Colorado Art Studio

Opening April 25th, 2008
5:00 - 8:00pm
“Fine Art of Craft”
Center for the Arts Evergreen
Address: 32003B Ellingwood Trail, Evergreen, Colorado 80439
Phone: 303.674.0056
April 25 - May 23

I have been in overdrive for the past month getting ready for this show and also the Colorado Potter’s Guild show and sale which opens the following weekend and runs May 1 - May 3. Of course you’re invited to this event as well.

I pushed my luck and fired the work for the “Fine Art of Craft” show the day before the work was to be delivered. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when the kiln was finally cool enough to unload and made the drop off deadline to boot. Only 3 pieces will be on display in the gallery for the month and then the rest is for immediate sale in the gallery gift shop. I know many of you will not be able to attend, so here’s a sampling:

Porcelain Boxes, sizes vary, either slip transfer or hand-painted with underglaze, ^6 oxidation

Relief printed stoneware box, 6.5″ x 4.5″ x 4.5″, ^6 ox.

Relief printed stoneware tray and 4 cups, ^6 ox.

I’m much calmer now that I’ve delivered the work for the show in Evergreen and have mapped out my plan for the next 2 weeks. I’ve also dropped a few things from my schedule and feel much saner now. On Friday, I will be bisquing work that will be fired in the guild’s gas kiln on Sunday, glazing and loading the kiln Saturday and then spending most of the day at the Guild on Sunday doing the glaze fire. I’ve been told it will take 12 hours from start to finish - so I’ll have lots of time to try out some equipment I’ve been meaning to work with at the guild such as the electric slab roller, the extruder and the spray booth. I plan on making some glaze test tiles for my own use since I’m so unfamiliar with reduction glazes and I borrowed Extruded Ceramics by Diana Pancioli for inspiration.

Meanwhile, my very first “note from the universe” courtesy of TUT arrived in my inbox today to get me started with my vow to change my self destructive ways.

I’ll catch up with you on Saturday with a review of the show,

~Cynthia

I started making these porcelain boxes and I can’t seem to stop. In fact, I have another 4 in the works ranging in size from 2″ square up to 5″ x 6″. In a departure from the slip transfer that I used on “Birds and Bees”, these 2 are hand painted with underglaze and have not yet been bisque fired. I’m not quite sure which method I like better. There’s a looseness and loss of control in the slip transfer that I like - it’s not quite as tight as these paintings. Irregardless of method, I am going to be showing these at the “Fine Art of Craft Show” at the Center for the Arts Evergreen on April 25th.

I am reassigning the first 2 pieces I originally made for the show using relief printing techniques to the Colorado Potter’s Guild Sale opening on May 1st. I couldn’t help myself. I wasn’t disciplined enough to squelch the desire to make these porcelain boxes even though I knew I was on deadline for the show in Evergreen. I guess that’s a good thing about being my own boss. I’m still at a point in my career where I’m trying to find a style that totally resonates and am not yet known for a particular line of work so I do have a freedom of sorts.

Meanwhile, I’m fully aware of a low level undercurrent of stress that is permeating my days leading up to these shows. I must make work, I must make work, I can’t do this, I can’t do that because I must make work. Yes, this is inside my head nearly every waking moment. How do I cope? When I catch myself doing it, I try to breath deeply and remind myself to take each day as it is - live in the moment. Harder to do than to write, but I try. Do I drop everything I’m doing and beat myself up? No, despite waking up and thinking that I need to cancel going to my garden club meeting tonight so I can work - I’m going to make an appearance and start dreaming about getting my hands in a different kind of mud.

Gotta fill the cup,

~ Cynthia