Art – WeatherGrrrl's Station

Postcard-a-palooza

WeatherGrrrl — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 19:37:55 +0000

I participated in a postcard exhibit last month at Colorado Mesa University which you can read about here. They were using it as a fund raiser for a variety of art department programmes. I used this as an opportunity to experiment a little with the tea stains I am creating as part of my, “MyTeaObsession” project. The tea stains I create are 3in by 4in and are made every time I consume a cup of tea. Participating in this exhibit meant doubling the size of the image generated and considering the finished product, or stain, as an image in it’s own right able to stand up to consideration as a work of art rather than as a quantification of a momentary act.

As part of this exhibit a catalog has been created of all the submissions and it is available for purchase. (You can thumb through it here on Blurb.) The variety of images/media is quite impressive. You can find the first of my images eight clicks in and the other three on the following page. Below is one of the stains I created.

This was a great opportunity to experiment with an ongoing process and benefit future artists is their development.

ETA:Current temperature: here 19F/-7C, there 3/37

UMM Student Art Show 2011

WeatherGrrrl — Mon, 16 May 2011 18:14:20 +0000

This year two of my aluminium sculptures were juried into the annual student art show at UMM. The base for the first piece is walnut. Photos taken by Nic McPhee.

Mother and Child

Hairball #1

Current temperature: here 64F/18C, there 12C/54F

Student Art Show Entries

WeatherGrrrl — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 20:36:25 +0000

This year I submitted two sculptures to the juried student art show and both of them were accepted.

The first piece is called, Entangled, and was made as part of the Fabric as Form class. We were each given 2.25 yards of muslin and asked to create a piece of art based on an object from nature using all the fabric in the piece.

Some what obliquely I began with the idea of a vagina and how society talks about this piece of female anatomy as if it’s a constantly present space waiting to be occupied by a man’s penis. In fact, it is much more reasonable to think of it as a glove, or sheath, that space is only created when an object is either pushed inside or enveloped. With this as my starting point I went on to create the piece below.

Below is my second piece called, Torso. This was one of the first pieces I made as part of an aluminium pour in the introductory sculpture class. The original form was carved out of Styrofoam/polystyrene. (Styrofoam is a brand of polystyrene.) In approaching working with polystyrene I found that the nature of the material led me to carve organic forms that could rest comfortably in the palm of my hand. (The wood base is walnut.)

Current temperature: here 77F/25C, there 9C/48F

Notes for Vessel project

WeatherGrrrl — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 17:06:19 +0000

A collection of links for the Fabric as Form vessel project.

How to make gloves. (From the 1950s.)

How to make a pair of gloves.

Traditional glove pattern.

The Renaissance Tailor.

The Beautiful Cervix

People as Art

WeatherGrrrl — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:36:53 +0000

So the current “sculpture” being exhibited on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square is by Antony Gormley of Angel of the North fame. 2400 people will each get to spend an hour on top of the plinth doing, basically, whatever they want. To watch the live feed go to One and Other.

My friend Jane will be one of the 2400 on 21st September. Go Jane!!!!!!

Current temperature: here 73F/23C, there 15C/59F

Throwing pots, huzzah!

WeatherGrrrl — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 00:15:09 +0000

During the last two pottery classes I’ve had the opportunity to throw pots on a wheel. It is absolutely fantastic. Who knew it would be so easy? I’m pretty gobsmacked, I thought it was going to be trial by fire. I’m just knocking these suckers out. Of course, everything I’m making is rather strange and odd looking. Well, I put that down to having great fun experimenting with lip shapes and body forms. Mostly my pieces are more sculptural than pot like. I’m so looking forward to class next week, with luck they’ll let me throw more pots.

Current temperature: here 3C/37F, there -11F/-24F

Pottery Update

WeatherGrrrl — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 12:01:29 +0000

We are now two weeks in to our fifteen week pottery class. There are at least three times as many students and a different teacher so the whole dynamic has changed. I’m really glad I took the short class though because I think I gained enough insight and technical expertise from our original teacher so that I feel like I know what I’m doing. The new teacher is a lot more loosey goosey and go with the flow which is not the greatest way to pick up good technique but we are already making more pots and having the opportunity to be more expressive. Together the two of them could team teach a stupendous class!

The first week I made three pinch pots. One I turned into wide mouthed bowl, which is okay looking but nothing to write home about. The other two I joined together, which had me a little suspicious at first. It wasn’t clear if I could make anything the slightest bit interesting but as it has evolved this ‘pot’ has taken on a life of its own. It sort of has the feel of an Easter Island standing stone though I’ve cut holes in mine which freakily look like eyes. I’ve begun making marks in the surface that add to its strangeness. I suspect I’ll be using oxides rather that glaze for the finish but we’ll have to see how the burnishing goes.

Current temperature: here 7C/45F, there 43F/6C

The state of pottery

WeatherGrrrl — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 23:32:15 +0000

We’ve finished our coil pots. Yay us! My coils were much better second time around, so the top of the pot is much prettier than the bottom. We also made lids for our pots. Once I attached a handle to mine the group’s consensus was my pot struck more than a passing resemblance to a strawberry. When viewed from a distance the pot doesn’t look too bad. Then we glazed our pinch pots which was great fun. I dipped mine in two different colours, white inside and a shade of green on the outside. Next time we’ll have the chance to paint some more glaze on to touch up the finish.

I’ve also learnt that the follow up pottery class which had been over subscribed now has some open slots for those of us on the waiting list. I heard that a number of people had to drop the class due to its changing day. Once the current the five weeks are done, I get 15 more. Yay!

Current temperature: here 5C/41F, there 54F/12C

A second pot …

WeatherGrrrl — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 16:06:47 +0000

… is in the making. Yesterday we began work on a coil pot. Insert hysterical giggling at the thought of my effort! Yeah, it’s not going well in terms of making a good looking pot but I’m having a great time and I got to get my hands dirty. We made slurry and I loved that. So far I’ve kept pretty clean but I don’t expect that to last. We’re an odd mixture of people in the class. We have a couple of ladies who chat constantly. I knew more about their personally lives in the first five minutes than they will know about me after the five weeks are up. Huge amounts of TMI. There is another class member who talks even less than I do so I’m not the quietest. We do have one gentleman and he seems to be holding his own under the onslaught. At least four people are awol and who knows if they’re going to show up. Which is so silly ‘cos they’ve paid for the course. I tried to sign up for the next part of the sequence but that’s full already though I am first on the waiting list. Keep your fingers crossed.

Current temperature: here 15C/59C, there 66F/19C

Threw my first pot yesterday

WeatherGrrrl — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 13:27:43 +0000

Well, I didn’t exactly throw a pot but I did actually fashion my very first piece of pottery at the grand old age of 44! Our teacher began by introducing us to a pinch pot. We started by rolling up a ball of clay and sticking a thumb in it to make the bowl, manipulating the clay until it was the same width all the way around. We got to have a couple of practice shots before we made a piece that will actually be fired. Even though we were making a very simple pot you quickly became aware of all those little details that need attention to make something beautiful rather than adequate. Clearly, practice, practice, practice, is the order of the day. I suspect I will end up with a piece that only a mother could love!

The one rather odd aspect of this pinch potting was I realised that I made it left handedly, which, for a generally right handed person, is definitely strange. (There are a number of things I do naturally left handed but nothing so major.)

Current temperature: here 9c/48F, there 43F/6C