Update: Wonder Spot

Part II: The Clouds Have Gathered

It took nearly a month after the first install (for details check out Part I) but the clouds have finally gathered on the Wonder Spot. The final addition is a cloud over 8 feet wide that hovers at the top of the sign.

The clouds take shape upon approach. Once up close, all the parts and pieces used to make each form are visible. At this point it is as if the cloud particles have been magnified, similar to being inside a cloud where the edges are no longer visible. 

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This has been a tough sculpture to photograph!

Better photos will be added to my website over the summer, for now I've been snapping quick pics on my way in and out of Jackson. 

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The sculpture contains a few surprises: 

When driving north past the clouds there is a spot where Sam's giant steel boat on top of Jackson Hole Whitewater appears to float through the clouds. (Check out this video of the boat when it was in the sign a few years ago.) At night clusters of light within the clouds are reminiscent of a far-off thunderstorm.

The clouds will be up until late fall, so if you are in Jackson check them out as you are driving by!

Wonder Spot

Part I: The Gathering

For the past several months I have been working on a large-scale project: creating a sculpture capable of living outdoors for 6 months. The Wonder Spot is 10 feet tall X 6 feet wide and stands about 10 feet off the ground along highway 191 as it winds north into Jackson, WY.

This tiny maquette is a simplified view of my vision. You've just arrived in Jackson (or you are heading to work) there might be summer traffic slowing down your progression... what's that? A group of clouds have gathered on a sign?

Here is the first installment of the process behind what will be a month long installation... The Clouds are Gathering.

I started out by making hundreds of ceramic balls, using plastic bowls as moulds. This has been a great way to use up the mounds of recycled porcelain piling up in my studio. 

My husband, Sam was the muscle behind bending the steel rods (our landscaping came in handy) and has helped brainstorm and problem solve at every step.

The porcelain orbs are beaded onto the steel armature. Then more are strung within the cloud structure to help fill the space. After a long day of troubleshooting and heavy lifting, we were tired and when the weather turned nasty we had to call it quits. (I didn't even have the energy to take a decent photo!)

I'm finishing the huge cloud that will go on top, plus making tons more ceramic orbs to help fill in some gaps in the 2 small clouds. In a few weeks we will meet for the final install and the clouds will finish gathering. In the meantime, they subtly hover on the Wonder Spot.

I had a team of awesome helpers- thank you! Now I'm looking forward to finishing the next step!

Life is a Game

There's nothing like a deadline to help an artist actually finish something.

In January I was invited to create a piece for the Laramie County Library Book Arts Invitational. While that is plenty of time, I spent a few months puzzling over the theme for this year's exhibition: The Game of Life. After hashing out several ideas I finally landed on actually making a game.

Onto 52 cards cut from a very heavy watercolor paper, I assigned each card a topic from the following categories: Life Event, Helpful Tool, Surprise. 

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I started each drawing with an ink wash, then layered the details in with a pen. After cutting my thumb, even the bandaid got into the spirit of the game and dressed up like a ghost.

As you might expect, this set of cards has many more surprises than tools and events. And probably more bad surprises than good. Zombies, sharks, snakes, a giant spider but there are also surprises like a fancy cake, vacation and presents. 

I kept most of the drawings open to interpretation: a desolate desert road- are you lost or traveling in a foreign land, luggage- are you going on a trip or moving out? 

This has been a big project, but also portable. I took the cards with me for a tea break between teaching classes last Thursday. It's also hard to stop a project when I'm really excited, so it has been nice to take them with me.

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Some surprises are good while some are bad- Surprise... Your shoe has a hole in it! Others are really bad... Pterodactyl!  

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A few life events; Too much work / Baby / Camping trip

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Now I'm working on the final details; sanding the rough corners and testing some ideas for the back of the cards.

The cards will fit into a box; here is a hint as to the final presentation.

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So, how does the game work? I have no idea. Since life does not come with instructions, neither does my Game of Life.

By next weekend the game will be finished (or ready to be played?) I will put images on my website under Other Projects.

If you are in Cheyenne this summer, be sure to check out the show and see how other Wyoming artists interpreted this theme!

Laramie County Library, Cheyenne, WY

Exhibition dates: June 9 - August 7, 2016

Opening Event: June 17

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...