Save the Date

So...I have a lot of work.

I'm having a studio sale to prove it!

September 13, 5 - 8 pm (Happy Hour! Bring your pals.  I'll have wine.)
September 14, 10 am - 5 pm
September 15, 11 am - 3 pm

Eighty Acres Art Studio
806 E 33rd
KCMO

(come 'round the backside)

This is your chance to get your fill of hearts, orzos, collages, mixed media, planters, tumblers, mugs, necklaces, clocks, and dot pieces!  And to see where I make most of my work.  I'll have my tents set up for outdoor browsing, so mild rain or heavy shine, we'll be fine!

This is the ONLY local sale I have planned until 2020, so get here!

Large abstract heart piece

8 x 8 orzos

mini collage collection

ceramic bowls

 

Cleaned Out My Pockets
collage with papers, tea bag, this and that

mixed media ladies: vinyl, paper, paint, ink, salvaged wood

MuDots series

tumblers

mixed media from Edit series

table top guinea clock

Heart Block collection

Hardy Stock, vinyl and paint on salvaged wood

Cat Head Sculptures

Not everyone wants or needs a planter, but still wants a cat!  I went on a tear pinching out these little sculptures, using dried seed pods and random tools to make depressions on the surfaces.

Greenware

Adding red iron oxide and underglaze

Finished litter

Oh, hi!

Great as a planter pal or garden buddy.

Cat Planters

A friend saw that I was making planters and requested a memorial cat head planter for a coworker who had just lost her kitty.  Instead of making one or two for her, I made a dozen and just kept going...

The first generation.

Trying to keep glazing simple with oxide rubs and underglazes.

I based this one on Clover!

I put some weird nubs on the bottom of this one.

Planted with a little cactus babe.

This was the simplest one I made, and the smallest...and fastest to sell!

Clover-as-Planter with Purple Heart.

Happy customer!
This went to my friend and lives as a home to a beautiful cactus.

I debuted these at the Kemper on Saturday's Block Party and many found new homes!  Looks like, as usual, animals (and cats in particular) are a big hit around here.  

Pecked: Winter 2018 and 2019

Over the cold winter months (and it was FREAKING COLD this winter) I started dreaming of spring very early.  I started making larger, more involved vessels...since I have literally dozens of vases, I decided to try out planters and sculptural pieces.  And then I became addicted to...pecking!

 I used all sorts of pointy-ended tools, including pencils, needles, porcupine quills, pens, and my fave...

 peach pits!

Spent the week of Thanksgiving working on this one.

The carving and pecking took a long time, but I listen to audio books and, as you've seen with my Orzos, enjoy repetition--nearly to the point of mania.

As most ceramic artists, especially the newbies, will tell you, glazing is hard and often the least fun step in the process.  It's "painting blind" as my friend and teacher Amy says.  Very true.

Because this...

Glazed up

Turns into this...

Basically what I wanted but it's still all a mystery to me.

More finished pieces...

detail

This one is NOT FOR SALE because it was the beginning of many good things.

See more from the Pecked collection on my website.

These are a natural step in the evolution of my work, using surface texture techniques from my Faces and moving into something else, because I don't stand still too long...

When you're stuck inside but still somehow have the itch to do something other than watch High Maintenance and Hoarders all day, good things can happen!

Contact me through my website if you're interested in purchasing anything.

And come see me Saturday night at the Kemper Museum for a Pop Up sale during their annual Block Party!  I'll have planters (other than these) and some other goodies...

Ceramics

I've been making ceramics more than other work lately.  Partly because I have a class every week and that keeps me rolling, and also because it's my hobby art (even though I am selling them occasionally) and there's no pressure.  I've been trying to take longer on my pieces, being more thoughtful and going bigger or getting more involved.  That works most of the time...but then I decide to crank them out because I get addicted.  This is a normal cycle for me.

Early 2018 I was working on these wall heads, some of which are actually currently in a show at Smalter Gallery on W 39th...

Since then I was playing around with what my class lovingly dubbed the Barnacle series...

Wide barnacle vase in progress

Finished

...and I was dyeing the clay body with mason stain...

Dyed clay body vase in progress

Finished with an ombre glaze

...and really enjoying making kinda icky blobs on the surface of my vases that look like skin tags and hairy legs...

Dyed "growths" vase.  Skin is weird!!

So that was last summer.  What happened over the winter of 2018?  Stayed tuned....

Art Shows, or lack thereof

I have participated in only a few art festivals over the last year, and that's by design.  After a third year at Art Westport (but with the Orzo work this year) and finally slaying the dragon that is the Plaza Art Fair, I traveled the farthest ever, to Artclectic, in Nashville.

It rained during set up at Westport.  A real joy.

I spent much of the day like this.  Also, I threw my back out setting up!

Plaza, two weeks later.  Much better weather, although my neighbor from
New Orleans was freezing when it dropped to 65 that night.  I gave her hand warmers.
I was in a sleeveless dress.

Behind the wall.

Artclectic Nashville--INSIDE!!  Very nice.

No tent set up and they fed us A LOT.

Doing shows is exhausting and I am not willing to do enough, or travel enough, to make it economically feasible or sustainable.  I'm really proud of this body of work, but hauling it in and out of my shed, truck, and tent beats it up and beats me up, too.  I couldn't bend down for almost two weeks after set up at Westport.  And I was gone for almost a week traveling to and from Nashville in October (although I'm glad I got to explore the city and the National Quilt Museum on the way there).  I learn every time I take my work on the road, both about the logistics of moving it around and the work itself.

In 2019, I haven't had any tent shows or art fairs, and I don't have any scheduled.  I only applied to one: The Plaza.  And, like the 9/10 times before when I applied, I got rejected outright (I got in off the waitlist last year).  I'll explain more about that process later since many non-exhibitors do not understand the ins and outs of that...

Wake Up, Sleepyhead

So the blog has been quiet for a year now.  I've been lazy about writing.  I'm still making stuff, though!

Fast highlights I will elaborate on soon:

I've had many companies ask me to hang my work for the Now Showing program at ArtsKC.

I was in a group show at the KC Artists' Coalition.

I participated in Art Westport, the Plaza, and some smaller ceramics sales through the KC Clay Guild.

I've had some home projects, the biggest being completely gutting and remodeling my bathroom.

I've replaced my manic Dumpster diving with flower collecting (dubbed by a friend the Urban Flower Rescue Mission) both around empty lots in town and along country roads.

I've been making planters and larger vessels, and some cats!

Stay caught up on INSTAGRAM because that's my main show-off place right now...

And stay tuned.  Thanks for sticking by me.