Studio Pepe Heykoop at Handful of Salt

I've got another article over at Handful of Salt. It touches on Dutch designer, Pepe Heykoop's creative leather pieces.

Matka Vases by Studio Pepe Heykoop. Image courtesy of Annemarijne Bax

There's something about those Dutch. I would love to know how they are taught because some of the most creative design in the world is coming out of that country. Hmmm, a trip next year perhaps? Head on over to Handful of Salt for the article.

Artist : Michele Michael of Elephant Ceramics

Short story: a stylist is on the hunt for nice ceramics. She doesn't find what she's looking for so she sets about making them herself. Enter Michele Michael and the birth of Elephant Ceramics.

I have yet to come across anything like Michele's work; it's simple, bold and sensual. The most powerful element has to be color with a capitol C. She clearly enjoys working with strong tones of teals and blues, using glazes as a loose gesture.

And then the absence of color becomes a powerful contrast to texture.

I love the way she seems to listen and respond to her craft. Now that I've worked a little in ceramics, I can see how she might have been inspired by the texture of the canvas when rolling out the slab.

Image by Jennifer Causey as part of The Makers Project.

The pieces play so well alongside textiles. I love how they're paired with Marimekko fabric here.

Her glazes are a loose gesture, she has an almost painterly approach to them. She simply lets nature do the hard work and goes with the result. At least that's what it looks like. I suspect it's much harder to achieve.

You can find Elephant Ceramics here. Jennifer Causey created a beautiful photo shoot of Michele at work in her studio as part of The Makers Project. And for a little house tour (who doesn't love peeking into artists' homes?), Remodelista featured her home here. Lovely.

Summer distractions and broken plates

It's been a distracting summer this year. My daughter has twelve weeks off from school, only two of them will be spent at camp. Needless to say, more than two hours in the studio every day is rare. The other distraction is my new garden, which is going strong. When the produce is ripe, you've got to jump into action. With twenty raised beds and nineteen fruit trees, I've had my hands full!

My brain, however, is longing and aching to spend time in the studio to catch up on all these ideas in my sketchbook around the landgrabbing series. My clay class is over and now I'm waiting for the call to pick up my glazed and fired pieces from the studio. Hopefully they turned out and I can share some of them with you soon. Trust me, they're elementary! But you have to start somewhere. Three years ago I didn't even know how to sew and I learned that medium in no time! In the meantime, I have other ideas flowing around the series. Here is one image I came across that I just can't get out of my mind. It was taken in China.

Image by Jennifer Ling Datchuk taken in China

I'm on the hunt for broken plates for the new series. I see lots of talk about broken plates on the internet, how you can find them on ebay. But every time I search, I come up empty handed. But seriously, if I could just get my hands on all of these, I'd be the happiest gal alive!

Image by Jennifer Ling Datchuk taken in China

I have a friend who plans to give me a box full next week to supplement my trips to local thrift stores. But I need a stash that looks like these.

Image by Jennifer Ling Datchuk taken in China

I wonder how many restaurants break plates every week? Any ideas on where to look would be wonderful! I feel like there's some obvious solution that I'm missing. If anyone can enlighten me, I would be thrilled!

Work table : Land Grabbing Series

The land grabbing series is underway (there's got to be a better name). In the meantime, all of my Foreclosure quilts are now shipped off to new homes or are in upcoming shows. I started my clay class last week and have learned a tremendous amount already. Last night we experimented with slab construction. I handed over my first pieces for firing so we'll see if they turn out. In the meantime, there is a lot of experimenting going on in my studio as well. Here's a peek.

Above are pieces my daughter and I made on our first day in the 'clay' studio. Of course, there will be textiles as part of this series as well.

Ceramics will be a quick learning curve for me as I tend to throw myself into my work 200% once I have an idea. I already have a lot of clay tools in my studio including some of my mom's from thirty plus years ago.

Both of my parents were artists and made pottery. Here's one of my favorite pictures of my dad hard at work. I love the pipe hanging out of his mouth while he works.

In between clay building, I'm developing the series and honing down on the subject matter with lots of sketches, studies and writing.

I love this moment in the process, when the idea is there but it needs refining and direction. It gives me the chance to study the idea in different scales from the tiny ...

Oil Palm Seed. Image by Rhett A. Butler.

To the global scale ...

Oil Palm clear cutting in the Ketipang district of Indonesia's West
Kalimantan province, July 5, 2010. Image courtesy of REUTERS/Craig Palinggi

It will all come together in the end as an intimate yet powerful statement about industrial agriculture and land grabbing. I hope to share some writing about the work with you next week but in the meantime, there are lots of other ceramicists to share with you so stay tuned.

Artist : Paula Greif

What better way to kick off a ceramics binge on my blog than my featuring Paula Greif's work. It was Greif's story behind her ceramics that instantly drew me into her work.

Photo by Anita Calero and Gemma Comas.

She was simply inspired to make everything she uses in her home by hand after reading a book about Alexander Calder, who did the same. Why not?

Pottery Paula made for her home in 2011. Photo by Paula Greif.

And that's exactly what she set out to do. Nothing like a mission to light a fire under your pants. That's kind of how I'm feeling these days so I can really relate to that kind of passion.

Paula's pottery on her kitchen shelves. 
Photo by Anita Calero and Gemma Comas.

Lots and lots of making, producing, experimenting, trying things out, messing around and having fun. Art should be all that, right? Paula's got it in spades.

Photo by Paula Greif.

I love these rows of spoons. So many ideas being developed here. I love the looseness and confidence in exploring.

Photo by Paula Greif.

And it all ends up on the table. I'm obsessed lately with table settings as I work on formulating this new series on industrial agriculture. How to present the work? So many directions to follow. The answer will become clearer with time and my own exploration.

Photo by Anita Calero and Gemma Comas.

In the meantime, I started my clay class this week and had a great time. I learned a tremendous amount from the teacher (who is Japanese, love that) and was surrounded by a lot of talented students. Soon, I'll have something of my own work to show you! In the meantime, enjoy more of Paula's work on her website, her tumbler page which has lots of images of her work and a feature on Remodelista.

Artist : Richard Tuttle

He's at it again, Richard Tuttle. If you all must know, he's right on up there at the top of my list of favorite artists. And of course, I left him out of this list (and Eva Hesse! what was I thinking?!) I've been an admirer of Tuttle's work for years. He says in an interview, "about 1 in 10 people get my work". But, if you give yourself over to it, you'll be hooked. Watch this clip from Art21 about his practice. You can see the entire episode here.

Now here's the catch. He has new work that I would LOVE to share with you but those NY galleries have some express rights to sharing Tuttle's images. I'm wary to get myself into trouble as it doesn't look like anyone else has shared these images with the public but ... head over to Joni Moisant Weyl to check out his latest tile pieces. Here's something that seemed 'safe' to share.

W-Shaped Yellow Canvas, 1967 by Richard Tuttle. Collection of SFMOMA

There's a certain whimsy to Tuttle's work yet he is so serious about what he does. He lives that life that I aspire to live. He's grounded about his practice and just gets on with it.

If you have the chance, you must get hold of a copy of the video about him. It's on Netflix or just buy the darn thing so you can watch it countless times, like myself.

Studio views

I'm going to apologize in advance for what I'm about to share with you. I think I know you pretty well by now. Just be warned you're about to spend a long time at the computer thanks to this review. In the Make offers amazing sneak peeks into artists studios and with incredible interviews to read while you gawk.

Linda Geary. Photo by Klea McKenna

Currently San Francisco bay area focused, the site was created by photographer Klea McKenna and writer Nikki Grattan. I love that I can learn about artists that are so close by. The in-depth interviews by Gratton hone in on an artist's daily practice and are insightful and observant.

Ido Yoshimoto. Photo by Klea McKenna

McKenna is the one behind all those wonderful photographs on the site. Close-ups and overalls give you a good sense of the studio space and capture how each artist works.

Jill Sylvia. Photo by Klea McKenna

As you can see from above, some studios are neat as a pin while others are barely held together. And seeing the artwork that goes with the studio space is rather enlightening.

Imen Yeh. Photo by Klea McKenna

And there's always at least one photo in each interview that captures the artist's personality. I love the one above. Haven't we all not taken on this posture at some point? There are links to the artist's websites as well after each interview if you want to keep surfing forever. In the Make. Don't say I didn't warn you!

SWEET SPOTS ... inspired by Good Measure blog

I've just discovered a new blog which I want to share. Good Measure is a lifestyle blog written by the artist behind Inklore. Inklore's block print items are so beautiful and simple. Her blog this week talked about 'sweet spots'. Spots around your home that inspire you and bring you joy. Here are some of mine:

The top of my studio bookcase where I keep all my small tools, thread and string for my pieces. This is one of the first places I go when I start a new piece. The wood box holds scrap fabrics.

 

The sewing and drawing area of my table. I have an amazing view to the garden and my work wall from here. This is where I do all of my hand embroidery and detail work on my pieces.

My inspiration area of my work wall. Every sewn remnant and other leftoever bits of discarded parts of pieces end up here, ready to be reused for the next piece.