low bowls. The effect is really quite spectacular.... the architectural quality of the painting is in the proper vanishing point illusion style, but the whole illusion is painted in a convex bowl form. The resulting spacial effect is totally cool, almost impossible to effectively photograph because the drawing really utilizes the form of the bowl to propel itself forward. In any case, they are slick art pieces and still retain the full functionality of high fire foodsafe stoneware.
This is a biggie, 16 inch low bowl with the classic turreted conch house ....
All these pieces have kelly's playful touch to them. For lovers of painting, you'll find the accuracy of a well rendered and recognizable structure within buzzing brush strokes and intense accent colors... love these little characters.
This one is a deep mixing bowl, 10 inches, with a painting of the world famous 7 Mile Bridge, your vehicular gateway into the "lower keys" from Marathon and the "upper keys".
again, magical dancing line work with a rockin color palette . Yea Kelly!
Speaking of color palette, just wanted to show off the latest batch of my most favorite studio glaze combination. Slight variations in color due to thickness of application and kiln position.... but this glaze is just nuclear.... glowing with light. I have to employ the wax resist to both satisfy my inner painting nerd and to fully showcase the molten lava like layered effect of the red and copper dipped ware.
LUSCIOUSSSSS!
Of course I have to show a little lizard.
Got to represent my lizard friend who lives behind my shop sink out back of the studio. She just had babies and I can tell because they all look just like their mama.... tiny little tan body with a bright red head! They make their home under the shade of our fragrant sour orange tree and we see each other often. I figured a hard workin mama lizard deserves a little recognition.
So, Turn over a glass little red headed mama lizard, we respect you.
Lastly, I just wanted to comment on the corruption of our youth.... my teenage student came into class the other day with a Pottery "App" on his Iphone.... Im sure my potter comrades have already heard about this via the anxious-to-share-with-an-actual-potter-App-loving-constituency out there, but it still merits a mention. This "virtual" potting is actually pretty nifty for long hours spent with the humming clock in study hall... but could never compare with the intrinsic value of an actual real world creation....the old way is still the best way. But good try tech-ies!
(my son rocking the virtual potter app)
BTW, been lovin the super moon recently. Silhouettes a palm tree like a painter's dreamscape.
The garden awaits us, we just have to open our eyes wide enough to see that the earth sea and sky is ready made and complete for man... no need to improve on it.
Inspiration is already right here, see it?
A
Love it all! Very fond of the lizard and the story. Thank you. XOXO
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