pete and repeat

Lest you think all I'm doing is putting pots in boxes all day (this is almost true), I offer you my latest..."Pete and Repeat Class Portrait".

This is only the fourth or fifth time I've worked with the basic idea of yearbook picture contact sheets and it still holds alot of mystery for me, which is awesome. I don't know about any of my full time artist fellows, but for me it's easy to feel the bloom is off the rose when I feel 100% confident and comfortable about what I'm making.

This image was made by transfering individual portraits from a 1950's yearbook and then flipping them and using each portrait again (henceforth the pete and repeat title). When the time came to apply paint, I made no effort to match the pairs or make them unique but instead let each unit speak individually. I love that each character has his or her own essence and personality even without any facial features. My favorites are actually some of the units that are silouhettes only.

The exciting thing about this idea for me is making something dynamic and rhythmic that basically repeats the same basic form over and over. The palette I used was also quite narrow, relying on Genna's underpainting color for variety.

Here's a detail:



If you want to see a larger file of "Pete and Repeat", I'll be posting it on the website tomorrow along with a dozen or so other new pieces.

Headed for Houston next week. I think Genna will be thrilled to be driving the car instead of making pots 13 hours a day. Everything's relative, huh!

the baker's dozen(th?)

So here's my plan...I won't post anything here for maybe a month to six weeks at a time and then I'll post 8-10 times over the course of a few days. Just trying to keep everyone on their toes.

The piece above is the baker's dozen of my "Purdy Dozen" kia pot faves. Check out the first twelve on Genna's webpage.

All twelve are high fire stoneware with temoku glazed necks, copper wire wrap, and one of two glazes on the body...dark green or robin's egg (shown above). Can you tell which ones have which glaze?

first 100 fired

Hello, all! Our largest project ever rolls on. Genna's Ukranian friends/assistants/saviors have both gone home for a time while we await the final count on our order. Currently we're holding at 560 total pieces. Of these, I believe Genna has nearly 400 thrown and about 150 completely finished (bisqued, wrapped, glazed, glazed, and fired).

We took 100 of our faves out to see a little sunshine Sunday on the back steps at the studio (first & second photos). I was TERRIFIED that I would knock one over on the top step and they would all go down like dominos.

Interesting to see in the second photo the range of color and texture in the glazing. We're using only two glazes, a robin egg blue/green with a subtle speckle and a transparent dark green. Slight variations in glaze application, kiln temperature, and kiln spacing create the amazing range of color you see here.

Photo three is of a particularly interesting firing. We cracked the lid and said 'Holy dingbats, Batman...what's going on in there?!' The upper level of three was a showstopper and COMPLETELY a surprise. The mid and lower levels were as dissapointing as the upper level was pleasing and we wound up with nearly twenty unusable pieces. As best we could decipher, the kiln was overpacked and caused a seriously high, too hot overfiring. One of many lessons learned along the way thus far!

I shot a dozen of my faves studio portrait style on Monday night, watch out for those soon.

they're everywhere, they're everywhere!

Wow! Genna has received two commissions from Kia Motors America...our new West Point neighbors. The first order was for 160copper wire wrapped vases, the second is for the same object and is currently at 400 pieces and counting. As of today, we have approximately 280 thrown, so we're about half way there.

In addition to being a wonderful reason for Genna to get back into the pottery studio full time, this project has created an excuse for us to invite his good friends Natasha and Tigran for an extended visit. Both were fellow potters in Ukraine...Natasha his studio mate and Tigran his very first pottery teacher. Natasha is now living in Toronto and Tigran in Detroit, and they will both be in and out lending a hand until the project wraps. They are on the right in the first photo, Genna and his lovely daughter Nastiya are on the left. Nastiya is putting her genious hands to work on the wire-wrapping portion of the process. (You don't see me there because part of my job as logistics manager was to take the photograph!)

Cross your fingers for us folks! This is the largest single commission either of us has ever taken on.

Kudos to Kia for selecting a local artist for this exciting project! The vases will be given as gifts to journalists and dealer at several events this fall.

the daily cupcake

Our good friends and fellow 'art couple' R. Scott Coleman and Kathrine Allen-Coleman have launched a new blog featuring a 'cupcake a day' by Scott. They are both incredible talents and great folks. See the blog at www.scottscupcakes.blogspot.com and both of their works at www.thespringgallery.com.

favorite. commission. ever.

No offense to anyone else for whom I've made custom work, but I recently completed my favorite commission project ever.

My friend, client, and fellow artist Debbie Bruce came to me this past spring with a request to make paintings for her son Taylor's fall wedding. The idea was that there would be a small painting on each table at the wedding supper and that afterward, they would all go together as an 'installation' at the new couple's home. The images I made were of photos from the bride's and groom's childhoods. Sweetest thing ever, right? In addition to it just being a really lovely concept, her son Taylor is a good friend, as well as a writer who penned our Southern Living Feature. It was doubly an honor to be able to do this for him.

So, there are twenty pieces in the set, but I'm showing here 4 of my favorites..."Swiss Family" of the bride (henceforth known as Robin...cause that's her name) and her family on vacation, "Buff Boys" of Taylor and his friends as pre-teens, "Beach Beauty" of little Robin in her swimsuit, and "Dock" of little Taylor with a fishing pole.

I think I've listed them in backward order, but I'm sure you can figure it out. Enjoy!

variations on a theme

I have been a professional painter, working within the same basic thematic parameters for the last dozen or so years. While I am constantly looking for new found photos to treat as paintings, there are a handful of images I have returned to over an over during this time. I've come to think of these as 'touchstones' for me...familiar compositions within which I can concentrate purely on new techniques or palettes.

I was looking through the 'archived' (read: sold) painting files on my computer today and decided to visit one of my 'touchstone' lines all the way back. Wow. I can't believe how much my work has changed. I suppose it's like watching your children grow. Each day they're a little bigger, so you don't notice so much until you see a picture of them 5 years before, or maybe try to put on their winter shoes from the year before.

Here are some of my "Communion After Confirmation" paintings, in roughly chronological order, oldest first.

I believe the first one was made around 1999? The most recent was just made withing the last two months (she is the still available "Dinner on the Grounds", oil on linen, 24" x 30", $900!). Genna's participation kicked in around #5.

As you can see, there is a huge stylistic shift between #'s three and four. I think the main reason for that is that I changed from sketching with paint and a brush to sketching with charcoal, allowing for a much more accurate and angular drawing.

Working with Genna also brought on another big change in my working habits as I went from creating texture and interest with brushwork to 'harnessing' the visual texture already there with the busier underlayers. My technique has become much crisper and cleaner overall.

There are techniques in the earlier works I sometimes wish to have back, but I suppose it makes better sense to look ahead to what's next. "Communion After Confirmation" 2015 will likely be a much different animal!