Here's to a successful and delightful summer

Wowie!  I can't believe I'm starting my second year as a grad student at the U.  This past summer was wonderful as I was able to travel, get into my studio, and meet some wonderful artists down in North Carolina.  I ended my spring semester making large scale installations and had made significant progress on my conceptual ideas that drive my work.

Starting off the summer I took a very refreshing trip to the Boundary Waters in northern Minnesota.  It was nice to be completely detached from the world and get some time to reflect on this past year.  It was a pretty special experience.  I also took a camping trip up near Bayfield, Wisconsin; a small town right on Lake Superior with Sea Caves that you can hike near or take a kayak to see.

Double Rainbow over Duncan Lake

Bayfield, Wisconsin

Back in the studio I wanted to get back to the wheel and take a break from the conceptual ideas.  I also had a large dinner set commission that I had through Crimson Laurel Gallery.  It was a challenge but a very good experience.  It felt great to be able to deliver it to the gallery and hear that the customers that received it were very happy with their set!  Here's two settings from that dinner set. 

Two dinnerware sets

Along side making the dinnerware set, I was also investigating new processes and surface decorations on my pots.  I feel that as my ideas progress in my drawings and installation work, my pots also need to go through the aesthetic changes that are happening in my studio.  Here are a few pieces I was excited about from this summer.  I am in particular excited about my plates.  I feel there is a connection between them and the drawings that I am doing in my studio.  I will post new drawing images hopefully soon!

Tray with three cups

Small Plate

Two Bowls

Magical Penland

In August I went to Penland and had an incredible experience there working among new and old friends and many talented artist.  I was an assistant to Tetsuya Yamada (one of my professors at the University of Minnesota) along side Brandi Jessup who is on her way to a residency in Taos, New Mexico.  At the same time as Tetsuya's class, Andy Shaw was teaching a session on tableware.  It was interesting to see the two classes themes working side by side (Object and Context vs. Tableware).   It was so great to see Bailey Arend and Angela Eastman and see what they were working on in their studios as well.  As well as seeing old friends, I also met Christina Cordova and Michael Kline and saw their fabulous studios for the first time.  Their studios and homes are right near (or close to) the Penland campus and it seems like such a wonderful dream set up.  

It was a crazy and amazing experience making new work, firing kilns, running the back roads around campus, meeting new people, and enjoying the nature that Western North Carolina has to offer.  It was kind of a life changing experience for me.  While I was there I wanted to get back into hand building and start my thought processes again on the ideas I ended last semester with.  Here is an installation I did with work that I made while I was there in the Dye Shed.  Doing this quick project got me thinking about going into more specific spaces with my work and installing my objects around what the building has to offer. 

Dye shed installation

Coming back to Minnesota all of the Grad students in the program are part of  show called Fresh Works.  I decided to take some of the same forms from the Dye shed installation and see how they could be fit into an entirely different space.

Fresh Works Installation

Bedfellow's Club Piece

Another small project and exhibit I'm a part of is the Bedfellow's Club.  Jess Hirsch (a recent MFA grad from the art department)  has taken work from artists in the Minneapolis area and have arranged the work in someone's living space.  I think the project is an exciting way to reach out to people and show them how art can be incorporated into your home life and how that may change your experience within the comforts of your own domestic space.  

And finally, I am starting this semester off taking an advanced drawing class working with Matthew Zefeldt.  I'm super excited to be in a class that is allowing me time to focus on my drawings.  I'm looking forward to seeing how this will be influencing my installations.  I am also a Teacher's Assistant for the one of the new faculty Natalie Tornatore who is the sabbatical replacement for Tom Lane this year.  It's great to be working with her and having her around the studio!  

Thanks for reading and hopefully my next post will be sooner than later!