From Branch to Bowl

From Branch to Bowl

While reading the book, choosing which medium in which to work has been one of the biggest challenges.  Each page offered a new, interesting medium, making each section more difficult to choose between jewelry, clay, and glass.

I became fascinated with the woodwork. Ultimately, wood became the most accessible to me.  Looking at pieces by George Nakashima and Wharton Esherick, helped focus my interest in the concepts of Zen, the simple natural form and the implicit beauty of wood. Artists like Rude Osolnik and Mark Linquist helped shape my ideas to create a turned form.

Once I decided, I realized in needed training, I went to my expert.  I talked to my Dad.

My father insisted that before we began, I should watch one of his many wood working DVDs. After he woke me up several times, at the drowsy end of a wood turning DVD, I had a plan. 

A piece of green wood with varying grain and unpredictable qualities would be the choice. A forking branch would have rugged beauty with grain changes as the branches attached to the trunk.

The perfect piece of a forked branch lived in a wild plum tree on my Parent’s property. 

Process:

To turn the branch, a centering disc needed to be attached to the branch and that branch mounted to the lathe.   

Working with green wood, offered challenges in lathe turning. The bark came off quickly, revealing the beautiful swirling grain on the sides.  The branch left a lovely irregular shape to the lip of the bowl reminiscent of David Ellsworth’s Bowl.

In order to hollow out the interior, I used dull chisels.  It was difficult. I thought we should cheat and use the drill press to carve out the majority of the interior.

However, if we are born poets and become craftsman, I am on my way to craftsman and my father is already there.  He refused to let me continue with the drill press insisting that we needed sharper or more specialized tools for hollowing out the interior.

Offering one chisel has spinning wheel, he explained to process to hollow the interior of the bowl. 

When the walls were hollowed to an appropriate thickness, the bowl felt shaped and complete, I applied a Tung oil finish. 

The bowl is warm and jammy in color: the heart of the plum.

Lessons learned:

Always wear goggles: flying tree bark is scary.  Finding the proper tools and mounts can be challenging.

Proper glue, proper mounts had to be explored and redone until the bowl held together on the lathe.

Capturing the delicacy of thin bowl walls juxtaposed next to the rough raw edges was particularly challenging.

The exterior surface was much easier to shape than the interior surface. 

Conclusion: Wood turning is a craft that given the proper equipment could be accessible to all skill levels.  It’s natural, beautiful, and functional.

Post Script: I have already chosen my need lathe project.  I am lucky to have a very encouraging and loving teacher. 

Final Project: Table Center Piece

 Table Center Piece

I was inspired for my work initially by the words of William Morris and his motto “Art into Life, and that the functional pieces we use on a daily basis should have an artistic quality to them”. The piece would have to serve both as functional and art.  I would be the maker and the designer, thereby placing a humanistic approach to my work. I wanted to experiment with the mixed medium of clay and wood. The clay portion of my piece Laura Anderson inspired me with her philosophy of hand built earthenware made from simple, functional forms inspired by nature. The wood portion of the piece was inspired by Rude Osolnik. He was different in his approach to wood making in that he would let the natural characteristics of the wood and its imperfections become part of the design. I decided to make a table center piece bearing in mind the philosophies of these 3 individuals.

The size, design, and the room were all important aspects of the design, function, and aesthetic. My table is 60 inches in diameter, oak with a natural finish, so the piece would need to have a scale that would fit it visually and physically.  The room has cut lime stone rock, natural terrazzo flooring, and lots of windows where one can view the outside gardens.  Therefore my work would need to be nature inspired; I incorporated lots of leaves into the design, with a soft and curvilinear form to emulate nature. The colors are greens, with hints of blues, and natural wood colors.  The clay platter is long to match the table, and shallow, so as to see over it when seated. It has little ornamentation, and is simple and organic in its design. It is made from clay, and hand built. It has leaves and vines pressed into the top of the platter only. I used a mat green glaze, with chunks of blue that ran and swirled throughout the clay. I designed the base to match in a way that would complement the clay. Unfortunately the design was altered by my cousin inadvertently in the cutting stage, for the wood is very had and difficult to cut. Fortunately it did not take away too much of the overall aesthetic and design. The base is made of black walnut from a fallen tree in my yard. I could have made a base out of clay, but wanted to experiment with mixed media and incorporate. The medium not only had to be organic in nature but was personal to me as well.  I feel a sense of pain when any of my trees die, and this is a new way in which to give them life after death, bringing me great joy and a sense of pride at the same time; a vessel of memories. In the overall design I wanted to maintain some of the natural imperfections of the wood, such as holes made by insects, and areas that had rotted away. The wood has a soft color palate of browns and reds, complementing the green of the pottery. I decided to leave the wood in an unstained, natural state, with no varnish, it was only buffed with was to bring out the colors and give it a soft glow.    I was so inspired by this piece that I have started saving pieces of limbs and cut portions of the black walnut trees from my yard, with unusual patterns and shapes, to use in combination with future clay projects. Two important lessons that I learned from this project is one, you must have the right tools, and two that the two pieces need to be designed together assuring a perfect fit upon completion.

Final Project: Wired Coil Pot

Wired Coil Pot 

                I got the idea for a coil pot when reading about basket weaving. Basket weaving is something that I have always thought as a craft and pushed it away because of its simplicity. After reading The Makers and letting go of my arrogance, I began to look more into basket weaving. It was Cordelia Everidge Ritchie's image of one of her baskets that inspired my to do a basket, coil pot. I admire the beauty of its shape and the texture of the natural limbs with the twist it had to form the artwork.  I find the different techniques interesting and wanted to adapt the technique to a new material. Therefore, I got the idea of working with wire. The wire I have is a copper wire that is coated with colored plastic.  After I started the coil process around a thick rope, I realized that the wire does hurt your hands after awhile. I started using different colors as wrapped and interlaced the wire. At first each color was random, but then they started to have a meaning. I was working on this process and noticed the different feelings and experiences with each color. Because I am a teacher, I began working on this during any free time in my class as my students worked on their own projects. I noticed that as I worked, I was reflecting on things and focused on my work in a calm, focused state. Working on my pot was therapeutic. As I started to form the bowl shape, I remember my frustrations in the time that it took to get where I was. It happens that I was the color red wire. I was feeling a frustration in how the pot was forming and away from my original plan, but I kept moving forward.  As I changed from color to color at the base of the pot, I noticed my experience with the technique change; frustration to a determination to a focused to a calming feeling and to even a joyous feeling. I decided to tone it down towards the end of making the pot and change to a dark gray. I wanted the bottom to be colorful and the top to be neutral colors to bring the coil to a stop and conclude the process. As I worked, my fingertips hurt worse and worse, but I found it a sacrifice and part of the project and whole experience. I remembered reading about Ruth Asawa and seeing her work with manipulating wire in The Makers. "The artist must discover the uniqueness and integrity of the material" she explains about her process (Ruth Asawa Lanier). I was motivated by this and to see how the wire works. Therefore the ending of the coil pot ended in the color white for a final touch to give it closure.

References:
http://www.ruthasawa.com/ © 2013 Ruth Asawa Lanier, Inc.

Makers: A History of American Studio Craft

Janet Koplos and Bruce Metcalf

2010

University of North Carolina Press, Chaple Hill

last part

After driving 7 hours, giving a lecture,then  a workshop ,a reception, and then loading up my art, only to spend the next day driving the last 5 hours against a cold front with high winds, I am very happy to be home. This is the part of being an artist no one ever tells us about...travel, prep for workshops, packing /unpacking usually alone with only CDs for company.

For the last part of Craft in America I am going to suggest another change. Look over the chapter, enjoy the beautiful images and keep them as a reference for your future work. In place of a question over this reading I want to revisit an issue that came up in our last question on your best lesson. A couple of students shared with us stories of being challenged in a harsh or dismissive manner. I know those lessons and have my own scars from my MFA.  I try not to be that kind of teacher. I hope I am not that kind of teacher. If you take a face to face seminar with me you will hear me at times says that some part of a writing response in "bullshit". Yet, I know I continue and explain why I find that part of the assignment misleading or shallow. And I work to help the words become true and meaningful. My point is I believe that we have the power of changing all education and especially art education (at all levels) by changing the way we explain /motivate/guide. So, I am asking each of you to think about the hidden or not so hidden hurt from being dismissed. Why do we (and I am including myself) think we need harsh criticism/ mean spirited assignment? Why do give the power of our art away to one teacher, one gallery, one critic? What can each of us do to make a difference?

Do not get me wrong. I am not proclaiming that no work or totally lazy work is OK. What I am talking about the energy in a class or group of artists that is motivated by excitement and joy and support. In place of the moaning and bragging about how hard it is, imagine a classroom or joint studio filled with conversation on what someone just figured out or is trying to figure out. The celebration when someone, even if it not you, completes a solid good work of art. Try to think about a place where artists of all ages and all stages of development want to come and work.

If you think I am crazy take a little time to look at Outsider Art or Visionary Art. Look at the art of kids. See the heart connection that is not broken by mean words or an arrogant attitude.

You have been a wonderful class. I thank each of you for the thoughts you shared with each other. I can't wait to meet you in person. And Stephen, best of luck with your MFA. Know you are always a part of TTU and if you ever need to share or talk we are here for you.

See you in Junction.

Final Project & Essay - Gail S.

Rule of Three Necklace and Earring Set

I created this Bronze and Fine Silver necklace and earring set as a tribute to the craft jewelers of the 1920’s and 1960’s. I have always admired the simple, clean lines of the modernist studio jewelry movement, and our readings on American Craft history really solidified my appreciation for the art forms that came from this time.

Modernism, as a design philosophy, came to America through the immigrant-refugee fine art and craft population in the early 1920’s. This concept, born in Germany’s Bauhaus design schools as early as 1917, swept the United States and Europe throughout the 1920’s – 1960’s. Modernist design pushed the highly ornamental Art Deco design far out of fashion very quickly. The new Modernism eschewed simplicity, demanded honest treatment of materials, and a definite lack of flourish in presentation. Items could be hand wrought or partially machine made as long as they stayed true to the ideals of the movement. The artists in this genre generally produced one-of-a-kind, pieces. The pieces could be very sleek or loosely organic, with tool marks visually evident on their pieces. The hand of the artist could be seen in the work. That’s an ideal that harkens back to the original founders of the Arts & Crafts movement.

The following are some of the best known modernist studio jeweler/craftsman from 1928 – 1950’s; Alexander Calder, Sam Kramer, Ed Weiner, Art Smith, Betty Cooke, Peter Macchiarini, Margaret De Patta, and Frank Rebajes,  Ed Levin, and finally Paul Lobel.  This group of artists is highly collected internationally. They are a inspiration for my work in metal smithing and enameling.

The set pictured was created from a simple slab of recycled bronze that was pounded to 1/8” inch thickness. I then soldered and inset slivers of pounded fine silver onto the surface, and drilled holes for the chain. I enjoy working with bronze because it is reminiscent of ancient materials and is malleable enough to take on just about any shape. It is stronger than copper or silver, so it wears well, plus it appears warmer and richer in color than brass. Because bronze is made from 80% copper and 20% tin, when the bronze comes in contact with fine silver (.999), the copper is attracted to the silver and moves to border it on the surface. This process of bringing a single metal to the surface of an alloy is called depletion gilding. When this process happens the surface becomes wrinkled or reticulated in jewelry terminology. The insets appear to have a halo of surface copper surrounding them. They almost look like coffee beans inset into the pendant. The earrings are solid bronze discs with copper and silver beads. Both the earrings and the pendant are suspended from patinated copper chain. The necklace measures 22” in length, as homage to the longer lengths of jewelry (opera length) worn in the late 1920’s and 1930’s.

I created this set a few weeks ago and have completely enjoyed the experience of wearing it. I’ve received many compliments on the set and a few questions about it. Viewers have described it as sleek, simple, organic, clean, and unusual. A perfect addition to my style! Every time I wear this piece  I’ll be reminded of the studio jewelers who came before me and their commitment to modernist design.

on the road

My post will be slightly late.

I am off to Wearherford, Oklahoma for a lecture, workshop, and the closing reception for my show. Even though this is a small college I am just as nervous as if I was at a large museum. Maybe even more so. I will be in the region of some of the best Native American bead artists in the nation, especially for the fancy dance head ware. I feel like I am stepping into a chapter from one of our books.

 More on Tuesday night.

Craft in America, pages 141-206

I loved and hated this section of the book. Loved because since I was in elementary school I have been fascinated by educational styles/approaches. I attended 3 elementary schools and 3 high schools so there was some comparison just based on re-learning the unspoken rules of a new school, not to mention the social code of a new place. From that early age I knew that what was 'the way it has to be" was not always the way it was.

I have dreamed about attending Black Mountain College since I first read of it's amazing cast of teachers. I keep imaging a bead teacher that could give me some much needed advise on how to present my work, or how to  hand dye my cloth or how to just be at ease with what I do. So this section was a wonderful reminder of all the schools that have been established based a love of craft(s).

The section was painful because of the inside stories about administration and finance. For the last 5+ years as the "art representative for Junction" I have felt like I have a begging bowl attached to me at all times along with a memorized plea to attend one of our classes. Don't get me wrong. I totally believe in Junction and the incredible way creativity dances when it is allowed to be supported and celebrated. it is just that the business side is overwhelming at times.Work that puts me at odds with administrators, some professors and more than one person who thinks or trys  to tell others it is simply "easy" or "just light weight". I always bring my own art to work on while there but my time is spent teaching/organizing/checking on the classes/running interference/justifying something to somebody.  Gail I think  you may know what I mean.  Maybe others of you also.

So for this week... I know I have asked you about your perfect class before, I want to revisit that in a new way. Tell me about the best art lesson you have ever received. Who was the teacher, how old were you , where were you, and finally how do you follow that lesson today.  And no it does not have to be a formal classroom teacher, but it can be.

Now for a second question...which of the crafts schools from our book do you wish you could attend . Or if have attended what was it like. I know many of you have had the opportunity to attend other workshops or schools, feel free to compare your reality with what is projected from these schools.

Finally, I am excited about the art work you are doing for the final.