Dippers, Scoops and Ladles--Spoons Part VII

We all know what a scoop looks like.

Generic, plastic, universal.

But a Clay scoop has soul.  Note:  The third of this grouping may have been made from a gourd or carved from wood, but it doesn't matter. The form and decoration is why it was included.

The difference between a dipper and a ladle or a scoop is hardly discernible and the shape is almost identical. Perhaps, a ladle has a bit more tilt to the bowl.

Doesn't the one on the great striped fabric look like you could just pick it up and use it right away?

This nest of dippers or scoops could even be soup bowls, depending on their size.

And the same goes for this group. They could be from measuring spoon size to cups. (My measuring spoons are in a drawer; my measuring cups are in canisters where they function as scoops. Saves hunting them down.)

The thongs through the handle holes is a good idea. There would all look great hanging up on a bar in the kitchen.  

The holes could make firing a lot easier--string the dippers along a thermal wire on a jewelry firing tree: 

Just use the top bars or string your own wire between two horizontal stacks of kiln posts to whatever height needed.

Or, if the dipper is larger, fire it on a stilt.

These scoops look great hanging up. The same could be made of clay using a slab roller.

Here's some dippers of my own. The bamboo handled one is meant to be used, but the ones with the African porcupine spines would be a bit more tricky to use.

I would recommend it's use as decorative only.......

Spoons - Form and Decoration, Part V

It could be argued that all spoons made by hand fall into the category as an art form, as these beautifully graceful salad spoons demonstrate.

These natural clay spoons, when assembled into a display, become an exercise in pattern and form. Yet you could pluck any one out of the arrangement and use it.
No problem firing these!




I'm not sure what the material is used here, but this decoration is a great inspiration that transforms these spoons or dippers into art. Equally functional and artful.




This grouping with similar roundness of spoon bowls, yet varying sizes, similarity in handles, yet variations also in length and thickness still function as a grouping.

And these seem so organic, they could have been picked up on the seashore.  Great interpretation and glaze.

Different handle length and uniformity in similar bowl size create a grouping, yet they all become very individual because of the free expression in decoration.

I like the onion-like lines on the spoon to the far right.  Look at the negative space created by the length of white left on each handle.

With the two strong forms of the linear handle and the roundness of the bowl, there are two opportunities for endless decorations.


A slight segway here--

I have a 'thing' for shells. So, of course, I love these two examples of silver spoons with a shell motif.

Donations to Charity

Raku Torso



The question of donations comes up often.

Charitable organizations ask artists to give them a piece of their work to be sold or auctioned off.  There's nothing wrong with that,  but---

I have contributed pieces of my work, but I'm always a bit irked by the assumption that artists are expected to do this.


Maybe it's the assumption that artists are easygoing, kindly creatures because they are 'sensitive and creative and full of soul'.  Well, we may be, but we also have to spend money to make money and be business people or we wouldn't be making art for long. We're not flower children and we don't live on air. But start THAT conversation and you will soon see their dust.

A lot of us either work at another job or our spouses work to support us or we have some sort of resources that allows us to make our art. Even Leonardo had to have someone to pay his bills, for pete's sake.

Sure, sure, there were and are some rock stars in art, but for the most part, we aren't rock stars, we're working (emphasis on the working) artists. And for most of us, we'd go crazy if we didn't make things.

I wonder how many of them give their work away?











So, what to do?

What I would really like to say is, "What do you think I am, a charity?"

But you don't; you just---

1. Grit your teeth behind your smile and donate a piece that's not your very best, but one that's okay to give away.

             And we all get short-changed.

2. Say, "No, I never donate work." Or "I only give to certain organizations." Or "I've reached my cost limit on contributions. "  (The last isn't such a bad a response.)

But you can't win.


The other myth that comes right on the heels of the donation request is, "It's okay, you can write it off on your income tax."

Not true.

You can only write the cost of your materials.  Not the value of the piece, not your time. An artist can't evaluate their own work for tax purposes. And only when you sell a piece can you take the cost of materials.


Here's a Better Way:

Request the organizer budget in the cost of the piece and buy it from you. The cost gets included in their budget and probably can be written off as show expense. They become an example of "Supporting the Arts", a much talked-about idea, but a not-enough-done-about action.

You get paid upfront.

The organizer sells raffle tickets or runs a silent auction for the prize. They gain funds against the cost of the event. (To say nothing of gaining additions to their contact and mailing list) Your work is on display and becomes the center of attraction.

The winner/buyer can take the cost off THEIR income tax as a contribution.


Everybody wins.

Garden Sculpture; Water Fountain

Using Architecture as Inspiration

I once took a Lana Wilson workshop on building boxes. She is an expert and I learned a lot.

I searched for an image of one of the boxes on the web and couldn't find any. But I remember it vividly.  At first glance, the finished piece looked like a standing sculpture with applied panels and images. But those of us who watched her build it, we knew that each feature hid a secret compartment.

A flat panel with a face sculpture applied to it slid out to reveal a drawer. Rotating to the back revealed a window, as in this piece, but the window was really the backside of another drawer located on the front behind another panel.

I also recall a jewel box that had what looked like a raised column on the lid, but if you  pulled it up, you found that the column was really a long compartment that fitted into the lid. 

I've had a photo like this one in my files for years---because I want to build a complex box sculpture based on Tibetan monasteries.

I want to make little secret compartments and hidden drawers, lids that don't look like lids that open, pull-up pieces that conceal hidden chambers, sliding panels and surprises.

It's fun to just sit and diagram or plot out designs.

How many hidden rooms and passages do you suppose are in here, if at all?

Interpretation

Featured Tiles:  I like to think of this set of tiles as an example of relationships:

The tile on the left is the opening statement:  "This is what I am; This is the standard."

The tile on the right is a variation or response:  It takes the example of the above and elaborates as if it were saying, "I accept your statement and respond. I am an elaboration of you." Or, "I see your bid and raise you one."

Also working in this design dynamic is the shape and strong black framing of both tiles, bouncing the eye back and forth toward the center. The outer curves work in the same way, leading the eye back and forth between the tile: The left tile has a larger outer margin on the far left; the right tile sweeps toward the far right border, but a similar strong outer border on the right and the strong vertical in the center of the image stops the eye at the far right. 

The tree-like center designs are isolated as images, but relate to each other in motion toward the center, also bouncing the eye back and forth, yet slowing the flow by corresponding dark verticals.

How wide the center division between the two tiles is also important. If hung too widely apart, this dynamic would not work as well.


I don't think these things as I am working. These design elements are almost subconscious and are part of an artist's "eye". They either look right or they don't.


This same back and forth happens a lot in music:  Theme and Variation and so it can be in clay.

So, what do you think is going on here?

These guys are fun to move around to get different impressions.

Intriguing Image

I've had this jpeg knocking around on my desktop for some time now.

Don't know the origin, but I find it an interesting idea. What is conveyed is a message of anxiety. The facial expression; a Madonna-ish moulding of the face reminescent of early Spanish alter pieces. The position of the shoulders and arms, especially the slightly off-kilter of the neck and shoulders showing uncertainty; the hands. The stiffness of the posture, the starkness of the clothing treatment, all these elements instantly telegraph worry, dread, a holding in, restraint, correctness, stress.

I'm reminded of the Renaissance busts of young women and old dolls. And although they don't show the emotion that this image does, the appearance is similar.

I wonder if I could make one like this, but in my own style. Maybe not life size, as I feel this one must be. I would probably make one that would be a little easier to live with......

How would I construct it? The balance would be tricky to say nothing of the process of drying it without cracks. Maybe not so much body, thicker arms (and a less worried expression) would be a workable modification of the idea.

Maybe the trick of attacking it to a clay backing in exaggerated bas relief would work.

Or, as one clay figure sculpture artist I know dose it, make components that are later attached together on a support concealed inside. Like the places where clothing overlaps the figure.

And maybe a watercolor-y surface treatment.

I'm thinking a small experimental try would be the best.

How to put a Wine Glass on a Ray Gun

I made this Ray Gun........

It is porcelain with assembled wheel-thrown components, a hand made grip, fired to cone 6 with a clear glaze.

I added a piece of glass into the end. But somehow, it still just didn't have any punch.....

I thought about adding a cold glaze finish, but decided to wait because somehow, that wasn't the solution either.

So one day, I was cleaning out my wine storage cellar in the basement........

And I saw these disposable wine glasses. The cup halves were all stacked together, one inside the other and the bases were all snapped together. The cup part and the stem base pieces are supposed to join together to make a whole wine glass.

I kept thinking I liked the appearance of all the bases stuck together. They looked like something entirely different than wine glass bottoms.

I had another ray gun out in my studio in three pieces, waiting to be assembled.

This ray gun had been fired in three pieces because I wanted to experiment with adding other components.

I took the wine glass bases out to the studio.

I held the ray gun together in my hand and tried the bases in several configurations.

I liked the way the wine glass bases and the sectioned ray gun looked when it was all assembled.

I glued the whole ray gun together with Goop.

So next,I took the wine glass top pieces out to the studio.

I stuck one on the front of the first ray gun.

It looked great.

But how do you glue a wine glass to a ray gun so it looks 'finished'?.

First, I drew the outline of the cup. Then I squeezed glue onto the outline.

I put the lip of the cup over the glue to make a 'marriage' of the plastic cup and the porcelain flange.

I lined the flange with a continuous line of glue and placed the wine cup over the end of the ray gun.

I held it together.

For a long time.

It Worked!

Don't tell anybody it's a plastic wine glass, okay?

Virtuosity

An artist who paints, makes sculpture, weaves and makes jewelry is confusing to the world of commerce. Even though there are people who do all these things. It almost seems you must have a certain amount of fame before 'permission' to do multi-level work.

Let's face it. Artists are a unique breed. We see things differently. We have a different attitude toward work and our own interpretation of it.

Look at the work of Bennet Bean. Instantly identifiable. Once his work hit the main stream and the gallery world, everybody wants to have one of his sculptured and painted ceramic pieces. Debate raged about how to classify it. Is it sculpture? Is it painting? Is it 'really' pottery? (Who cares?-----me.) It's art. It's beautiful. That's enough for me.

But that's not the end of the story. Did you know he designs Tibetan rugs too? And jewelry? And knives? And he paints? I'm in awe of this man.

Take a look at bennettbean.com.

I have seen some of his knives and they are a thing of absolute and breath-taking beauty.

Stress

I made this little sculpture when I was working. It expressed all that I was feeling at the time.

Not that I didn't love my job; I did. It was just a high-demand, high-pressure with a long commute coupled with home demands. At first, when I was at work, I was totally -at work- and when I was home, I was totally there. But as time went by both sides began to erode into the other.

Thank heavens this isn't my situation now.

The head is segmented with spacers in between to give the appearance of pushing upward. The bands are holding it down.

Originally, the head was encircled with rubber bands, but I decided that wasn't permanent enough and replaced them with wires. I don't think the message is as effective as with the rubber bands.

That's why it's never been shown. The resolution of where the wires go and the base doesn't work well.

I love the idea of the tension, though.

It's a do-over for sure. Next time with something that looks like rubber bands and slots in the base for them to 'fit into' as if anchored down.

I also like the use of the same clay to form a base.

Maybe a base that appears to be metal with bands of metal.......

The Glazed Bead

Here's another version of the decorated bead. Only this time, instead of being bisque, it's glazed.

The glaze softens the appearance of the leaves, but I love the minute crackle that happens.

Torso - Wall Hanging

This wall piece is a raku sculpture with a touch of glaze. It sold through a gallery where had been hanging for several months.

I had decided it was time to bring the torso home when I exchanged some new work for some old work at the gallery.

I hadn't had it more than a week when I got a call from the owner. One of the sales people wanted her to ask me if I still had the torso. I said, " yes" and the owner said, "One of the sales people wants to buy it."

So it is now on her wall. And I'm so pleased she likes it and will have it.

It's funny how you can, in your mind, 'own' something and only feel it's loss when it is not there anymore.

Ravens & Crows

Those smart birds who patrol the lawns, flipping leaves and twigs, making comments about each one. Talk about multi-tasking. They can inspect, walk, rearrange their feathers, and watch everything around them at the same time.

This is a great sculpture/dish shown at the Phoenix NCECA convention early this year. I wish I knew who made it. It was in a student? group? satellite show in one of the hotels, I believe.

Maybe this person has listened to ravens or crows just a bit too long. Or is it a dish for serving humble pie?

In any case, it is certainly engaging work and a nice piece.

We don't have ravens, but we certainly have crows. Big ones.

Just for laughs, they land on top the ducks bobbing in the bay, they dive-bomb any eagle who shows up. They try to drive away the squirrels with noise and make nasty comments about my husband when he's in the yard. You'd think they owned the place.

But there's always a flip-side. Right now, the local crows are being nagged by their adolescent children. The offspring are nearly as big as their parents and can now only be distinguished by the 'feed me' squawk and trembling wings posture.

"Gimme, Gimme, Gimme." There is no rest. "Dad, can I have the car? Oh, pleeeeese."

Ah, it's always the same.......

Shoulders Vase

Another experimental piece.

I think flower vases that are heads etc. are very amusing. One day, I'm going to try one. But in the meantime, I thought I'd try shoulders first.

Rather tricky, constructing something that is so constricted and narrow, but I like the result. I have yet to put anything in it.














Years ago when I lived in Japan, I earned 3 certificates from the Sogetsu School of Ikebana in Tokyo.

My class were able to go to the headquarters of Sogetsu to see a fabulous show that included a giant rain-forest log arrangement.

It was about 15 feet long. Absolutely stunning. Sogetsu style is an avant guard approach to ikebana. Well, tackling a log would give you a clue.