Hello friends. This week my blog is a little late due to the fact that I am in Washington DC (we drove 10 hours to get here). We are here for the Rally to Restore Sanity and the March to Keep Fear Alive. After having a long conversation with my friend about taking the weekend off to travel, I've decided that it's good to get away, clear my head, and look at my work on Monday with fresh eyes.
I was in the ceramics studio for 6 hours this week for studio time working on my large ceramic sculptures. I will upload new pictures of them (they've grown) on Monday when I get home. I wasn't feeling very happy with the direction the pieces have taken, mostly due to the scale and loss of control I've experienced while working on these bigger pieces. They are looking more like pillars than gestural organisms. I am going with the flow because I've been working on them for so long but I cannot wait to start working on smaller/medium size pieces.
After driving in the car for over nineteen hours this week I have become enthralled with the colors of the changing trees and deteriorating rocks of Pennsylvania... the burgundy, deep yellow ochre, pale gray, and and burnt umber of lifeless branches.. driving along the turnpike (although a pain in the butt) was a beautiful sight, one that I would like to experiment with and possible incorporate into the color of my pieces.
I am getting closer to finishing my large pieces, hopefully by the end of the week if all goes well. I've been doing some sketching/thinking about the nest pieces I want to begin. They will be around the same size as the fist one, maybe a little larger. I have come up with different ideas that address the placement of the pieces on the ground, the wall, and maybe even suspension. I may be a little ahead of myself but I've been imaging some interesting forms. I want to try and play with the idea of gravity and extension in the pieces. i.e. extending the neck of the form so that it seem unreal in the the length and balance of the overall organism.
The texture for the large pieces is simple and generally covers the entire piece. These look more Rock-like in my minds eye, a drake gray, maybe even stratified sections signified by a slight color change. I'm not a 100% on the color change because I don't know if horizontal bands help or hurt the form. I don't wan to to take much attention away but the fact that these pieces are so big and lack a large gesture it may be okay to have slight color change.
These are the things I am pondering now. All looks well, I am just excited to start working on new pieces.
PS the RALLY WAS SO FING COOOOL! So many people, great performances, hilarious signs. A great trip overall and nice to get a little break
Drake,
ReplyDeleteThat’s great that you went to DC! You’ll have to tell us about it. About your pieces – What is it specifically that you are missing from the large pieces? Is it larger gestures? Extensions? We all liked them, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t something else that you want them to be doing. If they are essentially figurative then this implies a vertical form, but there are creatures and life forms that are not vertical…..Look at the work of Isaac Witkin – particularly his smaller scale work he did at the end of his life. He was a sculptor who did very gestural abstract work. It’s not like what you’re doing, but a good example of 3-D work that is gestural and abstract: http://www.isaacwitkin. Look particularly at the section, Poured Bronze.
Janie