artandlife

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Translation

I was still inspired yesterday when I was working in the studio by Bellini and his beautiful painting of Madonna and Child.
I wanted to see how the image from my sketch book would translate into clay.
Here is the final result.

This is a Bellini Painting that is as close as I could find to the one I sketched in London. I could not find the exact painting but this one is almost there.

Here is my drawing.

And finally the clay translation.

Update:
Out of the kiln this morning, the plate glazed.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Drawing from the sketch book.....

Here are some drawings I did in London when I found myself without clay.....

These two are from the Picasso exhibit.
The left is Girl in a Chemise
The right is Ferndrid? in a Black Mantilla. ( sorry I can't read my writing about who this sweet lady is. I will look it up later.)

This was a portrait of Olga as a Giantess/ Roman Goddess.
Seated woman 1920

A painting by Bellini
Madonna and Child

On the airplane home I did my own version of Hans Holbein the Younger's
A Lady with a Squirrel and a Starling

And I also did a preliminary sketch for a series of paintings I am thinking of about animals that are going extinct or already are extinct.
This little fellow is the dusky seaside sparrow. The image came from my National Geographic via Florida Natural History Museum, Florida State University.
I see him in his natural colors with a red/ gold back ground.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

We are back....

with news and pictures from London.

I have so much to post I don't know where to start.
Maybe I should start with visiting with Ms. Linda in London and in her hometown Wellingborough.
We were so excited to meet Linda. I think we have been blog friends for at least a year probably a lot more. We have blogged, emailed, and skyped, having a great time sharing art and clay. So, you can imagine how thrilled we were to actually see her in person. (Check out her blog for another account of our visit.)

When we met in Trafalger Square we went in the National Gallery to see the Picasso exhibit. Linda brought her niece Mariah with her to London and she was the sweetest teenager( yes, I realize this is a conundrum usually). She was so polite and just super nice to have with us!

Well, needless to say the Picasso exhibit was amazing.
It was a great exhibition representing the differences and vastness of Picasso's work.
I especially loved the portraits of Olga and the images of what I call the Giantesses (here is one example though this one was not in the exhibition).....
The show displayed some images there (which is normal with Picasso, the most prolific artist in history) that I had never seen before. I was in love. If Linda had not been there I would have swooned....really....

After we pulled ourselves away from the glory of Mr. P, we met Will in the square next to the fountain. By this time the weather sprites had decided that we had been lucky enough with good weather and decided to rain down in sheets upon our heads. We quickly ducked into an Italian restaurant near the square and settled down for some pizza. After a filling lunch we were ready to explore.
Will had work to do so he took off back to S. Kensington.

The three of us decided to do some sightseeing starting with Big Ben, then the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, and finally the Natural History museum....WHEW! We were tired after all that running around so Ms. Linda bought us some cappuccinos and we sat at a little cafe resting before the two of them took off for the day.

Here is Linda and Mariah in front of a sculpture across from Buckingham Palace.

The very next day I took the subway (the tube in English speak) to St. Pancras/ King's Cross Station and caught a train to Wellingborough.

Linda and her sister and nephew picked me up at the station. We all got in Linda's cute purplish blue car and drove to her sister's house where she made us toasties (grilled cheesy sandwiches) yum!

After lunch we went to feed the swans. Oh my! there we a bunch of them! They saw us coming and swarmed us or should I say swaned us....Okay, okay, I know that was a bad one...
Here are some pictures of the swarm of swans. You wouldn't believe how big these guys were. Loved IT!!!!

we visited the local park where there were many beautiful paths and woods. Linda asked me if there was a difference between our parks here in NC and there in Wellingborough. There really were mostly similarities though I noticed a green moss, a thin filmy moss that covered almost every surface of the bottom area of the trees and some branches. It lent the air this surreal quality reminding me of fairy tales and fairies, sprites and green men.

After the park we went to Linda's house to play with clay. First she showed me her polar bear that she has been working on. He is amazing and so well made. And he is quite big, very much a polar bear from top to bottom.... ( hey Linda, don't forget to measure the kiln for Mr. Bear...) I made a bunny and Linda's nephew made the cutest snowman.

Here is Linda and her sweet nephew.

After stopping to get real English chips (really potatoey french fries) and eating them greedily in the car, we went to Linda's class. We had the most fun! Everyone was so welcoming and nice and they were making some really wonderful work. I got to see Linda's swan named appropriately...Swany. He was beautiful and so light. Can't wait to see him glazed.

Her tutor (teacher) was incredibly generous with his class time and his supplies. He made me feel completely at ease and I did a short demonstration and talk on scraffito. I was nervous at first but everyone made me feel very welcome. I think it went well and I hope that I passed a little scraffito on to more clay artists.

At the end of the day we rushed back to the train station and said goodbyes. It was sad to go but I think I will be able to go back next year....hopefully with Miss Queeny and her mom.

Whew! more news from London tomorrow.

One sketch book drawing from the Picasso exhibit:

This was a drawing from a portrait of Olga from 1923.

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

London Calling

We are off to London!
I can't wait to get there. It is my favorite city in the world.....but I haven't really seen that many so I am a little biased.
While I am there I am going to visit Un D at Rediscovering Arr and play with clay. That is going to be the highlight of the trip. Meeting a fellow blogger from a different country! Wow!

But before we leave, here are the mushies in the new home. They are housed on the window sill of Urban Artware, the most awesomest gallery in the area. And in front of the window is the famous Ms. Millicent herself posing in the noonday sun.
I can't wait to see how fast the mushrooms find new homes. They all have tags explaining that they are Guerilla Art and have the address for Grrl+dog's blog.
Go Guerilla's Go!
Have a great creative week......be back soon.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Geometric Bottles

More bottles. These are hand built and larger than one might think. The tallest measures 18 inches. The form and the process are seducing me and I have now made 6 of these bottles. I need to move on to other things but apparently that is not going to happen. My desire for this form is still strong. Alas, you can't tell the muse what to do. She has her own mind.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Even more bottles and some pots....

Still working on the bottles.
Still making bottles.
It's time to make the bottles......
Sigh, every time I start one of these assignments for myself, I forget how it feels in the middle.
I lose the initial inspiration.
Grouchiness claims me and I protest to myself that I am tired and that I will have these bottles sitting around for years. I struggle and procrastinate. I cuss a lot and find the littlest distraction an excuse to get out of the studio.

But then something amazing happens.
I have a break through.
This is the reason for doing these seemingly insane assignments.
There is always some movement from within, some new insight into form and design, some new sense of the material I work with everyday.
And finally, I get this surge of love and appreciation for clay and I realize how much dirt means to me.
YAY! CLAY!

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Oh Spring! How we love thee!

Look at this man lazing around in the spring sun....or winter sun? It is just February but this day it was close to 70 degrees in the afternoon. Will was sicky that day with a cold I gave him so I set him up a little nest on the hammock and caught him with the camera. I Love to see him relax because he so rarely slows down.

And what are these little colorful toad stools doing in the grass? They are my new guerilla crocheted mushrooms, the first 2 in a set of 6 to put under the park bench on Monday afternoon.
This time I intend people to take these little mushies home with them! I am going to put a card on each asking that each person only take one and leave the rest for others. Will post more on this later.

And then, the painted plastic owls that are residing in the studio. Me and Will found these in an abandoned home down the street. They are wonderfully tacky and used to be gold with those sparkly gold stuffed animal eyes.
Well, I wanted to bring them home to put in the yard but the color was so faded that they needed a touch up. I had just watched Marie Antoinette the night before and was inspired by the colors of the time. Look at the beauty of this movie here. Look at my friend Princess Poochie's blog to see some of the most inspiring shoes to date. They really are works of art. I was looking at her blog when I decided to watch the movie again. Love it!

These owls aren't quite finished yet. I am painting them with oils so I am waiting not so patiently for the paint to dry. I can't wait to finish these sweet birds. I plan to glue sparkly beads and crystals on them. They will glitter in the sun.

And then another bottle. So far I have made around 50.
Fifty more to go!
Can I make it?
And then, what the heck am I going to do with 100 bottles?
This is a perplexing question of which I have many ideas.
A show of bottles? A bottle tree? A fundraiser for the soup kitchen?
Any ideas that ya'll have would be more than welcome!

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Ancient Grecian Pottery and my attempt at a sort of imitation

Some of the earliest surviving decorated pottery comes from ancient Greece as early as 1000-900 bc. These pots have been a great inspiration for me throughout my potting life. Especially this first picture. This great amphora vase was meant as a grave marker. The vessel has holes in the bottom of the pot so that liquid gifts such as wine could be poured from the mourning to the dead below the earth. If you look closely at the breast of the pot between the handles you can see the funeral ceremony, the black figures carrying the dead to his grave. This vase was a blending of the geometric period and the middle geometric period in ancient Grecian pottery.

The geometric period was marked by the artisans decorating the pots with bands of geometric figures such as triangles, lines, concentric circles, waves....the list goes on.

When figures started showing up on the pots this was marked the middle geometric period.

To learn more on this amazing period of art you can go here for a brief uninspired summery. I am trying to find a simple but informative, inspiring web page about this great time.

With these pots as inspiration I decorated these bottles.

Definitely not the same feeling but I am enjoying the process and making these little characters. I am inspired to make more and can't wait to get back to work today!

Thanks Ancient Grecian Potters for all these beautiful creations.

Saturday, February 07, 2009

More bottles and Memes

Here are some more carved bottles with a simple shape. The shape reminds me of a bottle that my mom kept as a bud vase for sweet spring flowers. I chose this shape for carving some of the Gothic flowers I was dreaming about last month or so.

And then some more experimental bottles . These were hand built quickly with really wet clay so that they would slump under their own weight. I am enjoying the softness of these bottles and plan to make many of these in different sizes. As for glazing, I am open to more suggestions. I will be glazing this week. Whoo Hoo!

It seems like these memes are going around a lot right now. They are super fun and I really enjoy doing them. I was visiting Jacky's blog and decided to take part. Jacky is super inspiring and this sounded like sooooooooo much fun!

The first 5 people that respond to this post will get something made by me, it will be my choice, but made especially for you.

However...this offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

-What I create will be just for you.

-I will make no guarantees that you will like it (but I hope you do !)

-You will receive this item before the end of the year (or sooner).

-You will have no idea of what the item is going to be or when you will receive it.

The catch is that you have to repost this "MEME" and put together something to be sent out as 5 surprises of your own.

These could be anything...a piece of art, a photo, a poem or haiku, a quote...whatever you like, let your imagination run wild.

Have a great Saturday!
Hope everyone has a creative weekend!
Leanne

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

First bottles carved and uncarved

Here are the first bottles carved and finished.
I am trying not to repeat any of the carvings on any of the bottles that are carved. Except, of course, the snakes in the first picture.

These new bottles I made yesterday and altered today.
I have the BIGGEST
urge to carve them but don't know if that would be too much. Somehow I think these may need just a solid glazing.

Saturday, January 31, 2009

Saddness.....

Someone took my guerilla crochet tree warmer down. I took my best friend Steph to see it today. We had a great walk in the park laughing and talking until....we passed the tree and it was empty. The only thing left was the green yarn that I had used to stitch the crochet on to the tree.
Tomorrow another one goes up.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Contemplating Bottle Forms and Handles

I like to work in a series. It seems to be a productive way to approach working for me. Also, I have a hard time letting go of certain ideas and need to see many versions of the same thing before I am satisfied.
When I was in school and just learning to make pots on the wheel, I was fascinated by the bottle form. I loved the skinny neck, the way the neck met the breast of the pot, the fact that they were hard to make...everything about the form really.

Being back in the studio this year, and after the BIG FREEZE (see post below), I was reluctant to throw. SO....I pulled out my sketch book and made a plan to make 100 bottles. I want to try every possible shape and size. Pushing my throwing boundaries and my imagination.
The first round of bottles I made 15. They are relatively small.
I began to cut feet into some of the smallest bottles and put on sassy handles. It is amazing how much personality comes out of 2 small pieces of clay and a couple of slices off the bottom for feet.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

First Guerilla Crochet Accomplished!

Here I am walking down the wooded path in our new park in Oak Ridge. I have to tell you I was quite nervous. When we got out of the car I put the crochet piece under my jacket. Will thought this was hilarious! He got the biggest kick out of the fact that:
Number 1: There was no one at the park.
Number 2: I looked like a woman pregnant with a square baby.
Number 3: I was crazily looking around looking like a character in a crime movie.
Number 4: There was no one at the park.

I had decided that I wanted to put the crocheted piece some where on the wooded path. Me and Will looked for quite awhile for the perfect tree. Then there it was! We found a tree that just peeks out at you as you are walking down the path. I think it will be a nice surprise for walkers as they are getting some exercise.

Here is the last of the head lice series. I decided to make only five.
We had a really bad cold snap and everything in my studio froze.
I lost two days work and 2 heads. So, discouraged, I decided not to remake them but just to have five total.
We are working on getting a heater in the studio but until then I am hauling pieces and clay from the house to the studio.....can you hear the cussing from there?