When I did my demonstration in Pittsburgh, I decided it would be nice to show both teeth and horns. I did a quick sketch to see what it would look like. (There’s a bit of a ToDo list in the corner.)
Here’s what the finished demonstration beast looked like. I ended up only having time to finish one of the beasts, and that was even after having taken several shortcuts.
After I got back home, I decided I really liked idea of the two horned beasts. The interaction of the two beasts was a really interesting problem. The horns made it difficult for them to fit together, but I really liked their potential. I decided to start another pair of them back in Seattle.
At this point, the legs are attached, and I’ve pretty much gotten their shapes down. I really like them!
They have a cute little tails. This really shows the lean of the one on the right.
Here, they’re pretty much done at this point. I just need to finish up the horns and the teeth. The funny thing is that while I originally sketched them out with lots of teeth, I just didn’t think the teeth worked right this time. In the end, I gave one tooth to each.
It’s pretty funny to see how these guys developed from that first sketch. I’m very happy with them. I can’t wait to see how they come out of our October firing.
In this last week, I decided to shuffle all of my work between my galleries. I just took most of the stuff from gallery A and gave it to gallery B and so forth. This just keep everything fresh for everyone. Part of the fun of this (besides trekking all over Seattle with a suitcase full of critters), is that most of the work I have for sale in my studio has been refreshed too! The new list of pieces for sale is up on flicker. Stop, browse, and have yourself some fun!
When I work on my regular sized beasts, I tend to make them in batches. I’ll start with about 3 to 6 balls of clay, and work on them in parallel over the course of a few weeks. Often each step in the process of making a beast will only take an hour to half hour, but I’ll need to let the parts rest and dry for a day between each step. This makes sure that seems don’t reopen or wet legs don’t get attached to dryer bodies. I’ll often spend a morning or a day doing nothing but making legs or sanding backs.
I find it very amusing to watch the clues as to the progression of time: What I’m wearing, what color bandana I have, if I have a soda, and how messy my work area has gotten.
So the Pittsburgh show went very well. I’ve sorted through my photos of the trip, and now have the best of them up on flickr.
The gallery was great, and it was really fun to meet Jamie and Kat, who organized everything. I was also extremely honored to have my work featured on the postcards, as well as an advertisement in The City Paper, a local weekly. Below is a picture of the Society for Contemporary Craft. It’s located in the strip district, an old warehouse district of Pittsburgh. Now days, the area is mainly know for having the best ethnic groceries and food wholesalers for anything you could think of, all crammed into one 10 block stretch. Well, known for that, and for an awesome gallery or two. I highly recommend checking out the whole area if you’re ever in the ‘burgh.
The opening went quite well! It was a great time all around, and very well attended. It was also great to be able to see the work of Joshua Longo and Toby Fraley in person. I got to meet Toby, who’s a pretty cool guy, but Joshua was off touring with a band or something, and couldn’t make it. All in all, totally an awesome time, and thanks to everyone who showed up. The show will be up for a bit, or until they sell all the work. However, judging by the rate the pieces have been selling, that might not be that long.
The Society for Contemporary Craft also had me give a demonstration on creature making, the next day. It was a new experience for me, being the first time I’d ever done anything of the type. The strangest thing for me was trying to cram work that I would normally do over the course of a week or two into three hours, talking the whole time. It meant I had to work with the piece much softer than normal and I had to fight with it some, but it worked out in the end.
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I’m back from my Pittsburgh trip, which went very well! I’m sorting through the photos from my show there, and will put together a post on it later this week. However, I wanted to get this info out in the mean time.
Friday is the first of August, which means our studio will be open for the Fremont First Friday Art Walk. From 6 to 9pm, feel free to stop by, drink some wine, eat some snacks, and peruse the art work. If I have time, I might even make a cake for people to eat. I’ll have a few pieces from my most recent batch of work there, along with work by everyone else in the studio.
We are at 218 Florentia St, Seattle WA – just on the south side of the Fremont bridge. Come take a look if you’re in the area!
