SKYSCAPIN STYLEE

So anybody who has been following my artistic endeavor here in key west knows that I have an ongoing pursuit... the skyscape pot. 

When I first moved to Key West I was taken with the sky meeting the sea.  Throw a little distant island in the mix mm mmmm.... thats what the inside of my mind looks like.  It really displays the multilayered densities of this world ....one layer floating on top of the next.  Even the varying height of the clouds and the invisible surface they sit on, just illustrating the varied densities of sky all layered up....done wrapped us all up in endless blue heaven. 

Anyhow, Ive been trying somewhat unsuccessfully to make these pots where I paint the sky/clouds with engobes and mason stains and then rock this perfect glaze combination on the bottom to show the emerald water of the florida keys.  At first I had issues with my colors burning out under the clear glaze that I was using over the painting....it heated things up too much and I lost the detail and brushwork was totally obliterated.  Plus the painting underneath the shiny glass is tough to get used to for me.  Its hard to make it look perfect when there is that much shine... this lead to the quest for the perfect matte clear glaze.  Which Ive come to find out is like looking for the philosophers stone... not just laying around

However, on this elongated vase shape as long as I have a nice glaze lining the inside and the rim, my functional seal is achieved and the painting just gets high fired and left raw.  Which makes it matte detailed and just the effect I was looking for.

Still a little bit of burn out but the brushsrtoke still reads and the color kept true.  Made about a half kiln of these and put them through the inaugural glaze firing on the new kiln.  Pssshhhhh sooo nice.  Its like I just went from driving a junky old huffy to a 2011 BMW...in the kiln world that is...  The pots came out pretty nice, still need some tweaking and Im still working on the illusive--everchanging sky.   Somethings will make you feel so tiny little and insignificant that, if you utilize that recognition correctly, all your problems just evaporate in the hot sun.  The endless distance above our heads...truly heaven-ous...let yourself expand in that.                                                                                             That unapproachable type of beautiful ... try and paint it still.  .......anyway....                                                           One of my favorite spots on this batch of pots is the ultra fat drip edge of glaze about an inch off the table top.  Really pushes the liquid idea behind the glaze.                          

Heres a few flicks and some detail shots,  I like these pots.  Kelly put a few of them up on the ETSY shop if yall are interested in them.  Im flowin on the idea right now and spent a day or two to throw a whole grip of these tall vase forms, of varying sizes, so I can expand on this....maybe venturing into other territories of subject...

And While were on the topic of island environments, I just wanted to throw some extra special vibes at ya, a Hawaiian reggae band called Ooklah the Moc... they got a special sound of it.  this cut features the singer Koko man from another Hawaiian band called Inna Vision.

IVe been feelin a few of these Hawaiian bands really really hard since moving to the Keys and being introduced to them.

Dig it.




Yes... as it gets nice all over the north hemisphere, not just on this island, I encourage you to take time and enjoy yourselves family... this is your life.  Feel some love you know, it a human construction ....love.  We create it, and the more you create the more that goes round.  Free up yourself, its almost summer.

All~Ways
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