The Penland Bell

Last summer at Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina, I took a class in making clay instruments with the wonderful Brian Ransom. Just yesterday, this bell was completed with the addition of a wooden knocker, brass wire, and antique beads and buttons. It sounds beautiful. The design was one I found in Brian's book, an ancient Indian bell shape which reminds me of the brass bells I used to buy at "World Bazaar" It was stamped with clay stamps I've made over the years, painted with terra sigillata and salt-fired. About 4" high.

New Work!

Unloading a kiln of newly glazed work is really fun. I recently unloaded a group of new dresses and vases and spent yesterday twisting copper and brass wire onto the necks and backs of them, adding pretty beads, and hanging them on the gallery wall for display. Rearranging, stepping back, playing house.

On Friday, after a visitor stopped in briefly and promised to return, my daughter excused herself hurriedly to preheat the oven for a group of her polymer clay creations and to make her display more attractive.
Her "Petite Treats" are beautiful! See the nachos, cakes, pancakes:

After the Melodrama, Merry Christmas.

Ten or so years ago, feeling insulted and furious, I slashed this painting in half!!! (Aren't all artists supposed to do this once in a while? - NO.) My professor had given me the pre-stretched linen canvas, which I took as a great compliment demanding my most excellent attention: I painted a still life of fresh beets and clay figures. Then I ruint it with phthalo blue and sat it aside. After the slashing, instead of burning it, I put away the two halves. Then last year, in some quest for healing from the insult and low self-esteem of earlier years, I sewed them together with red and gold thread....Not finished, and still inclined to melodrama, I made a metaphor of pain and sacrifice (and pretty radiating lines) with gold nails.....Yesterday, in time for Christmas and as part of general studio clean-up, I began the laborious task of taking out the nails....It's time for the Beet Ladies to have some peace. Enough about sacrifice and stitching. More about the veggies. Happy veggies to all, and to all a good night!

The Way I Read It

Here's a linoleum print, the largest I've ever made - and hand-printed with a spoon rubbed in circles on the back of it! It is my political statement for the Bible belt, and I have a smaller version of the same message, "We are not so many worlds apart". It's basically a prayer for peace and unity. The other title is "The way I read it", meaning the Bible.

The central image of the marching feet was a happy accident. I use old newspapers underneath clay pieces when I work, and I was in the middle of a series of black and white clay hearts. The article, about the ROTC in Walterboro, happened to be under a clay heart, and when I picked up the clay, the marching feet were outlined by the shape of a heart. I saved it for a while until it found its place in the middle of the print.

Printmaking has a wonderful history in political statement. I enjoy that aspect of the art form, as did my parents and generations of printmakers before us!

Art by Janka

Here are a few photos of work from the past few years. I made hearts like crazy when we went to war in Iraq. Flowering vases I have made for some time, since teaching a friend how to pinch a pot. This wall-hanging dress is called "Cleopatra". (See the asp?)

Clay is a wonderful medium. I use earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain.

Recently I have ventured back into figurative work.

I also paint and make linoleum prints and woodcuts.

I've been an artist all my life. (Most children are.)