we swim with the fishes

Having a hard time keeping my feet on the ground today; feel like being up there...

have I sent you here yet? Uh, I have a MASSIVE art-crush on this artist's work...

Simon DeGroot

We're on the cusp of spring; GO! go run and jump around...OUTSIDE!

Gustavo Perez

I am FLOORED by his work. It's so simple at first glance it's almost easy to pass by it. I'm saying, Look Again. There is nothing to chance in this work, it is elegant exactitude. Precise, strategic, controlled and yet can you see the freedom and flow in the straight uprightness? There is a perfect modern balance between symmetry and the absolute.

go here & here

LOT 8

PROPERTY FORMERLY IN THE COLLECTION OF DRESDNER BANK AG

ALBERTO GIACOMETTI
1901 - 1966

L'HOMME QUI MARCHE I
12,000,000—18,000,000 GBP

Lot Sold. Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: 65,001,250 GBP

SOTHEBY'S
GOMP/BBC

Giacometti here & here

1. Vitrascooper

2. Vitraflinger

3. Vitrafeeler

4. Vitralooper

Jill Allen

I am not always taken in by too much whimsey - however, when SO cleverly done, it is impossible to resist.

the names alone...

homage to the two two

p.s. phil says 6 more weeks!

Read all about and buy Matt & Dave's Clay here

I orderd some of 'the coup' earlier this week and it just arrived!! Matt was really fast to respond to my questions, and really nice! So, what they're sayin' is they have an easier, more workable, MID-Fire porcelain! Sign me up? Perfect timing; I've been fantasizing about really moving to porcelain and wanting to find a mid-fire. Looks like I have; I am excited to see how it performs.

At the very least; check out Matt & Dave's Blog Slipcast - it's all ceramics - all the time!

Check out the Bedlam of Beefy; found on one of my far flung web safari's. It fast became a daily read...

Uncle Beefy came by We Swim with the Fishes and found something he liked! Cheers, love the Uncle Beefy!

a big thank you back for the mention. big thank you, seriously!

I admire her work so much, I find it almost formidable. She is definitely one of the major influences for my venturing into sculpture work at all. I attended a 'talk' Susannah did at Ruby's Clay Studio in San Francisco a few years ago. I was so impressed with her approach, philosophy, ease and confidence in working. She is so sure of where she is going with her pieces and their underlying stories and themes. And she is a masterful at working loose & fast. I admit I'm intimidated, but look forward to any time I can spend learning every little thing she is willing to teach me.

Clay Sculpture Workshop in West Petaluma

Saturday & Sunday, March 20 - 21, 2010

$250 for the two day workshop includes lunch

Reservations and Information:

katehanna7@yahoo.com 707-765-2802

effective techniques for expressive sculpting open to all skill levels

I talked with Kathleen and they are thinking about having 10 - 12 attend.

My pals over at Fourth&Clay are hosting a workshop with Molly Hatch!

You might not want to miss this one.

In case you haven't heard; Fourth&Clay is home to Christa Assad, Rae Dunn & Josie Jurczenia - all fabulous ceramic talents!

I am loving Anat Shiftan's pieces. Maybe better described as collections. There is ambivalance and tension in her composition of pieces balancing off a very rooted base. It's almost as if you're watching growth in nature happening before your eyes.

a good article on Howard Zinn.

do something good for yourself; read some Zinn.

"Salinger drew from Sherwood Anderson, Isak Dinesen, F. Scott Fitzgerald and especially Ring Lardner, whose wise-guy voice you hear chiming in the snappy banalities and sometimes desperate patter spoken by Salinger's characters, a tone that found its way years later into the neurotic chatter of Woody Allen's New Yorkers. But Salinger bent it all into something new, a tone that drew from the secular and the religious, the worldly and the otherworldly, the ecstatic and the unconsolable. It's customary to assume that the seven Glass children — the Glass family, an intricate hybrid of showbiz and spirituality, was his other enduring creation — make up a kind of group portrait of Salinger, each of them a reflection of his different dimensions: the writer and the actor, the searcher and the researcher, the spiritual adept and the pratfalling schmuck. That may very well be true. He made sure we could never be sure. Holden Caulfield says, "Don't ever tell anybody anything." That's one time you know it's Salinger talking"

article from TIME

I have BAD ASS friends!

My new 'Old Friends' slippers.
Almost as great as my old greg tshirt.

almost.
Thanks guys!!!

from the Contemporist: New Zealand designer Fletcher Vaughan has shared some photos with us of the Stratospheric sculpture he created for the Brick Bay Sculpture Trail in Matakana, New Zealand. link to post

Contemporist website

Fletcher Vaughan's website

love the balls, love that it lights up, goddamn LOVE New Zealand!

Conor Wilson website
Conor Wilson Blog

Sexy! but it's sexiness isn't dominating the design; worth checking out more deeply

:) happy monday !

Meteora, by Ann Roberts more about her here.

right now, all over color themes - my inspiration superhighways.

I wanted to give you more greys today - but, didn't. So, enjoy the deeply satisfying feeling of these greens & blues.

Tho I die on a distant strand,

And they give me a grave in that land,

Yet carry me back to my own city!

Carry me back to her grace and pity!

For I think I could not rest

Afar from her mighty breast.

She is fairer than others are

Whom they sing the beauty of.

Her heart is a song and a star—

My cool, grey city of love.

Tho they tear the rose from her brow,

To her is ever my vow;

Ever to her I give my duty—

First in rapture and first in beauty,

Wayward, passionate, brave,

Glad of the life God gave.

The sea-winds are her kiss,

And the sea-gull is her dove;

Cleanly and strong she is—

My cool, grey city of love.

The winds of the Future wait

At the iron walls of her Gate,

And the western ocean breaks in thunder,

And the western stars go slowly under,

And her gaze is ever West

In the dream of her young unrest.

Her sea is a voice that calls,

And her star a voice above,

And her wind a voice on her walls—

My cool, grey city of love.

Tho they stay her feet at the dance,

In her is the far romance.

Under the rain of winter falling,

Vine and rose will await recalling.

Tho the dark be cold and blind,

Yet her sea-fog’s touch is kind,

And her mightier caress

Is joy and the pain thereof;

And great is thy tenderness,

O cool, grey city of love!

(San Francisco)
George Sterling (1869–1926)

beauty and elegance in the warm tones of grey

photographer: Erum Khan

courtesy; The Bedlam of Beefy

One of the places I work out of is the Skyline College Ceramics Department Studio. Tiffany Schmierer runs the studio to great effect. It is the beginning of a new semester and we are going back to a very clean, bright and newly updated ceramic studio. The upgrade includes new kilns, a new venting system for the raku kiln and new spray booth, new shelving, new damp room, tables and glaze counter. Nothing like a new clean studio to get the juju going.

Text "haiti" to 90999 and $10 will be donated to the relief effort via your phone bill. It's ridiculously easy and you can do as many times as you like.

It's important. It saves lives. Please donate.

suuuper fab

Margaret's site

Nathan Lynch, a sculptor and performance artist, has made collaboration and experimentation major components of his practice. Recent projects include solo exhibitions at Johansson Projects in Oakland and Southern Exposure in San Francisco. He has had residencies and studios at Tainan National University of the Arts, Anderson Ranch Art Center, Headlands Center for the Arts, and Vermont Studio Center.

Lynch has performed at the Lincoln Center, New York, The International Fringe Festival, Edinburgh, Bumpershoot, Seattle, and the Alvin Lucier Festival, University of Virginia. At the University of Southern California Mr. Lynch studied with Ken Price, and later earned an MFA at Mills College with Ron Nagle. He is currently Chair of the Ceramics Department and Assistant Professor of Graduate Fine Arts, CORE, and Ceramics at California College of the Arts.

Nathan Lynch.com

Liz Quackenbush is a master of ornament and abstraction. See more amazing pics on her page at ArtAxis.

Liz Quackenbush

Serena Mitnik-Miller is a local gal, lives in the Sunset, enjoys the surf at Ocean Beach, and she's a talented artist. I've never met her; but I like her style.

She's involved at Mollusk SF (Surf Shop) and just opened a store in the Sunset on Irving called The General Store. I popped in the other day. High five! It's a cool little shop and worth putting on your map.

Also, if you don't know; Mollusk SF has art shows regularly supporting the many talented artists in the surfing community.

Serena Mitnik-Miller website
The General Store
Mollusk SF

Art Clokey died at age 88. Oct 12, 1921 - January 8, 2010.
If you haven't yet seen Gumby Dharma, I highly recommend it.

GUMBY DHARMA is the story of Art Clokey 82-year old grandfather of clay animation.

Art has lead a vital life and influential artistic career, guided in large part by his avid spiritual pursuit. His world famous characters, Gumby, Pokey and the rest of the gang, and his animation of Davey and Goliath, seem to echo the spiritual path of their creator/animator.

Art's journey takes us from the orphanage to inspiring adopted father, from the Seminary to the Hollywood movie business, and from traditional Episcopalian church values to Buddhism and Indian guru Sai Babba. It is a fascinating life and career in it's own right but also in how it gently influenced his characters and story lines for 40 + years.

Art's animation work and personal brand of love of life has for almost half a century influenced millions of TV and film viewers and filmmakers across the world.

Julien Carretero is an industrial designer.

see this bench in process here

I've been thinking.   About forks.  Can I talk about plastic forks? How many plastic forks thrown away after one use does it take before we realize our stupidity? Oops, did I say people are stupid?  Sorry, meant irresponsible and stupid.   Don't we all know better by now.

The argument is that it's a convenience thing, right? But is plasticware really 'convenient'? Really? Convenient for whom?  We know it will live forever in the pile right next to the twinkie and/or floating around on plastic-garbage-island like the one right off our coast.

Why does plasticware still exist? Why are we still using it? We've become slaves to the plastic god.  Enslaved in our ideals of convenience. I'm not talking about all plastic-y issues just posing the idea of being in the habit of using ones own utensils just for a start.

I carry a 'real' fork in my purse and keep them handy at my desk at work - I'm not talking boyscoutware here - just a sparkly clean fork from home. And hey, you never know when a fork in your purse may otherwise come in handy. reeeer!

If you think it's dorky, whatever, get over yourself. Who doesn't like eating with a real fork if there's a choice? We continue to 'reward' the food packaging industry every time we choose 'plastic'. Why don't we stop? We have the technology and it's cheaper for us to do so. So, why haven't we? The incentives are there, yet we just keep on doing it day after day like slaves building the Great Pyramids of Plastic. What's it going to take to change our uses of plastic?  The impact could be so significant it could create an environment whereby the packaging Industry would be required by law to use biodegradeable materials in ALL food packaging products.

come to think of it: why isn't the plastics industry taking the lead on this and why aren't we super pissed that they haven't?

Dorky or not; among many personal changes made in how I live; I'm going to keep whipping out my SUPER FORK where needed! I encourage you to think where you can cut back significantly or stop using gratuitous plastics entirely. Use paper, use your own real fork.   While your at it; use your own glass and coffee mug, a reusable bag for groceries and encourage others...

btw, I know some great ceramic artists if you're looking for a specatcular coffee mug!

thing is, I find convenience really isn't at all satisfying.

Alex Kopps.com

I'm addicted to The Contemporist; a SUPER DUPER fab blog I highly recommend.

there are a number of other pictures to see of this GENIUS structure, built by Haugan/Zohar Architects.

and as all my friends are now smiling and laughing at the picture above; can you believe this thing! I am a complete pagan for fire and when I saw this picture I almost burst into flames :)

phew, still trying to recover...

The Clyfford Still Museum is scheduled to open in 2011. The museum is being built to house an immense body of his work, some 2000+ pieces. There are hundreds of pieces of his work that have never been seen.

Lucky for us in the Bay Area some of his paintings can be seen at SFMOMA and the SF Art Institute - I urge you to see them. Yes, you can find countless images on the web; but it's a flat, dead, lifeless visual experience compared to seeing the scale, depth, and energy of his painting style. There is nothing compared to standing before them. It is impossible to look away. He is by far one of the greatest painters of the 20th Century, his work yet to be truly discovered by the world.

more on Sharon here, here and here.

a tree house...

a restaurant!

The Yellow Treehouse, Auckland, New Zealand

Yet another reason to pack up and move to New Zealand!

Fabulous. modern. ceramic. eye candy!

more here

the 20,000ft voyeur.

I've long thought of painting these.

facinating.

check it out here

we golden state people wank about the weather if it's off 5 degrees in either direction.

we're in the middle of Winter Wankfest 2009!

one good thing; big waves and the water feels HOT at 53. yee har!

The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea.

~Isak Dinesen

I'm having one of those days. Actually, wait, a week. A week where all I want to do is be in the water. Alone. Away from everything. To lay my head on my board and float over the swells as they come in, to paddle around and be enveloped in the ocean just hearing the water move. To look towards shore like it's a stranger and never coming in...

S&M Mermaids????

are YOU KIDDING me!

...my hero.

Vipoo Srivilasa found via Strange Fragments, a blog I follow; and what do we have here?

A mermaid...and a surfer!

I like this guy!

When I first came across Michael Ferris Jr's work, I thought it was clay which kind of made my mouth hang open for a minute!

They are recycled wood, which makes my head hurt. in a good way.

They are pure Italianate high renaissance and yet fully modern and abstract; facinating. I don't know what to think. They make my mind race; I find them riveting.

I instantly thought of francis bacon and lucien freud and even kandinsky...just for starters.

my new one!

I already have one of Tiffany's pieces and I love the thing; I also get tons of compliments about it. I couldn't resist another one.

MuntedKowhai Shop
MuntedKowhai Blog

Super sweet, original, wonderfully crafted, and very affordable.

what are you waiting for...

go!

more here

Friday, December 4th from 5pm - 10pm Ceramic Arts of Berkeley (CAB+), hosts their first event, a ceramic art show and sale with over 48 artists working in clay from the Berkeley California area. Support local artists this holiday with a gift of art, the sale will be located at Leslie Ceramic Supply, 1212 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley, CA! Also 10% of the purchase price will be donated to the Martin Luther King Jr. middle school.

uh, so going!

Maybe reconsider, maybe rethink how and what you buy people as gifts - as you'd be so amazed and surprised at how accessible really good pieces of work are...this would be a great show for xmas gifts of all ranges.

Madrigalli Market was great! It was a success and I'm excited about next year! A very special thank you to Michelle and Janine of Madrigalli Designs and the Pedro Point Association for making it possible! I know how much goes into making it happen; you guys did a fabulous job, thank you! It has such a fun, easy, community vibe that makes it something to look forward to.

Thanks to all of you who came by to see me; I deeply appreciate everyone's interest and support! And, thanks to Mother Nature for such clear, if crisp, days!

It's the start of the Holiday Season - it's all about spending time with family and friends, enjoying great company, great food and bev's, perfect!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

The coast is clear, enjoy it!

Cheers,

best,

linda

Let's call him Evan B.= BAD ASS Harris! He hails from Oregon, grew up in Medford and I want to say now lives in Portland(?).

Simply, IN LOVE with this guys creative genius, totally, enamored, blown away, envisioning many of these on a wall in my house!

more of Evan here & here & here

One of the great SF art coop org's. SOEX has been around some 30+ years and done so much for the art community in San Francisco. They've recently opened up in a fab new location. I went by to say hi and see the new space at 3030 Alabama (in the Mish) in San Francisco.

Get familiar - the opening Exhibition and what they are doing is worth a look!
more here.

Sorry, I've not been 'gettin' my blog on' lately; I've been getting ready for the next show. There are good and bad things I've learned about doing shows basically back to back.

here's some good things:

I'm already packed and basically ready to go - I did that work packing for the last show
I'm "warmed" up coming off last weeks' great show! I'm not feeling as nervous.
The hard work is done; I'm in a more relaxed attitude about the whole thing
I'm excited and looking forward to the show!

couple small neg's:

I'm still not feeling well - I've been battling a cold/flu for weeks
I whipped out some new small pieces and may be pulling them out of the kiln on show day!
I whipped out some new small pieces and I may not be pulling them out of the kiln on show day!

I had a goal this year to do two shows and here I am; I've almost completed my goal. Of course, being in the middle of this process, I've been thinking about it a lot; what it took for me to get here, my planning, timing, organizing, what worked and most importantly what didn't work? I don't mind the hard questions; I am very interested in doing a critique on myself. How did I do? Where are my areas for improvement? What did I learn? I am already aware of some significant ways I can improving my prep. I am still working out exactly what this really means for my goals and plans for next year. So, I am going to do the Madrigalli Show this coming weekend then I hope to have a valuable discussion of my performance good and bad!

...more on that later - for now:

You may not hear from me much this week! If you're in the neighborhood, please come by the show and say hi! I'd love to hear from you.

cheers,

best,

linda

Outside the Seymore Marine Mammal Center - right in front of natural bridges :)

thanks to everyone who patiently waited in line both days to get in! We love you for that!

Krista Hammond of Santa Cruz Sea Glass Jewelry - an awesome show organizer, great jewelry!!

Candace MacDonald - Beachstring!

moi and some of the girls.

BiG thanks to my friend Richard for taking pictures; the phone action just ain't cuttin' it. Thank you Janine! I really could not have done it with out you, all that restaurant experience rarely goes to waste! Also, thanks to my parents who helped out with packing and hauling stuff down there at the crack of dawn - and to Brian & Susan who helped me pack it up and haul it home! All a HUGE help! Also, again, thanks to Krista and Tony, who did a great job putting this on; and the Seymore Marine Mammal Center Staff! They were all so easy going and helpful. Oh, and thanks Rose - I'm working on your no. 11's!!

And thanks to everyone who came by, signed in the book, took home some of my work and stayed around to chat with me!

appreciate it!

ARTS ON FIRE XIV

Call for artists for Sanchez Art Center

ELIGIBILITY
Open to all California artists.
All artistic media will be considered.
There is no theme.
Work must be able to fit through a standard-sized door (80" x 36").

The 2009 Sea Glass & Ocean Art Festival was a super fun, super successful event!

here are a few pics; much more to come!

thank you, everyone! thank you!!!

Beth Cavener-Stichter's work totally mesmerizes me, tortures me.
I am mostly speechless; always in awe.

More photo's of her new work can be seen at Claire Oliver's

McIntyr's Annual Inventory Clearance Sale is ON!
SECONDS. FIRSTS. DECO TILE. TRIM. MIX&MATCH.

ONE DAY ONLY - RAIN OR SHINE
Saturday, November 14
10:00 - 3:00
55 West Grand Street
Healdsburg, CA

if you are at all interested in mosaics or want to re tile something - this is the place and the SALE For you!
Beautiful Handmade artisan ceramic tile.

Trust me; I have amassed cases of McIntyr tile in my garage to prove it!

Halima Cassell

I love her work. I would welcome the opportunity to see some in person.

wood.

WOWZA!

Peter Hromek

just a few examples of my mosaic work.

I have been reading Bibbi Forsman's Blog; first of all, how do you not LOVE the name Bibbi!
I really enjoy her blog, check it out! To take note; Bibbi has been posting about a mosaic/ceramic panel commission she did titled Terra Nova. Her work is beautiful!

I did mosiac work for over 10 yrs and I love it. I've done mural projects, swimming pools, bathrooms, kitchens; you name it! However, I have been so obsessed with clay that I have not been doing any mosaic work to speak of for some time. I miss it, but I'm on the clay train.

I have thought a lot about finding my way back to mosaic by incorporating it into my sculpture work...must meditate on that.

Sharon Virtue's work speaks for itself and it has a lot to say. Sharon is a creative TOUR du FORCE, to put it lightly. She is like a "creativity freight train. I met her while she was working on a project as the artist in residence at the De Young Museum. I showed up to help her out with some mosaic stuff and here we are; and boy, the impact has been great!

Her work is so layered, original, so wild and free. It's ingenius. She is not afraid to go for it and put it out there. Her work is fantastic in form, shape, idea, color; I am always inspired by her, always motivated and excited by ceramics when I see what she is doing.

Sharon is always ahead of the rest of us; she is always full of surprises...

Tiffany Schmierer. I met Tiffany at a workshop at Ruby's a few years ago. She had started teaching up at Skyline College. Lucky me. The minute I heard that, I was bound for Skyline, no questions asked. I got it right away; I got how fortunate I was to have access to her as a teacher and now she was going to be right in my backyard. She has had a huge impact on me and continues to be a powerful inspiration.

Teachers. Friends. Inspiration. Influences.

Amanda Michelle Smith.

Awesome Awesome. AWESOME work, wouldn't you agree?

I just got some new stamps; again, and again from India! I just love 'em!

So in other news; things are moving super fast right now. My first show is in a week and a half. Am I ready? HELL NO! But, I'm on the move. I have SO much to do I just can't think about it; I have to task and then complete; task and complete. If I go lumping it all together I get all flummoxed.

Task and complete...

task

and

complete

I'm a MASSIVE MASSIVE fan of Asterix & Obelix. This year marks the 50 year anniversary of the much beloved French Military Hero and his porky sidekick Obelix. Written by Albert Uderzo, who drew the cartoons, and René Goscinny, who wrote the original stories, it has been translated into 107 languages. (Mission Cleopatra is hilarious)

But you don't have to believe me; listen to what these guys have to say
The Wall Street Journal, Deutsche Welle, the Independent , & the BBC to name but a few.

I bought this necklace from Puiyi Tiffany Pang at Munted Kowhai (that's pronounced Kow FY - it is a native plant of New Zealand). I follow her blog and have been ogling her work for some time; I finally got myself one and I CAN'T BELIEVE I WAITED so long. I LOVE IT! Love it.

Go on over and peruse; really sweet.

OUT OF CONTROL!!!!

Stephanie Lanter is over the top bad ass!

I've been reading Jeff's blog and looking at his work; it looks like his process is on the mind boggling side of the tracks...

check it out; you'll be impressed.

I am attracted to the obvious skill in process and how it's so pretty and light, simple and feminine. For how much each piece is "handled", they are so graceful and elegant.

OK. I LOVE the ocean. I love it. I don't even know if it's possible for me to express just how except to say it is like the incredibly amazing feeling you have when you sit next to someone you love absolutely and in that beautiful second of complete understanding of one another you just sit and hold hands in perfect silence. I don't know; I just want to be near it. For me, being in the ocean feels like the closest thing to the truly sublime I have ever experienced.

It also scares the fucking hell out of me.

Thing is I daydream about the ocean a lot. Every day, I can't wait to get home and get down to the beach. If the conditions are on, I want to get in the water. The problem is this picture constantly flashes through my mind. Most surfers don't talk about how they feel about it - most blow it off. I've learned to fight it off most of the time; I learned to ignore it or work my head not to think of it - but it's an effort, it's work. There are times when it's front and center and I just cannot ignore it, I cannot get it out of my head, and it's at those times that it keeps me out of the water.

guts, no guts? maybe I'd like to hang on to my guts? I don't know.

I have got to buy one of Jasna Sokolovic's pieces! I think they are fantastic.

these photo's courtesy of her website

I have been thinking about doing some wall pieces; I am finding Jasna's and Jody's work so inspiring.

...hatchin' a plan.

P.S. Jesse Lu over at Mudbucket posted about Jasna today as well. She's linking to me: I'm linking to her. I've told you guys; Jesse's blog is great! She picks up on some artists that I can't even imagine. Good to know I've got my little finger on a tiny beat of what's new and happening in the ceramic world...keeps me young!

I really like her work. I found her courtesy of ArtAXIS but having a heck of a time finding more about her. If you know of any good links; please leave a comment.

...and this is only about half. I am glazed and confused at this point ;)

nathalie derouet

elly wall

This one's got some Stingray-ness to it!

I am down to the last few weeks before the first show November 7 & 8. I admit that I think I'm in pretty good shape; though I have moments of panic where I doubt I am as "ok" as I think.

I have been working every night and every weekend and literally firing the kiln every day. I fire at night, empty it and 'reload' next night - I am pulling the last glaze firing tonight - I would have been done; however, I just don't "feel" done; I am compelled to make more - I have 5 bags handy; I am going to make as much as I can over the long weekend. Then I think I'm done; well, I have to be done; times up! I will have to fire all the new greenware; glaze and fire. Not all of it will be completed for the show on the 7 & 8, I'm hoping I may need some back up pieces for the show on the 21 & 22 of Nov!

It's Mad - mad goodness :) and I'm loving every minute of it!

In my dreams last night; Dante and I were on a luge, 'luging' through a city; it was a dream city of course; a bit of San Francisco, a bit of London, a bit of Paris - it was in the evening and there was a sunny red orange glow shining against buildings in that distinctly San Francisco way. there we were luging through town; I was steering and going up and down hills. Everyone knows I drive too fast. I remember we were having a great time! We took a right on some street and 'parked' the luge. Magically it was then night. And magically again, I was talking to this super tall blond surfer skater guy ;) I noticed across the street that there was a pomelo tree! I was fascinated by the huge pomelo's hanging on this tree - all of them bigger than your head, green and just massive - right next to it was another pomelo tree; those pomelo's where very bright, vibrant, colorful, floaty and light.

That's it. No plot; just me, jr., a zippy luge ride, a cute surfer and huge pomelo's.

Yeah, I don't know what to say either.

I'm amused by the luge angle :) fascinated by the pomelo's

you can see these pieces (and more) currently showing at TRAX in Berkeley through Nov 8.
I went to the opening yesterday to be able to see her work up close. It is worth seeing; these pictures do these pieces NO justice whatsoever - there is such nuance in her work - go see the show.

I also bought two for myself - yay!

I took a workshop yesterday from Deb Schwartzkopf. It's easy to be attracted to her work. I especially appreciate the aesthetic of her glaze technique with spots of color and layers of interest and how it is so married to the form - one does not overpower the other - they are beautifully complimentary. The workshop was an all day demo for her; she made 4 different forms. She is mostly a hand builder, but she does incorporate thrown and altered pieces in her work as well. As you can imagine, there is a lot of information imparted in a 7 hr workshop.

The biggest takeaways for me were more about watching 'how' she works more than any particular tip or idea. I got a lot out of just watching her process throughout the course of the day - how she relates to her work, how she moves through her steps - watching her steps of organization in relationship to the particular form she was working with.

THEE best thing I got out of her workshop was that she is all about smoothing! Smoothing, smoothing, smoothing! I am the smooth queen; and I have always thought the smoothing thing was a crutch (for me), or it was because I wasn't great at some other part of the process, so I was overcompensating, over handling the pieces. I have always imagined that super talented artists aren't spending a lot of time smoothing. So, phew! I know it seems simple, or silly, but it really felt good to get from her that smoothing is where it's at :)

It really set me free! It so satisfying to connect to another artists process so literally and get a message so clearly about something that applies so directly to your process; It's like a free pass. I guess you also could call that "getting over yourself".

P.S. I took a lot of video of the workshop and will have a lot of pictures once I process them; I'll try to figure out how to get them off my new iphone and on to this handy little vehicle for information!

I am so excited to use these new stamps that just arrived from India!

I am on the hunt for more of these; if anyone knows of a source, please leave me a comment! Comments are good; I feel better when I get them...

cheers!

pardon the iphone photo; it's all I got at the moment...

She made it through the bisque in one piece; well, in a manner of speaking. Actually, her head comes off. It will be permanently attached when the piece is finished.

Third wall scuplture; I struggled with the form at first. I am starting to like them...

Anthony Roussel

Award winning Artist and Designer, Anthony Roussel creates beautiful intricate sculptural jewellery inspired by the epic sweep of the British coastline and a passion for modern architecture.

oceanic.

(Mud)Bucket is a great little blogspot written by Jesse Lu who is a ceramic artist/student of the SF State Ceramic Arts Program. Jesse's blog is so young and bright and she has such a clear and enthusiastic way of encouraging us to pay attention to what's really happening (what has happened) in the ceramic world. Do yourself a favor and check out her posts on great artists of the past, current super stars, and the not-to-be-missed up and coming ceramic artists...

I love visiting her site and I always leave feeling motivated, inspired, and wanting more.

thank you Jesse!

her work (courtesy of her site)

here are some pics taken with my new gagety iphone - so not the best quality; but sure is a handy camera thingie...

I have been working on a series of wall sculptures; mermaids, of course.

I seem to be getting my octopus obsession in full swing...

Mike McArdle and I went to high school together; we had loads of fun in class with our wacky art teacher Mrs.Collins and by our second year(s) we were basically left to ourselves to do "our thing". Mike was wildly talented even then; he is ridiculously talented now and has an immeasurable range. He is doing some amazing work on custom cars and bikes - he has and does amazing mural work, oil paintings and he did a lot of years painting designs on surfboards (turns out he collaborates often my brother ; a custom bike designer and builder, no small talent himself).

I just ran into Mike the other night at my brother's 50th. We haven't seen each other for many years. It was such a pleasure to talk with him about art. We talked about art school; what he's been up to all these years, what I've gotten myself into over the years. It was so AWESOME, inspiring, and motivating to have such a high energy conversation about the thing we are both crazy passionate about!

Great conversation - great to see you Mike!

One thing we did talk about was The Madrigalli Market Sale - I just thought it would be so great to have him there. I put him in touch with the show people and turns out he's in! How fun is that show going to be!

check him out here: He's a superstar!

Broke Neck Kustoms

SF Gate article on Mike

don't forget to check out his clothing line too....

p.s. a long time ago in a place far far away; I painted cars for car shows; pin striping, airbrushed murals; and signs. I could never even touch Mike's talent and scope! I love his work...

Whenever I go to the Sea, I look for wine from that place; a generous, mild wine that takes away all worries, that instills my veins and my soul with resolute hopes, a wine that infuses me with unaffected eloquence!

-Horace

inspired by;
Campi Flegrei/Falanghina

and:
Fallegro 2008/Gagliardo

WTWTA - Soundrack is out - more here

Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are", is by far one of the most enduring memories of my childhood. I still have the book my mom gave me some 30+ yrs ago...and some refrigerator magnets :)

oooh, ooh, I cannot wait!

regarding; I found some real good stuffs today:

The above courtesy of a blog put together by Dallas Clayton & Spike Jones: "We love you so". And we do! Also, really, check out Dallas Clayton here & here - because why? Because - really, he is super fantastic, that's why.

dream

creative

imagination...

Creative as hell - love this thing - go here and roam around...

http://www.korduroy.tv/

http://www.korduroy.blogspot.com/

a good read here

If you want to build a ship,
don't drum up people to collect wood
and don't assign them tasks and work,
but rather
teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea

- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

check this out.

You sign up for a subscription - pay a monthly fee and they send you 25 pencils over 20 months.

tempting.

so tempting.

SHCH Graphics Group, Kiev.

typeface, design and doodles - rolled into a phenom style

utterly besotted.

Bas-relief in Persepolis - in the Persian/Iranian tradition - on the day of an equinox, the power of an eternally fighting bull (personifying the Earth) and that of a lion (personifying the Sun) are equal.

Tomorrow is the first day of Autumn; the time where we reap the harvest in preparation for the decent into the internalizing 'hibernation' of winter.

mom's first go at making plates. They are for the Tahoe house.

Cute, huh!?

oh boy, found this: artaxis.org

go at it; see what 'the kids' are doing these days.

good luck - I'm going back over there right now....

we swim with the fishes

Surf Spots

Around Design

Good Stuff

8.2.10

5.2.10

3.2.10

2.2.10

29.1.10

28.1.10

27.1.10

25.1.10

22.1.10

21.1.10

20.1.10

19.1.10

16.1.10

14.1.10

13.1.10

9.1.10

8.1.10

7.1.10

6.1.10

5.1.10

4.1.10

31.12.09

24.12.09

21.12.09

16.12.09

15.12.09

14.12.09

11.12.09

10.12.09

9.12.09

4.12.09

2.12.09

30.11.09

25.11.09

18.11.09

17.11.09

16.11.09

13.11.09

9.11.09

30.10.09

29.10.09

28.10.09

25.10.09

23.10.09

22.10.09

21.10.09

20.10.09

15.10.09

12.10.09

11.10.09

8.10.09

6.10.09

5.10.09

1.10.09

29.9.09

28.9.09

25.9.09