rudolph clay studios

RCS Tax Day Etsy Sale

2012-04-17T14:56:00.003-04:00

Because we did so awesome with our Easter Sale...

We have decided to have another sale to honor today, Tax Day!

For the next week we are offering free shipping and handling on pots bought from Rudolph Clay Studios Etsy.

Enter coupon code: RCSISNUMBER1

http://www.etsy.com/shop/rudolphclaystudios?ref=si_shop

Rudolph Clay Studios Adventures at NCECA Seattle 2012

2012-04-02T17:09:00.000-04:00

I have never been a big fan of flying, so I was less than excited about flying across the country for this year's NCECA conference in Seattle. But as a huge Temple of the Dog fan (i'm just kidding) I had to see this mysterious land of grunge and misty rain.

While there was an endless amount of cold, blowing, misty rain, Cheyenne and I never really saw any "grungers". No flannel shirt clad, long haired cool guys, belting out soon to be radio hits. Plenty of street musicians, one guy playing a sax along with another recorded sax, he was pretty good. A young fellow I suppose one might call "grunge" was playing guitar outside of a clam chowder joint. However, unlike Eddie Vedder's rich baritone, this guy sounded more like an old goat being smacked with a 2x4.

Anyway...as always it was great to see those I haven't seen in...well since NCECA Tampa last year. Saw loads of great art. I was intent on seeing art by Northwest Coast Indian groups and I did at the Seattle Art Museum. Absolutely amazing. Cheyenne and her fellow 1st year MFA, Nicole Gugliotti , lectured on their curatorial experience and alternative gallery spaces. Although attendance wasn't what we hoped due to the multiple other lectures and demos that we going on at the same time, they both did wonderfully. Nicole discussed how she brought art from South Florida artists in just an artist portfolio case all the way to Japan to set up and exhibition at unknown location...and pulled it off without a hitch, almost. Cheyenne discussed her experience with setting up two exhibitions that ran concurrently with NCECA Philadelphia and Tampa and dealing with what can go on when all the balls are in your court and you have to deal with everything that could come setting up and exhibition with multiple artists and unknown gallery owners.

To add to the fun and insanity of NCECA, Emerald City Comicon was going on simultaneously in the same conference center and same hotels. I posted lots of photos to my Facebook page if anyone wants to check them out.

After an overnight cross country flight with screaming babies and jarring turbulence, we arrived in Tampa early Sunday morning, promptly drove home to Gainesville and went to sleep.

so below are images from NCECA Seattle 2012

View Full Album

RCS Easter Cup Spectacular!

2012-03-25T13:19:00.000-04:00

Greetings Greetings. For those of y'all who thought we had dropped off the earth...We're still, in fact, on the earth...just in Gainesville and very very busy. Cheyenne is doing great in school. Working really hard and making great work. Not much has changed actually with me. I'm still out of town all the time. We leave for NCECA next week in Seattle...which should be cool. Cheyenne and her fellow 1st year grad, Nicole Gugliotti are co-lecturing, Curating Outside of the Lines, discussing their curatorial experience and utilizing alternative curatorial spaces to reach a larger audience. Anyways, that's Friday from 1-2pm, room 602 at the conference center in Seattle...for those who will be attending NCECA.
That all being said....we are doing swell. We're both making work, I just fired at St. Pete Clay Co. last week. Wanted to share some of the work with you!

That brings us to the...

www.rudolphclaystudios.etsy.com

Remember the days when you woke with anticipation to those Easter baskets overflowing with colorful handmade mugs? Cups crammed full of chocolate bunnies and marshmallow Peeps? Are you growing nostalgic? Well, relive those grand childhood moments for yourself and your childrens at

Rudolph Clay Studios Easter Cup Spectacular!!

Happy Trails Pottery Sale & Shindig! Bon Voyage, Bon Voyage!

2011-06-24T16:42:00.011-04:00

We are moving to Gainesville...for those that have yet to hear. We are shovin' off, gettin' out of dodge, movin' out, movin' on...etc. I have mixed emotions about leaving again. I was born and raised in Bradenton, moved back with Cheyenne, bought a house (don't even get me started on that) and now we are heading out again! For the best of reasons of course, Cheyenne is off to school!!! Whoop Whoop!!!
So we will be having our final sale at the current location of Rudolph Clay Studios, July 1st and 2nd. We have a large inventory that we don't necessarily want to bring with us to Gainesville and would love to get in your hands. So it's a sale, as is in pots are on sale. We'll have some good deals going on at Rudolph Clay Studios.
After the sale officically ends on Saturday, July 2nd, around 8pm, we are going to kick off our shoes and open a beer. We are having a party...a shindig, if you will. We would really like folks to come out and have a good time. We'll be in Gainesville by the 1st week in August and would really like to see everyone before we go. If you can't make the sale during the day, please swing by Saturday evening. We'll have live music, food, drink....it's a shindig!!

Friday, July 1st, 4 - 9pm. Saturday, July 2nd, 10 - 8pm
Closing party, July 2nd, 8 - whenever pm/am

Slip Slidin' Away!!!

2011-04-14T08:44:00.003-04:00

So it’s official then…Rudolph Clay Studios will be moving north to Gainesville! Cheyenne has been accepted into the graduate ceramics program at the University of Florida! So congratulations to Cheyenne, I’m very very proud of her. It has only been about a week since we found out, so we are still trying to wrap our minds around this pretty significant “life change” we have ahead of us. There is a lot to do before we move to Gainesville, but we are as excited as we are anxious. Now that the announcement has been officially made, we have to get cracking on the long list of tasks to complete before we can go. We are hoping to rent our house! It’s a cute little cracker-style house with detached studio in a great neighborhood near downtown Bradenton. If anyone is interested please contact us and we can give you all the details. Our hope is to rent the house so we won’t lose it, unfortunately we just can’t afford to pay rent up in Gainesville and a mortgage down here. We love our little house and hope to rent it to folks we trust that appreciate its historic charm and value the studio. School starts in August so we really don’t have much time, so if anyone is interested please let us know as soon as possible.

That all being said…we are also looking for a place in Gainesville. If any of our Gainesville friends can point us in a good direction. We are not looking for anything fancy, just close enough to ride bikes to school and is cool with pets. Some place with a garage would be preferable so I could set up a little place to make pots. If anyone has any info that might help, it would be very very appreciated.

We do have quite the inventory of pottery in the studio, and as much as we would love to tote boxes and boxes of pots to Gainesville, what we would love more is get some of those pots in y’alls hands. If you’re local and interested in swinging by and looking through our inventory…please don’t hesitate to contact us for the best time to come by. We will be doing a Bon Voyage sale at home in the near future as well as at the RCS Etsy site. We’ll announce those dates before too long, but if you’re interested in making a purchase before then, just holler at us.

This is a pretty big endeavor for us to make the move out of town, if only just a couple hours away. I grew up in Bradenton, I’ve moved away and been back several times now, but this is very different, for me, for us. It’s different, of course, for obvious reasons, we own this house and sure would hate to lose it, but aside from that, we are taking a big step in our lives, a huge step in Cheyenne’s clay career, and a leap of faith for both of us. It’s going to be great, this I’m sure of. We are very excited to be closer to our good friends up in Ocala, and very excited to nurture new friendships with folks up in Gainesville. We are going to miss all y’all that we have grown so close to here in Bradenton, but we’re only two and a half hours away. My folks who have helped us and supported us in everything down here, thank you so much, we’ll make it down for family dinner night as often as possible. My sister and her beautiful family, we’ll miss you guys so much. I’m getting all choked up writing this actually. We’ll bring the blow-up mattress when we come down. Thank you so much to everyone from Bradenton, Sarasota, St. Pete and Tampa, from all over, who came to our sales and who supported us. St. Pete Clay and Craftsman House, Rudolph Clay Studios wouldn’t have made it if it wasn’t for y’all.

Dust the cobwebs off please

2011-02-14T17:57:00.007-05:00

It took me 2 hours to go 3 miles the other day while stuck in traffic on I75. Apparently some knuckle head semi-truck driver took a chunk out of an overpass around Gainesville. I was headed north for another 10 day stint in the Osceola National Forest. Another 10 days away from the studio. So as I’m sitting here in the hotel room, I thought I might dust the cobwebs off this blog and fill folks in on what is shaking at Rudolph Clay Studios.

Well, what’s shaking is we are working our butts off in an economic climate that is not particularly advantageous to folks like us. Lyrics from a Patty Griffin song come to mind and give comfort to some degree, “There’s nothing like poverty to get you into Heaven…” I’m comfortable enough in my masculinity to say that is what I was singing at the top of my lungs while stuck in traffic the other day. So in the very short four day breaks I get between 10 stints up in Osceola, I’ve been in the studio almost every minute getting new work made for the NCECA Conference coming up in Tampa. No rest for the weary. I’m sure Patty Griffin has a brilliant song about that too somewhere. Cheyenne is of course making incredible work in studio. She always does. She’s been super busy getting new work made for NCECA as well. She is the curator of the Queens of Confection Exhibition at The Singing Stone Gallery in Ybor City (more info to come on that). We both be will be in The Art of Function Exhibition at the Craftsman House Gallery. Both will be great shows. I’ll also be featured in the Artist in Residence Exhibition at the St. Pete Clay Co.

So yes we are very busy both in studio and in life. We are pushing on through this adverse economy. I’m very happy to be working right now because I know many folks who are not. I’m happy to have a wonderful life with a wonderful and supportive wife. It does at times feel like we take one step forward, two steps back…but we want to make art for a living…what did we expect?

Thanks Y'all!

2010-12-14T16:51:00.004-05:00

Just wanted to say thanks again to everyone that come out for our sale. We really appreciate y'all. It was an exhausting weekend to be sure, but well worth the effort. Luckily for us the weather cooperated too...well for the most part.
If anyone didn't get a chance to come out to the sale, Cheyenne just posted a ton of new work on our Etsy page: http://www.etsy.com/shop/rudolphclaystudios
So check it out if'n your interested in gettin a little somethin somethin...

Rudolph Clay Studios Holiday Pottery Sale

2010-12-09T22:31:00.009-05:00

We're fixin to have our annual holiday sale beginning tomorrow evenin'. All folks is welcome to swing on by our place this here weekend. We'll have all our handmade goods available...from mugs to jugs, from pickle-pals to teapots and jewelry items...and everythin' in between. oh and Cheyenne says we'll have fancy cheese too!

Friday, Dec. 10th. Reception from 5-9pm

Saturday, Dec. 11th. 10 - 8pm

Sunday, Dec. 12th. 12 - 4pm.

3rd Annual Rudolph Clay Studios Holiday Pottery Sale

2010-11-01T22:06:00.014-04:00

It has been quite a spell since our last post. We have been mighty busy with life-life and with studio-life. But things are going well in our world I suppose. One day at a time, I reckon.

So it's that time of year again...the 3rd annual RCS Holiday Sale is coming up soon, December 10th - 12th. Just got our new postcards in and they look great! More details to come...

what i did on my summer vacation...

2010-07-31T18:02:00.015-04:00

nigel and i just got back from our arrowmont/asheville/stone mountain getaway. i actually had much more of a getaway than him; i was in tn for about 3 weeks before he flew in and rescued me from the 10-hour drive home (thanks sweetie).

first, i went to paris (home of the world's biggest fish fry) to drop off my niece (who had her own florida getaway with the rudolphs) and visit with mema.

from there i drove to murfreesboro to visit my pa, granddaddy and other middle tn family (granddaddy turns 80 tomorrow! happy bday!)

i spent the next 2 weeks at the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts assisting tara wilson in a woodfire class.

what i brought to the class is evidenced above: both my lumberjane skillz and jiffy-pop wizardry. we also voyaged to gatlinburg's own world-renowned salt and pepper shaker museum! too many images to post, but definitely worth the $2.

after gatlinburg, we stayed in our friend blue's cabin in the burnsville area, which was really more like a super-nice house made out of wood. great porch and studio, and we spent a few days there, hiking down to the swimmin' hole, touring around the craft scene and penland area. my pen pal julie was along for the ride thanks to a greyhound ticket. came home with a new michael kline mug and some awesome trades from the class.

it's good to be back and in the studio. we are about to get into gear for the fall season of pottery making.

keep the chat to a minimum please

2010-07-05T20:41:00.006-04:00

So I'm not even sure how long it's been since we posted last. easy enough to find out, i figure...
I'm keeping the chat to a minimum this time. I've made the realization that neither of us are particularly good at the blog business. On top of not sure if anyone gives a hoot, we really don't have a lot to say. We are hanging tight down here in FLA. Life has been trying, to say the least...but we are hangin tight, i reckon anyway. Dealing with this "economic downturn" or whatever ya want to call it, has taken up so much our daylight these past couple of months. The politics of the topic are heated so perhaps we'll keep that conversation for another time. Much can be said about idle hands being the devil's tools and all. So as to not compound our strife...these hands have not often been idle. We have kept busy in the studio. Been getting into shows and selling more pots. But it's been a long summer.

here are some images from out and about....

The lastest from RCS / New work up on Etsy

2010-04-29T15:34:00.011-04:00

So t's been a spell from our last posting. Guess it was still related to NCECA! oh that was soooo last month!! Can't say that much has changed since then though. We rearranged the studio! Did some consolidating...tried to open it up some. Built some shelves, totally redid my work area. I'm going to start making pots this afternoon!
it's still a bit in disarray from shooting images for the RCS Etsy page. oh and by the way...
new pots are up on Etsy and more to come check them out...

http://www.rudolphclaystudios.etsy.com/

I was reading through some old posts from Michael Kline's "Sawdust & Dirt" blog today. He has this featured posting he calls "cupboard confidential" which I always find quite interesting. We love going to clay artist's and collector's houses and seeing who they have in their cabinets and cupboards. Our pots are made to be used and we love seeing folks actually using them rather than setting them up on a shelf to collect dust. Love seeing stuffed cupboards with cups on cups and stacks of plates from a plethora of different artists. Of course one of the negatives from using handmade work...is it sometimes breaks. We hand wash our dishes mostly because we enjoy the feel of the work in our hands. Beyond the handle and the rim of a cup, the best way to get to know a piece is to wash it! But pottery and a hard enamel sink don't always mix well. But that is all part of the game. Doesn't the old saying go something like..."it's better to have used and lost, than to have never used..." or something like that.
Anyways...our version of...

Cupboard Confidential

now that i see these pics...i probably should have done some arranging first. oh well.

The "Off The Wheel" Exhibition Opening at NCECA

2010-04-04T22:21:00.006-04:00

We are back from NCECA 2010 in Philly. I was a great NCECA in my opinion! One of the best I have been to in the past decade anyway. I wanted to post a couple of pics from Cheyenne's opening. I'll post more pics and conference highlights here this week. I'm firing the soda kiln Wednesday, so I'll have time to do some bloggin.
till then...presenting....

Off The Wheel

Showcase of Slab-built Pots for the Table and Home

NCECA, Philadelphia

NCECA Exhibition

2010-03-15T17:34:00.000-04:00

Presenting Cheyenne's NCECA Exhibition card!!! Yay!
I'm super proud of her for putting together such a great show. Cheyenne is also a featured artist in the exhibition along side some of the contemporary pottery world's best artists. It's going to be a wonderful show and I hope lots of folks come out and see!

nceca exhibition- a stab at curating

2010-02-02T19:43:00.000-05:00

When in undergrad, my work-study exchange placed me in the university gallery, counting visitors, answering phones and making sure no one stole and/or touched the art…for the most part. But in between exhibitions, I learned about how to properly handle and install artwork, how to light it, how to arrange pedestals, what type of glue to use on a torn painting, how to archivally mat a delicate Japanese print, and on and on. And one summer during this work-study, my boss let me “curate” the summer exhibition from the permanent collection. It was all two-dimensional, and I had the greatest time rifling through the hundreds of paintings and drawings and prints big and small. I cannot say I accurately recall just what I chose or how the exhibition turned out, but I do remember the excitement.
Well, last year I ventured (back) into the realm of curating. I proposed a ceramic exhibition of (what else?) slab-built pots. The exhibition was juried and accepted by NCECA as a Concurrent, Independent Exhibition for the 2010 conference in Philadelphia. It is my first experience working with a gallery from the outside, and from the director’s chair. I must say, so far, I am somewhat proud. And I am excited to be attending the conference and the opening reception of this, my first, curated exhibition,
Off the Wheel: A Showcase of Slab-Built Pots for the Table and Home.
Chestnut Hill Academy
500 West Willow Grove Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19118
March 31-April 30, 2010
opening reception: April 1, 2010 from 6pm-9pm.
It is also on the NCECA Northern Outer Rim bus tour on Wednesday, March 31, from 9am-5pm. Hope to see you all there!

Slab-built pots can say many things.

“I am soft, pillowy, light, full, fragile, rigid, strong. “

They can be smoothed, stretched, textured, folded, molded.
Because slab pots start flat, the process of building vessels is closely akin to sewing or woodworking, depending on the stiffness of the clay. The maker may expressly reveal the process by flaunting seams and darts, or he/she may choose to cover all evidence of the method used.

This exhibition is intended to showcase the variety of approaches to slab building. The artists chosen represent a wide range of work and work types, from tight and rendered to loose and fluid. Their pots are built with slabs of different consistencies- malleable to stiff- and they are made using patterns, molds, or a more free-form approach.

Chosen for this exhibition are Benjamin Carter, Sam Chung, Marc Digeros, Allison McGowan, Chris Pickett, Sandi Pierantozzi, Cheyenne Chapman Rudolph, Amy Scher, and Liz Zlot Summerfield. These particular slab-builders each have a distinct approach to building pots, pushing the material to express the unique language of each artist.

I'll be in the Gem

2010-01-21T17:04:00.000-05:00

It has been so long since I have blogged anything. But I've been struggling with what to write. I'm no blogger, but I do feel I have some interesting things to share from time to time. So forgive me....
That being said...

We are getting back to work after a long holiday from the studio. Cheyenne is remarkable...She can just sit down and start making the most wonderful things. My hands take forever to catch back up after a longer stint away from making. My potters-block seems to have ended today and I was actually able to make something other than a cup. Even that was a struggle...but I'm firing at the end of next month so I hope I don't hit a wall again. Metaphorically speaking of course! My days of hitting walls are long gone after the last busted finger.

So today we took a break from the studio and went down to the little "artists community" we have here in Bradenton. The Village of the Arts. It's this neighborhood of mostly 1920's - 1930's houses painted in crazy loud pastel colors, because I guess that's how artist's houses look. Cheyenne and I have been wrestling with the idea of getting involved in some capacity with The Village of the Arts, so we went down to check out a couple of the galleries and get a better idea of the quality of the work. Now, there is no jury process to getting in the Village; you just have to buy a house, paint it funky, and you're in. That's fine with me. When you look at other artist's communities throughout the country it's the same thing. Maybe without the funky paint jobs.... The clay work that we saw today really was not that strong. Granted, we didn't go to all the galleries (I don't want to shoot myself in the foot here). We really don't want to sound like pottery snobs. I think we make competent work, could be a lot better of course, but it's well crafted and conceptually grounded.

My question is one of the glass being half full or half empty kind of deal, in a way. Do we put work in the galleries in hopes that having some more competent work might bring in other competent work? Or do we look at the situation from the other end and be concerned about our prices being high and work not selling, or us being pushed to lower our prices to even have a stab at it? Or do we put our work in for the exposure in hopes of building name recognition within the community and not be concerned with sales? Those are the questions!!! and we would certainly love to get feedback on that.

On another note...

Have folks seen the HBO series from a couple of years ago, Deadwood? Well it's this show about this illegal gold mining camp up in the Black Hills of South Dakota in the late 1800's. It's a great series and for the most part historically accurate. So this all relates to clay a couple of ways. Aside from the handmade pottery everywhere throughout the show, there is this particular vessel that repeatedly catches my eye. At the back of the bar in the Gem Theater, the brothel/saloon owned by Al Swearengen, there is this wooden keg. Looks to hold about 5 gallons, sits on this little wooden stand, has this wooden spigot. Well I think it's great! I want to make it out of clay. But but but but....making that out of clay would essentially put me in the realm of making sculpture, would it not? Those forms, the items related to food and beverage from working class folks from back then are such an inspiration to me. So I'm going to make that wooden keg out of clay and it's going to be bad ass!

See you can find inspiration everywhere...even at the back of a bar, in a brothel, in Deadwood.

Thanks to everyone for a successful RCS Holiday Sale

2009-12-08T12:22:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to formally thank everyone who came out to support us at our Holiday Sale this past weekend. We did great and appreciate everyone who stopped by. It was a pleasure getting to see and chat with folks. If anyone didn't get a chance to stop by and you are still interested in purchasing some work, Cheyenne just posted a ton of new work on the Rudolph Clay Studios Etsy page. check it out...and thanks again.

www.rudolphclaystudios.etsy.com

A wet and cool weekend for a sale

2009-12-05T08:41:00.000-05:00

Good Morning! Well the first night of the sale went pretty well despite the crummy weather. We thank all those folks that came out. The weather is supposed to clear up here later this morning so if you didn't get a chance to come by last night, swing on by today! Come have a look at the work in our nice little living room gallery, take a tour of the studio, have a cup of joe and a cinnamon roll!

I guess that means I should get out of bed then...

Rudolph Clay Studios

Holiday Pottery Sale
Saturday, Dec. 5th 10am - 8pm

2321 14th Ave. W

Bradenton, Fl. 34205

941-773-9540

Rudolph Clay Studio Holiday Pottery Sale!!

2009-11-12T19:18:00.000-05:00

Howdy Folks...

just wanted to post our new postcard for our upcoming holiday sale. I'll post another blog with more detailed info later on, but if anyone is in the neighborhood December 4th - 5th, swing on by. Do hope everyone is well...

take care...

I mean really! The haps at RCS

2009-11-02T04:27:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure if I remember if it was this warm last Halloween...but it was sure warm enough this one. What's the deal?
We are busy getting ready for our Christmas Sale (Dec. 4th - 5th) and would surely appreciate a little cooler weather to get us in the festive spirit. I'm mean really! The mosquito's tend to make studio time less than pleasant so it would be nice to have a cool breeze to blow all our troubles away.
But yes, like I said, we are hard at work, between coating our legs with Deet, we are hard at work in the studio making stuff for our upcoming home sale. We are trying to learn from last years sale what to make more of and less of and what to not bother to make at all. I think we are doing well. I, being currently without employment again, have had much more time to get clay covered than Cheyenne. Think she is feeling the time crunch even though we still have a solid month or more to get stuff finished. She'll get it all wrapped up and with stunning work as usual. FYI, Cheyenne apparently has an image in this months, well last months maybe, issue of Clay Times. We haven't seen it yet...but folks say it's the truth. It's an article and images from this years Strictly Functional Exhibition. She's good! She gets in that show every year. I on the other hand have given them my 30 clams every year for almost 10 years in a row and never gotten in. But I'm not bitter or anything.
Ah, a cool Florida day would be so nice. It gets me motivated to do stuff. As vague as that sounds, it's true. Stuff. So much stuff to do. If this lovely old 1925 Florida Cracker house we bought could learn to fix itself it would make my life so much easier. I mean really!
Don't get me wrong...it's my pleasure to do landscaping and "stuff" like that. I'm a lousy carpenter, but I do enjoy it...but it's the little things you know that drive me nuts. The little things like having to redo our main plumbing line. As fun as cutting decades old cast-iron sewer pipe and digging trenches and hoping that my being a cheap ass and doing the work myself doesn't backfire on me sounds...I think I would rather be making pots or working in the garden. Cheyenne has a great fall garden going. The girl is good folks...I tell you what.
But yes, a cool Florida breeze would be nice. I think the wind sounds different in the fall. A crisper, deeper sound to it. I swear it does. I'm hoping that it's cooled down some by the time I fire again at the end of November. Nothing beats firing the Soda kiln and not sweating to death every time I have to check the oven.
In January we are having a show at St. Pete Clay. looking forward to that of course. It should be cooler by then. We are hoping to mix up our work there some. Maybe figure out how to do some collaborative work. Which is sort of hard because we work so different. Less hard maybe...more challenging. Anyway, I'll post more info on that show when it gets a little closer.
Well it just turned 5am and I've officially been awake all night!!! What a great feeling insomnia is, I mean really!

books this saturday

2009-10-15T10:06:00.001-04:00

i don't have a new image, but it's the same deal. i am teaching a bookbinding class this weekend at the Palmetto Art Center. the class will explore coptic binding and everyone will go home with a handmade book. it's super-easy and fun, plus the setting is pretty casual- participants can bring food, wine, music, friends, etc. i've got a few students lined up, but if anyone else is interested, there's still time. it's a two hour ordeal, saturday night (oct. 17), 6-8, everything provided.

books are great gifts!

four hands, his and hers, and a bit of a dog poo situation

2009-09-21T20:50:00.000-04:00

Nigel and I are back from a couple of fun-filled weekends setting up exhibitions. Yesterday we drove from Sevierville, TN to Bradenton, FL, starting at 5 am. There was a bit of a dog poo situation to start out with, which Nigel discovered in the kitchen on his way to turn the coffee on. I thought it was funny, but he's been reminding me of my own dog poo story for some time, so it seems we're even (and those jeans were dirty to begin with anyway).

Here are some images of the exhibition, Fo[u]r Hands, at Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City. We set that show up September 10th.

We were pretty pleased with the results of both the workshop and the reception.

It was interesting to actually see the work go from the studio to the gallery and have to set it up in that environment. I had a harder time than Nigel, maybe because my work is more subtle in surface and pretty pale, or maybe I just have a touch of ocd. It felt like I was seeing the work with new eyes, which can be scary. I felt it lacked the draw that Nigel's work had from across the room, seeming to say, "Look at me! Come on, git on over here!" I felt like my work was saying something more akin to a sigh, a barely noticeable sound, but there to be discovered.

In the end, it all looked great, and we're both really proud, but on the drive home from setting up the second show in TN (titled His and Hers), I started thinking about making a change. I've been toying with testing some terra sigs at cone 6, but on the drive I was dreaming of RED earthenware, slick waxy bare red clay and bright funky colors, something that would scream from across the room. Well, maybe not scream, that's not really me, but something to draw the viewer over to inspect the wonderful subtleties that I adore. I could have been delirious, but I just might test a few pieces in terra cotta just to be sure.

If anyone is in the area of panama city, fl or morristown, tn, go check out our duo exhibitions! We worked hard, and hopefully it will pay off with a lot of exposure and some sales.

Our first dual workshop together....ahhhhh!!!

2009-09-09T22:08:00.000-04:00

So we are heading out in the morning for Panama City to do our first dual workshop together.... also an exhibition. This is going to be at Gulf Coast Community College. I've been pretty nervous about the whole speaking in front of folks issue. When I was at Arrowmont and we had to give our slide talk every week I got pretty good at it. But now that I haven't had the opportunity in so long, I'm getting a tad nervous. I'll be fine I know, but I'm happy that it is to a group of undergrads. We both just finished our Power Point presentations. Mine, of course, is all nerdy and historical. Cheyenne's is fun and playful, like her pots! My pots are a little nerdy and historical I guess. I'm not sure if I could pull off a 'Pickle Pal'!

So then this next weekend we are driving up East Tennessee to set up another exhibition at Walter State Community College. We are sooo looking forward to that. It's supposed to be cool in TN and it's not here. That will just be an exhibition with no workshop or anything. Which is good and bad I reckon. I could use the practice on my public speaking...but at the same time it's something that I'm happy to pass on!! So anyways...below are some shots of some new work I've been working on. They are shots from in the studio...nothing fancy.

So thats it...wish us luck. Hope everyone is well!!!

take care...
nigel.

Make yer own sketchbook!

2009-08-07T08:46:00.000-04:00

Howdy all...

Nigel and I are hard at work getting a couple of shows ready. I start school in a few weeks, so I want to get the majority of my work finished before then.

This weekend, however, I am teaching a fun and exciting bookmaking class at St. Pete Clay Company in St. Petersburg, Florida. It's a 2 1/2 hour mini-workshop where I will cover two (count them- two) different binding techniques, which means all participants can potentially go home with, yes, two different books! The class is Saturday, August 8, from 10 am-1230 pm. You can come a few minutes early and register at the door. It should be loads of fun, plus you can tour the clay company at no extra cost.

Hope to see some budding bookmakers there!

Oro Y Plata

2009-07-26T08:34:00.000-04:00

"Oro y Plata", "Gold and Silver" is the state motto for Montana. I just learned that....

So we have been back from Montana for about 2 weeks now so this blog is a little belated, but we hit the ground running the day after we got back and I've just now had time to sit and get some thoughts out. Well that's a lie...I actually wrote the majority of the blog that will follow on the return flight but I wasn't able to finish because I couldn't write with my head in Cheyenne's shoulder as I kept asking her over and over again if we were going to die. The flight from Salt Lake City to Tampa was really really rough and yes, I thought we were going to die. But we didn't and now we have a dog.

Originally written July 8th, 2009.
forgive me for the lengthy post...

Our working vacay is coming to an end. We are flying east from SLC right now over agricultural fields and pasture land. It all looks like a giant quilt to me. The round green circles from the center pivot irrigation systems are so cool. So I was looking at the same landscape about two and a half weeks ago on our way to help Tara Wilson begin building her kiln.

We got into Helena late on a Saturday night. It was cold and raining that night when Tara picked us up. We headed west, I think, out of town towards Holmes Gultch Rd. and a much needed beer or several if I recall.
Sunday morning we made our first of many trips to the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts, for tons - literally - tons of brick and mortar and other such heavy things. What we had to contend with was multiple trucks all too small to handle an entire 3,000 pound plus pallet of hard brick. So we unloaded the bricks by hand, spreading the tonnage between trucks and trailers. We did, however, get to see some good friends we hadn't seen in some time; Gwendolyn Yoppolo and Kevin Snipes. Both are currently artist in residence at The Bray. And, to our surprise, 2 friends from Ole Miss, Sarah and Lee, where there for a workshop. They are great folks and it was good to see them if only briefly. I say briefly because we were on a mission schleppin' bricks. So with one pallet loaded between 3 trucks we headed back to Tara's to re-stack and reassemble the nice neat pallets of heavy-ass hard brick.
Return to The Bray and repeat..

Concrete blocks were laid out and squared up and the first layer of hard brick put down. Another task which seemed a little more challenging than anticipated. I had thought the bricks might all be the same dimensions but unfortunately we were not that lucky. This lack of continuity of the bricks would be our burden from there on out. I will spare the details of each brick course, but for the next several days we worked long days breaking for a late lunch and finished up for a late dinner. It didn't get dark in Helena till like 10pm. We drank beers and cooked up some good meals in the evening. We met a bunch of Tara's friends who came to help stack and polish off cases of PBR and Busch. It was great. Up early in the morning to start it all again...
I'll let the pictures tell the story for the most part....

It gets hot in Montana in the summer time! But yes it's a dry heat. As a Florida boy, it was refreshing to be able to leave the heat of the sun and move into the shade and actually have it be cooler. So after about a week of long days of working we took to heading out on field trips to some swimmin holes in and around Helena. Some Beautiful locations. The water was cold but very refreshing after schlepping bricks all day. We brought us out some picnic dinners, some brewskie's and had us fine old time chatting and being amazed by the mountains.

So the kiln progressed upwards and took to looking more like a recognizable form. we had us a kiln!! But we needed yet another 2 full pallets of straight hard brick along with arch brick about a dozen 50lb. bags of castable because we were fittin' to cast the throat arch.

So into our story comes what might be the coolest old truck I've ever been around. It was huge with a bad clutch and tired breaks, which was perfect for toting 8,000 lbs of brick up a mountain. Tara drove the truck like a pro with Cheyenne riding shotgun. They clunked and banged along and despite Tara stomping the breaks to the floor, Chris Pickett and I watched, while following in Tara's truck, as they rolled through not 1, not 2, but 5 red lights, the last of which we couldn't even follow it was so red. Once we got to the studio and without the fork-lift that was so handy, we unloaded and re-stacked brick by brick by brick. Oh how them beers were nice that night!

so we kept up our labors of laying and relaying and cutting bricks. Pouring the throat arch and building arch forms, and cutting laying more bricks. And the next thing you know we had the majority of the kiln built, minus the stack and welded frame. The arches were up and looking great.

Perhaps it was time for a break...
So to spare you all what could be a very lengthy post...I shall paraphrase our trip from this point on out...
So on the 3rd of July the 4 of us headed towards Yellowstone via my family in Idaho. We spent that night at my cousin Jona's place in Blackfoot, Idaho. It was great to see family. That next morning, after hooking up with my Aunt Grace and other cousins, we headed to the family cabin in West Yellowstone. We spent the 4th canoeing and having beers and spending quality time with friends and family.

The following day we headed into Yellowstone National Park. I could go on and on and on about Yellowstone. It was truly beautiful and I'm so happy I was able to see the Park with my lovely wife and good friends. I'm sure the pictures will tell the story better than ever could.

We returned to Helena briefly before setting out on our next adventure. Just outside of Helena is this remarkable place called the "The Gates of the Mountain." It's got a little marina with a tourist boat ride, which of course we partook. So apparently this "Gates of the Mountain" place is what Lewis and Clark encountered on the Missouri River and considered it the gateway to the Rocky Mountains. I'm not going to lie, it might have been one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Again, my photos will not do it justice...but what can one do. We took the tourist boat and listened to a truly fascinating account of the history of the canyon; the Native American past and more recent history. Anyway, I'll cut to the chase...we had a friend who worked for the Forest Service and we got to stay in his little cabin way up in the Mountains where the tourist boat does its little stop for photos at this dock on the Missouri River. It was an amazing and hopefully not a once-in-a-life-time event. We stayed up late drinking boxed wine and playing banjo. We were the only people on the mountain...It was great. Oh and I tried to swim across the River. Didn't make it. It was to cold...it was way to cold. I gave it my best try.

So this is the part of the trip where I shall conclude my oh so lengthy blog post. I'm not kidding when I say this, this "Gates of the Mountain" place, blew my mind. I'm just a Florida boy, you know. I've never really been out of the South. Which is where I hope to live for the rest of my life, but this place changed me. It was amazing. Whatever the geological events that formed this canyon, whatever the circumstances of my life or whatever force that led Cheyenne and I to this spot on these days with these folks I'll never truly understand...
and that's okay with me.

So this is where I'll leave y'all. Again, please forgive me for being so lengthy. I could have written on and on. We left for home the day after our return from "The Gates of the Mountain." I wrote the mass of this post on the plane.
I have to take the dog out now.
night.