Yunomi

 Yunomi. You know me. A recent obsession. Seeing the shelves near the Penland wood kiln last week, it appears I'm not the only one obsessed. Photos of finished cups to follow.....

Flight

Flight. Monotype. 2012.

Dreams of flying returned after a wonderful Yoga class last Saturday. Sometimes the prints I make when demonstrating for a class become images I like better than the ones I plan and labor over. Serendipity is lovely. Dreamlike. Up-lifting.

Now Showing

I confess: The most complicated piece in this exhibit made it onto the wall only hours before the Opening. And only because of the generous assistance of the kind and very capable folks at SPACE.  48 small angel dresses each on its own special nail....beaded, hung....

Having the work of the past few months (and years) out of the studio and on display - is a great relief and a real inspiration. Long before this show made it up, I realized that some of the big ideas I'd had when we scheduled it would have to wait until "next time". And now, at least in my studio, it is next time. Now is the moment. I am delighted!

This weekend I cleaned out flat files, sorted a beautiful collection of rice and cotton papers, and began to play with transparent water-based printing inks. I also uncovered a large porcelain sculpture and carved and incised. With no show scheduled or planned anytime soon, I relish the short breaks in my teaching schedule as quiet and reflective free time. I do have a few small commissions and orders to fill, several things planned for consignment, but I also have new materials and ideas to pursue that don't have destinations.

Teaching has begun to feed my soul in unexpected ways. The questions students have inspire my own curiosity to push further into explorations of media, materials, ideas. The classroom is a community of artists, and I enjoy being one of them. I want to give them all the information I can find and then some. And in giving, I receive. I am a student at heart, and I grow.

Our exhibit is a 2-person show, curated by SPACE's Debra Zumstein, and my work hangs alongside the lovely photographs of Sam Norgard's dress installations that she makes of natural materials. They are exquisite. I am honored to be paired with her. It is uncanny and beautiful the way each pairing fits together in harmonious color and texture and shape, like perfect dance partners. What a wonderful way to meet another artist!

We are giving a Gallery Talk next month. I look forward to getting to know Sam. I look forward to teaching Printmaking and Ceramics and Drawing. I look forward to quiet moments in my studio. Now.

http://savannahnow.com/accent/2012-09-23/art-soul-scad-armstrong-professors-team-exhibit-inspired-dresses#.UF8cQbKPWSo

Dress for a Rolling Stone

Anything Can Be a Mold for Handbuilding in Clay. All I had to do with these shoe forms was to tear wings from their sides....and turn them into angel dresses. Thanks, Toms'.

 Using newspaper for forming can become especially amusing. Look who's wearing one of my dresses. I hope it still fits once it's fired....Stay tuned.

Preparation. Crows.

There I was in the grocery store parking lot with a bunch of beautiful crows and my camera.
I may have many more birds to follow and pictures to take before I find what I'm looking for.

Several years ago I made a wall-hanging dress called "A Dainty Dish" with 24 sprig-molded black crows on the skirt. It was based on the mysterious feeling I get when I think of blackbirds flying out of a pie for the amusement of some nobles in "Sing a Song of Sixpence". I remember so well calling crows with my brother until they seemed to respond to us, "Caw." I hear Edgar Allen Poe, too. In the grocery store parking lot, this bird stared straight into the camera, and I think the stare implied: "Go home. This isn't about you."

Starry Night

Porcelain tiles....derived, borrowed, appropriated from my favorite art deco picture frame. 3 1/2 inches high or in diameter; fun to "edition" for upcoming sales!

"I'd like to teach the world to sing...."

This little bird is a three-note whistle.

I made it in Brian Ransom's class at the Penland School of Crafts, and last week I took it with two other instruments to the Savannah Arts Academy where the Ceramics teacher turned one of her pots into a flute with my help.
An award-winning science student in the class is making a sculpture based on a sound wave....and after my little demo, he may try to make the sculpture sing, so to speak.
Artists sing so to speak.
And when we share our knowledge, beautiful songs emerge.