Introducing....the Cut Out Series

After the show this spring, I wanted a new approach to form. Having used the same forms over and over for the past year or so and I was ready for some change. When we were in the airport on our way home from St. Paul last week I saw this woman with a intriguing handbag. It was very simple, just a rectangle really, with an oval cut out for the handle. Immediately out came the old sketchbook and I started drawing. These are the pieces that came from those sketches.

I Know I am Delinquent......

I have been horrible about posting......
But! I have great intentions to do better!
This summer I am going to be working on a bunch of different projects but on the top of the list is reconnecting with my blogging friends and catching up with all the amazing work y'all have been doing.
In the mean time.......Here are some big bowls I have been making. They are about 36 inches tall. Inside the bowls, at the bottom, a secret is carved. The bowls are just tall enough that you can't read the secret unless you break the bowls.




Would you be tempted? By a secret? To break such a big bowl?
Would you get out the magnifying glass and try to read the mystery at the bottom of the pot?
And in the end, if the secret was unreachable, and you broke the pot, what if the secret was silly? What if the secret was earth shattering?
The conundrum of the Secret Bowls....

























I know the pieces are hard to see because they are still green so I will post better pictures when they are fired.

2nd Annual "Keep It Local" Art Show

It is spring again and time to come on out and support local art. Come by the house this Saturday, May 22nd from 11:00 to 4:00 where 17 local artists will be showing pottery, jewelry, paintings, fabric art, metal work and food stuffs.
We would love to see you!!!

Deer Girl finished

Thanks to everyone for all your sweet comments on the Deer Girl. Your comments gave me much encouragement to keep building more girls....I will post them soon. In the mean time here is Deer Girl finished and out in the wild.

Deer Girl......dear girl

In the Treemakers story that I am writing I have happened upon the heroine.
Presenting:
The Deer Girl!
Here is a version of her and the Treemakers blended together. They have roses carved on their belly.
I have also made a true sculpture of the Deer Girl as she is illustrated in the story but she has yet to be photographed...maybe she is a little shy?
I will post pics of the final glazed version of this blended piece later this weekend.

London, I miss you

HELLO everyone! (Big wave)
We are home from our fascinating and lovely trip to London.
It was a total whirlwind of museums, food, long walks and sadly some sneezing and snuffling.
But we will talk only of the good part of being in one of the world's most wonderful cities.
Each time we go my heart feels at home. The history of the city is overwhelming. It amazes me how Londoners can walk the streets and not gasp at each building as I do. We found a couple of new places this year that truly were unusual and very exciting to visit.
Sir John Soane's Museum is a wonder of sculpture, paintings, and unusual artifacts. The whole house is stuffed to the rafters....literally.
Another interesting place was the Welcome Collection. The Medicine Man collection contains everything from Napoleon's toothbrush to chastity belts....Japanese sex aids to George the Third's hair. Amazing all.

Now for a couple of pictures of good ole London.....





















The British Museum ceiling





















A new exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum in process.





















The Westminister Cathedral facade with Will in his favorite hat.

Condom boxes

Years ago, for AIDS awareness month, I made a series of condom boxes. I was surprised that they were a big hit. Who knew? Every now and then I will get an order for one or two. Here is a box that I made for a customer. What fun to carve sex on a box. Love it!

Drawing and the Dentist

Like most people I know I hate the going to the dentist. I don't hate my dentist she is actually super sweet. It's the chair and holding my mouth open, people pulling at my lips and poking at my teeth. Basically the whole experience. Claustrophobia runs rampant over my body. I get the sweats, the shakes. It is awful.
I broke a tooth 6 years ago biting down on a cherry pit. It didn't hurt so my dentist agreed to let me wait on getting a crown until this year. She insisted that I get it fixed. So I made an appointment. Canceled that appointment twice. And finally I womaned up and decided to go. In preparation for the appointment, I was struggling to think of how to keep my mind occupied. It finally came to me...Drawing.
So I grabbed my ipod and sketch pad and went. It was tough to draw with my pad on my lap and me laying down but it really kept my panic in check. I won't lie, I still sweat. But it was better.
Here are the results. They make me laugh.

More people....

My new work continues with the same theme.
I am fascinated with the idea of many people standing shoulder to shoulder, going round and round a pot. Mostly I imagine them on a taller skinner pot. A pot that doesn't allow for a continuous story to be seen and told.
There are many reasons that I like this image. The first is easy. When you have a skinny taller piece where you can't tell a cohesive story, taller thinner objects compliment the form. The second is that the stretched human form is fun to carve. Especially the feet and hands. So though I know I need to move on to a different image, I am still carving people. Round and round I go.


I did manage to convince myself to think about spring and the idea of swinging. I adore swinging and can't wait for it to be warm so I can go swing in the park.

Thank you again!

One last thank you to all who bid on these bottles! Together we raised 260.00 for Doctors Without Borders. I am thrilled!
In other studio news....Apparently my obsession with bottles has not ended. Here is the latest series of bottles.
As you can see in the background the snow is sticking around from the last snow storm...brrrrr!
I am so ready for spring!
Bring on the flowers, the light, the flitting birds.

2 Bottles up for Auction

Today I put these 2 accordion bottles up for auction on Ebay. All proceeds go to Doctors Without Borders to support this organization who is doing such great work to help Haiti.
We have all been horrified by the earthquake in Haiti.
I want to help.
Please help me raise money for Doctors without Borders by clicking this link and bidding away.

Thanks everyone.
The bottle featured in the post below is up to 113.00! Couldn't do it without all of y'all!
Leanne

Bottle up for auction

We have all been horrified by the earthquake in Haiti.
It is amazing and terrifying and unbelievably sad.
I want to try to help.
This people bottle is up for auction on ebay.
Please help me raise money for Doctors without Borders by clicking this link and bidding away.
I will put more pieces up this weekend. All proceeds go to the cause and the shipping is Free!
Thanks everyone.
Leanne

Onward and Upward...

Hey Everyone!!!
I have been a bit absent but have been lurking behind the scenes, visiting blogland every so often, keeping up. The reason I have been so quiet these past few months is because I got a little burnt out this fall season. well, A LOT burnt out. So I decided to take a wee break and travel some, read some, lay about some, regroup.
Now, I am ready to rumble. The fingers are itching and dancing to get back to work. Ideas are beginning to bubble in the old brain.
Some of you will remember that I started a bottle project last January. The idea was to make 100 bottles throughout the year, pushing the form of the bottle, pushing my own conception of the bottle. Well, I made more than 100....I don't know how many more......but I became somewhat obsessed. To get started this year, here are some images of the last bottles that I made last year.

Bless us all, everyone.

Happy Holidays to all of you.
Many Blessings and Good Cheer from the Pizio's
Bark, Bark, Meow and Cock a Doodle Do!

More Treemakers

Here is a bigger bottle form that I am making for a group of bottles that will go to the Greenhill Winter Show this December. This piece is 26 inches tall and around12-14 inches across. These new bottles are so much fun to make as I can build much higher than I could throw. Soon I want to make some forms that are life size and build kilns around them to fire them. (ps. got the idea from Mike Sandford, potter extraordinaire from Elon University) HMMMMM....can't wait till January, my vacation month....

Fall Fever

During fall my focus is tuned to the trees, their rustle of leaves, the beauty in their colors.
The trees seem to beckon to us all with their whispering and waving limbs.
I thought it would be a great time to finish my Treemakers story. Here they are with the leaves falling down around them.
When I was explaining the story at the show last weekend, I realized the the story needed a traumatic event and resolution much like Snow White or Hansel and Gretel. So I am trying to decide what will happen to these two twins and how they will resolve it.

The baby chicks are growing up and Frieda is almost a full grown Chicken/ Rooster.....we don't know yet. I will post pictures soon and tell you a couple of funny chicken stories to boot.

hope you have a great week!
L

Bigger bottles and alien embyos

The bottles are coming along at a fast rate. This new accordion form is fascinating me at the moment....it is not only the form but the challenge of making this shape. It is very fragile and tedious, lots of waiting for the piece to set up before continuing upwards. I won't even mention how delicate my touch has to be to carve this simple line design......I'm in love.























And then these little guys have come creeping back after watching a UFO Hunters marathon a couple of weeks ago. Love that show!
The embryo design started 14 years ago when Miss Haley was conceived. I wanted to watch how she was developing each week. Now and then they become aliens and after seeing about 6 UFO shows in a row, they seemed appropriate.






















And finally some finished circle bottles....






















Hope you have a great week!

Come and join us for a super fun afternoon

Me and a great bunch of Greensboro artists are having a show this weekend.






Come and join us for a fun afternoon of art, cool funky people, and great food.

Artists:
Paige Cox of LULU Groove
Christian Brown of Just Be
Melissa Blackburn of Blackburn Arts
Me

308 East Lake Drive
Greensboro, NC
10-4:00 Saturday the 19th of September.

Come rock out with us!

ps: I tried to upload the actual invitation but blogger wouldn't do it. So I thought Blue and Frieda could represent for us.

Crazy Days

Crazy days are here again as the fall season gets into gear and I so miss the blogisphere, everyone's blogs and their inspirational work. I must find more time in the day to get some computer time in.
Another reason for my delinquency on the blog is this little girl here. We incubated 4 eggs and Frieda is the only one who survived. She is a sweetie but is spoiled and she just wants to be near me or Will. It is very hard to work on clay with a baby chickie sitting on your shoulder...lap...hand...arm....

When she hatched she was a weak chick and we didn't think she would make it. But 3 weeks later she sure is giving us a run for our money. We have more babies coming next week so I'll post pics of them when they arrive.




More bottle forms as I can't get them out of my mind....and also I promised 20 to a designer for the furniture market next month.










































And these are so rooting sconces meant to put plant cuttings in to root. They of course could be used for anything.

Hope everyone is doing well out their in the blogging land. Can't wait to stop by for a visit soon.
Have a great fall!
Leanne