Lids & Lessons

This week an accident led to a nice memory as well as a reminder to plan ahead. 

While glazing several bisque-fired honeypots I broke a lid. The loop handle, while cute and functional, is also rather fragile. When a lid breaks, usually that is also the end of the vessel. Clay shrinks during the firing process making it nearly impossible to re-create a lid with a good fit. 

This lid issue reminded me of an indirect lesson I picked up from Yoshi Ikeda while I was his student at Kansas State University. He would make lots and lots of lids- separately from the teapot forms. Once the teapots came out of the kiln Yoshi would go through this collection of lids, trying each one until he found the perfect fit and design for the teapot. If a lid broke, there was always another one in the box.

At the time this seemed counter to what I was learning about craftsmanship, not to mention eccentric. Now this sweet memory reminds me of process, the evolution of ideas and problem solving. It has also encouraged a planned approach to lidded forms. 

Yoshi Ikeda | Teapot

When I started making honeypots a few years ago I would keep the jar or lid if the other part broke or didn't fit well after firing. This led to a box of random parts, but nothing ever fit and they kept piling up. I finally realized that if I made the opening of the jar the same diameter every time and made the lids the same diameter, then they would always fit! For the past year I have used this technique, so this time, I'm pretty sure my replacement lid will fit.

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If you have one of my honeypots and have broken the lid, let me know. I might just have a replacement lid that fits!

Repairs

Things break.

Last fall I made a series of porcelain pendant light shades for the brand-new Jackson, WY restaurant, Picnic. It's not often I have the opportunity to make something for a public space, or that what I make is experienced by so many people. Picnic is a great spot, and has quickly become my favorite place to meet friends. And I have to admit, every time I see the cloud-inspired light formation I'm a little surprised. 

I will post an update soon with better photos of the installation.

I knew there was a possibility of a shade breaking, but I was still surprised when a tall person stood up with arms overhead and broke a low-hanging shade! I made a replacement, and this time, several extras.

Porcelain paperclay was perfect for this project. An addition of paperpulp to clay adds strength before firing- during which the paper burns out, making the form slightly lighter. The clay needed to be thin in order to be translucent; the forgiving nature of paperclay made these otherwise fragile forms possible. 

This is my super high-tech process for making clay, a small batch made in my driveway.

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Once the clay is dry enough to work with, I roll out thin slabs and cut the sides to shape using a template. I enjoy projects that push me to figure out interesting design solutions, in this case I needed to dry the clay into the shape I wanted, making sure the lightbulb fit inside without touching the sides of the shade. In this case, I made heavy-duty tarpaper cones and clamped them to a work table.

Another benefit of using paperclay is that wet clay can be attached to dry clay, this is something that usually ends in heartbreak. Once the sides were stiff enough to stand on their own, I attached a little clay to the top in order to change the shape. 

Firing the fragile shades is tricky, I found that the two sides needed to be fired together so they would still fit together after possibly warping in the kiln. Not many fit on a shelf, and with their height the most I can get into my small kiln is 5.

While I had admired ceramic light shades I had never considered making them! I am glad for this challenge and the ideas that have been generated through trial and error. Now I'm looking at lights a little differently...

NCECA 2016

Last week we traveled to Kansas City for the 50th Annual NCECA Conference (National Council on Education for Ceramic Arts.) Now home and excited about new ideas, I should be eager to get back to work. The studio is clean and ready... instead I'm tired and feel as though I'm staring at a humongous blank canvas. I've spent this past week reading, planning, mapping project deadlines and mostly processing a vast list of new ideas for myself and my students... all while thinking about the amazing artwork I saw in the galleries during the conference. Sometimes it is nice to feel stuffed full to the brim, as soon as I sleep it off, I'll be hungry for more.

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My work was included in the exhibition Around the Corner. This show highlighted the art of several graduates from the University of Missouri-Columbia as well as our professor and mentor, Bede Clarke. I took this opportunity to experiment and make a large modular piece: That moment, an attempt to capture the very instant attraction takes place. The show is beautiful and I'm so happy to have been included, if only I had taken more photographs of my colleague's work.

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Sam was included in an exhibition at the Thornhill Gallery at Avila College, Yoshi and Friends. This exhibition honored the legacy of Yoshi Ikeda and his students from Kansas State University. Yoshi made a big impact on both of us, myself as an undergraduate at KSU and Sam as a graduate student. We miss him but attempt to pass his humor and dedication on to our students.

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Sam Dowd | Crossing the road just got harder

We saw so much art in such a short amount of time, here are just a few of my favorites:

Kate Roberts | Porte

Donut Goshorn | Body Map

Cary Esser | Veil

Fred Johnston | Fish & Fowl Bowl

Kirsten Stingle

Christina Erives | Lo Que La Partia Me Dio

Professional Practice in the Arts

Good business is the best art. -Andy Warhol  

In just a few weeks I will be teaching Professional Practice in the Arts for Central Wyoming College at the Jackson campus.

I am looking forward to this class more and more as it approaches. While helping my students set short and longterm goals, learn the process of portfolio and application preparation, brush up resumes, statements, learn about social media tools... I need to be sharp! I keep thinking about all those things I thought I'd get to over the winter, computer file organization / streamlining, editing and organizing images... I even have boxes of old slides to weed through and digitize. 

As with all classes I teach, I have the opportunity to learn along with my students. So, I'll be setting goals for myself while brushing up on all the topics we will cover. I'm excited for the questions that will be brought to the class and I have high hopes for my students (and myself) during the 5-week crash course. 

I picked up a great book that I think might help form part of my approach: Better Living Through Criticism: How to think about Art, Beauty, Pleasure and Truth by A.O. Scott

My first goal is to finish this book before the class starts. So far, I don't think that will be a problem!

The class will be meeting from 5 - 7:30pm for 5 Mondays: April 11 - May 9 at the Center for the Arts. For more information, send me an email or contact CWC: 307.733.7425              

Pottery at Market

This week brought the opening of Market in Jackson, WY and I'm excited to announce that my black & white pottery is right at home among a variety of local products! 

This unique store is located inside Vertical Harvest. I have been watching the building of this incredible vertical greenhouse for a few years, the story is powerful and exciting with mouth-watering promises of year-round produce grown right here in the mountains of Jackson Hole. Find a tasty preview (the grand opening will be May 21st) at the Jackson Hole Foodie.

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Ready for glazing: porcelain wheel thrown plates with sgraffito designs. 

Something New

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Remember when                                                                                                                       

Jenny Dowd  

2016, 6" x 6" Porcelain, velum, ink, wire  

Something new is always happening.

Balancing sculpture / drawing / pottery / teaching / odd jobs creates intense and interesting days in and out of the studio. This journal will provide a forum for sharing both news and experiments. 

The image above, Remember when, is a small wall sculpture (6" x 6") that I made for last night's Whodunnit? event at the Art Association of Jackson Hole. This anonymous show and fundraiser presents the frustrating challenge (for me) of working on the wall in a small square format. However, I often find limitations beneficial in the process of working out new ideas. While incorporating drawing into my pottery I've also been puzzling over a method to layer drawings into wall sculpture to increase depth. This project allowed me to sketch out these thoughts, I think something new may come from this.

Meanwhile, this journal will be updated at least weekly with news from Dowd House Studios: places to find our pottery, exhibitions, classes & workshops, new forms and exciting projects.

So it's time for something new, let's see where it takes us!