City Dude

I love to paint on pottery:)

Artist Statement

The artwork I create has alot to do with the stress and anxieties of life. The imagery I choose is a combination of the
beautiful and terrible. The drawings and paintings I create are a form of meditation on these things in which I interlock
people, civilization, and danger.
People are often represented protecting civilization from attacking monsters of various types. The monsters are symbolic of
real life juggernauts that tear down peaceful society. Demons such as poverty and war surround and infiltrate the thin line
of society that we desperately try to protect.
My art does not provide solutions for how we can stop the madness that is an everday reality. It is only a way for me to
express externally the internal knowledge that I have recieved through 40 plus years of living on earth. I find that many
identify with my drawings with a sense of awe. I don't believe the awe comes from the fact that they are wonderfully done
but instead because the imagery strikes an inner cord of consciousness that we all share. We all are faced with daily
events across the world that show tragedy indiscriminately regardless of wealth or power. Seeing such dark things on a daily basis has become commonplace with the rise of instant technology.
I place people in the middle of tragedy often, but I try to add an aura of innocence and or peace on the expressions of the
characters I create. I do this because I see this in myself and others in times of stress. At times peace and each other is
all we have in hardships. My mother passed on from melanoma. Money and technology did little for her as the cancer ate her
from the inside out. Family and time spent together in her last months were all we had. During her last days I saw peace in
her face.
Similar tragedy has fallen on my family with the near passing of my father. His second major heart attack almost took him
from us causing a whirlwind of stress and anxiety among family and friends. In this case technology seems to have purchased
more time for him through open heart surgery. The fear still remains though that he might at anytime be taken from us.
The reality is, that at any point in time from a myriad of reasons, any one of us, a great many of us, or all of us can be
snatched from this world. In fact, we all at some point in the near future will be taken. My art is mirror to the reality
of our condition. I believe within the realities I mirror in my art there are rays of hope for the viewers to find comfort
in. The rays of hope being the kindness and peace found on the faces and actions of others, those who care.

A beautiful day at the greenhouse.

I made some nice pots while Charlie watched over my shoulder.

Back in the greenhouse for making art!

Yes! Back in the studio again, so nice.

Much of my current work involves getting the imagery that fills so many of my sketchbooks onto pottery and clay. I have been crafting imagery that illustrates our responsibility to keep civilization safe from the dangers that would tear it apart. The dangers are symbolized through monsters while civilization is portrayed with people, buildings, and nature.

More vases

Back to business. We need to make lots of vases ASAP for the ladies at Brighton Gardens. Flowers are already ordered and are coming next week. I'll bisque fire these pieces over the weekend and speed glaze them on Monday for an overnight firing:)

Finger Puppets

We are ending the semester with a little fun. I figured if the students get nervous presenting their final portfolios to the class that they could use hand-made finger puppets to do the talking for them.

Scuptural vase

Here are 2 views of a thrown and altered stoneware vase form.

Creative coil vase

I had a little playful fun stacking and interlocking coils on this vase. The form suggests a human torso and the glazes are layered with some areas sponged to highlight crevasses.

Christmas Kiln opening

Of the half dozen pieces in this wabi-sabi series I like this one the best. After its 3rd firing this bud vase is complete:)

Watercolor into the mache

For this winter reveler slippping on the ice I am using watercolors to add color.

Paper Mache

This is a paper mache Jesus on the cross. It's at the moment when he cries out to his father "why have you forsaken me?".

Time to get back at it!!

Well....it's been a summer and fall since my last post. I have made many pieces since, have boxes and boxes of bisqueware. I also have been working on pitfired pots with watercolors to incorporate imagery into the smoke marked surface. I am liking the results. Since I'm am teaching basic 3-D art classes, I have been working in other materials to make examples. Cardboard relief, paper sculpture, paper mache, firebrick-apple-and soap carving!!!!

I have found my lost love of mache again and am finding that it is lending itself to the characters in my drawings. I might continue to spend more time with this media to see where it takes me.

However, with the change of semester coming up I will be teaching more clay classes again and be able to streamline my clay focus. It's time for perfecting glazes to put on the small army of bisqueware that awaits.

Raku

Ah, spring brings the smell of pots smoking in the reduction cans.

I love raku, spring and raku firings go hand in hand. I don't know what I like more, spring or fall raku. Here is my favorite piece from today afterschool. It is now in a special spot in the family room.

Cryolite chattered bowls

Bowls bisque fired to cone 05. Now it's time to cover with a transparent glaze and fired to cone 5 to see some magic.

Lady

I like to go back into previous watercolor sketches and refine them with pen and ink. In doing this today, I thumbed through sketches and found profiles of women rare in the body of work I've created. So, I chose this one to refine and now will try to purposefully create more feminine profiles in my future drawings. Doing this will balance out gender in larger works with multiple people.

Chattered with Cryolite

These bowls are the latest experiment with cryolite on forms. I sprinkled dry cryolite onto the initial thrown form then chattered back in to create interesting patterns.

The second wave

More smiles happened today as we delivered the second waves of flowers and hand-thrown vases.

Brightening their day

wow....this picture says it all!

Flowers for the Elderly

Here are simple cone 5 vases colored with Dekalb slip and clear glaze. The are fresh out of the kiln and ready to have roses arranged and placed in the them.

Students are going with me today to deliver the first round of these to the elderly diagnosed with Alzheimer's in care at Brighton Gardens.