FRESH POTS! GET YOUR FRESH POTS!

Admittadly not the best photo.

So I fired Coleman's Grey Blue Celadon at cone 10 in my electric kiln. I got much better results then expected. The reading I did about firing Celadon's in oxidation said they would be matt, and more then likely have a brown or pink hue. These don't ----

Super excited about the sale this weekend, and now I have some fresh pots to add to the collection.

GLAZING For weekend sale

So---- I am glazing so work for the sale this weekend. I am going to fire some Coleman Grey Blue Celadon at cone 10 in my electric kiln. Have had offers for a place to fire in reduction, not enough work to fill a kiln.

Will post results

HOLIDAY SALE.

After a very successful OPEN STUDIO TOUR, a few of my ceramic artist friends, a jewelry designer, and an amazing painter, are holding a HOLIDAY SALE..... Of course just be an excuse to hang out and drink eggnog and eat cookies.

STUDIO TOUR MAP

Its getting closer and closer..... The 1st ever Las Vegas Art Studio Tour. Come join the fun!

What a week ---

THE MESSY MOOSE

Had a great time in Casper WY. The folks at the Moose were amazing, and the community snapped up my work like it was the next hot trend. Well actually two trends, the Face Mugs and the Desert Landscapes. (the vacuum needed the press).
I am thrilled with the response.

Starting to think of returning to grad school.....

The Messy Moose Sept 22nd - Sept 24th

Thom Bumblauskas will be at The Messy Moose Sept 22nd - Sept 24th for a "Sculptural Pottery" show.Thom has focused and trained in the style of the legendary South Eastern pottery dynasties. He draws inspiratiion from the work of the Hewells and Meaders. He is interested in preserving tradional forms but giving them a contemporary twist.

THINKART!! GERTRUDE - Lunch Box

Just got this email]

Dear Thomas:

On behalf of ThinkArt!, I would like to thank you for entering the Marriott SpringHill Suites ArtNight Juried Art Exhibition, Black White & Night.

We are happy to inform you that you have been selected to be showcased at Marriott SpringHill Suites ArtNight theme art exhibition, Black White & Night. The work(s) will be showcased from September 13 – 27, 2011. The juried process gave us a peek, a glimpse, of your artistic talent and we would be proud to showcase it at our event.

Black White & Night Reception event, an evening of entertainment and refreshment, has been scheduled on September 27, 2011 from 4:30 pm – 8:00 pm. It is also on this night that your work(s) is available for purchase. Your attendance is most encouraged.

The following work(s) have been selected:

Gertrude - Lunchbox

All wall pieces, accepted by ThinkArt! and Think & Wonder, Inc. must be prepared properly for hanging. All other work must be ready to be installed. Sculptures must be able to sit sturdy on pedestal or on floor.

Because of space limitations with any given exhibition, not all works that have been accepted will be on display.

Artwork(s) Drop-off/Delivery Deadline:

Saturday, Sept. 10 between 10 am - 6:00 pm

Please drop-off or deliver your work(s) to:

Marriott SpringHill Suites

2989 Paradise Road · Las Vegas, Nevada 89109.

If you need direction to the hotel, please call 702-433-5880.

Thank you once again for your participation in the Black White & Night Exhibition. We are excited to showcase your work(s).

Warmest regards,

Dinh

SUCCESS

The piece I did not put in the show... I really enjoy this soda fired pot.

Last night the WEST SARAH LIBRARY ART SHOW opened without a hitch. From my guess we had about 200 people attend - for Vegas that's a great turn out. Thanks to Nevada Clay Guild for helping to spread the word.

I need to run off to the studio. Would like to get three 28" platters thrown today, then off to Aardvark to teach class tonight.

Ill try to post photos of the platters tomorrow.


Thinking about starting a REFER A FRIEND to my blog - if you refer three (?) people to the blog, you are registered to win a piece of my work. This is all still in the mulling around in my scattered brain. Details to be nailed down soon

WEST SARAH LIBRARY SHOW

Here are the pieces I have in this library show. All three were wood fired, the Devil Cup is my (today) favorite. The atmosphere from the firing made this guy very special.

Cosmopolitan’s Art-o-mat - featuring me

Cheaper Than a Pack of Cigs

How the maker of the Cosmopolitan’s Art-o-mat provided art lovers with a $5 entry into the art world

By Andreas Hale

July 21st, 2011

Whittington in his garage studio in North Carolina.

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If you’ve explored the Cosmopolitan, surely you’ve noticed its scattering of old-school cigarette vending machines, which deliver $5 miniature works of art instead of Marlboro Reds. They’re called Art-o-mats, and they originated as a conceptual art piece by Clark Whittington. Today the Art-o-mat has grown to sell work from 300-400 artists from 10 countries. There are 100 machines in the U.S.A. (and machines in Australia, Canada and Austria), with the Cosmopolitan housing seven. Vegas Seven spoke with Art-o-mat’s founder and creator to discuss its origins, its appeal and how it wound up in a casino.

What was the inspiration behind Art-o-mat?

My art has always been conceptual. I would base a lot of my work on things that I observed. I came up with the idea of putting art in a vending machine based on a friend’s reaction to snack wrappers. When he’d hear the crinkle of cellophane, he’d always go and buy something for himself. When I moved to North Carolina in 1997, cigarette machines were being banned and thrown away. That became the foundation of the first Art-o-mat machine. The idea of art in cellophane was to take art that wasn’t marketable and repackage it into something consumer friendly.

Are people purchasing the art simply for the experience of using a cigarette machine?

It’s the experience at first. Repeat purchases are based on the fact that they enjoyed their first experience. Some people keep coming back and amass a huge collection. We’re reaching this middle ground of people that have been alienated by all of the pretentiousness of the art world. We are introducing people to art who may not have bought art before in an affordable manner. The whole art of buying something out of Art-o-mat is sort of like a piece of art, anyway.

Did you anticipate having so many machines?

No way! My art has always been pretty much a flop. The first Art-o-mat was one of 13 pieces I had at a show in a coffee shop that featured my own art in there for a dollar a piece. I expected to get rid of the machine after the 30-day show ended. At the end of the month the coffee shop owner said that I couldn’t take it because it was “too cool.” But I couldn’t keep it filled with my own art, so we invited other artists to sell their art.

How did you connect with the Cosmopolitan?

As crazy as the Cosmopolitan can be about pushing the envelope, they are very normal people that understand how to make connections with people. One of [director of content and entertainment at the Cosmo] Chris Burns’ buddies was an Art-o-mat artist. He mentioned the machines to Chris and got him intrigued with the concept. He contacted us directly, I met with him and he was very approachable. I wanted to start with one machine, they wanted more and we took it from there.

How do you select your artists?

They select us. It sounds cheesy, but I never want anyone to be a part of this because they felt pressured to do it. I want people to approach us naturally. It’s cool because you can get your work literally into the hands of people. Any artist out there—and we need artists—go to our website Artomat.org, follow the guidelines. We do have some Vegas artists that have signed on recently [Kelly Murphy, John Gregg, Stephanie Ford, Lisa Fields Clark, Thomas Bumblauskas, Christopher Ralph Vasquez and Alyssa Risley]. That’s kind of cool because we want each city and machine to be a resource for local artists.

Tags:

• A&E
• Art
• Art-o-mat
• Cosmopolitan

Teapots and Pitchers

Having a crazy week, again.
Teaching two days at Pottery West, and two days at Aardvark Clay and Supply. This week I am focusing my demonstrations in teapots and pitchers.

It seem to be making all of the students happy. I'll try to remember to photo the pieces was are creating in class. Better then the ones I have posted.

AUG 3 2011

This is a jug from our last Wood Soda firing. Mr. Flower's and his Water Jug. I just posted him to my Esty store.




Last weekend I was at the Howard Alan show in Park City UT - not to be negative, but what a stinker. I think we saw about 300 people, really. Saturday night we went for a ride around town to see why this might be. First we only saw one poster, secondly the construction in front of the show as terrible. One lane in each direction. Needless to say I was not thrilled about the this show.

This week I am working on the Tom Coleman gas soda firing workshop at Pottery West. So far lots of fun!!!!

AMAZING WEEKEND

First a HUGE thank you to Amy Kline and Pottery West for letting us us the facility and having such amazing equipment!
Remember I am in Vegas; most of the weekend was in the mid-90's - it was great! Here is our firing schedule. We held about 4 hours, that should be enough time to develop some great color and give is some good sparkly pots.

WOOD SODA	July 15-17 2011				Cone pack
					010; 06; 8;9;11
Crew	Time	upper temp	lower temp		notes
	July 14/15/16
Marc R					Cleaned Kiln
Danni					CleanedFurniture
John G					Vacuum, kiln wash shelves, wadding
Thom B					Split wood, grind bag wall, wadding
Donna/Brian (son)					Split wood, brought personal chain saw...
Thom\John					Purchased 13 new shelves (last firing purchased 8)
	07/16/11
John Thom Beth	2pm – 7:30p				Load (planned 8am start – had to finish prep)
Thom B John Beth Morgan	730	96	96		Start Fire
Thom Beth (Morgan)	830	18	18		Probe wrong
Thom Beth (Morgan)	930				Probe wrong
Thom Beth (Morgan)	1030	245
Thom Beth (Morgan)	1130	300
John Beth (Morgan)	1230	364
John Brian (son)	200	324	356		Probe Died Pulled new probe
John Brian (son)	300	550	390		moving to box
John Brian (son)	400	650	516
John Brian (son)	500	900	690
John Brian (son)	600	1100	812
Thom John Brian (son)	700	1301	1030
Thom John Brian (son)	800	1490	1229
Thom John Brian (son) Donna	900	1775	1500		Reduction
Thom John Brian (son) Donna	930	1600	1400
Thom John Brian (son) Donna	1000	1800	1600		fire box full:coal bed high – open 2 passive (high)
Thom John	1100	1962	1819		switch to pine only
Thom John Marc Mary	1130	2118			stirring ash every 10 to 15
Marc Mary	1200	2100
marc Mary	1225	2150
marc Mary	100	2145			50/50 pine/mahogany
marc Mary	125	2175			bed still high
marc Mary thom	145	2180	2157
marc Mary thom	215	2170	2180		c8 bending middle
marc Mary thom	250	2186	2179		coal bed nice – one passive out
marc Mary thom	315	2180	2150
marc Mary thom	335	2211	2195
marc Mary Thom	420	2208	2200
marc Mary Thom	445	2220	2250		c8 down, c9 starting to bend (bottom/middle)
marc Mary Thom	500	2245	2208
Thom B John	600	2260	2240		c9 bending all over
Thom B John Donna	700	2250	2250		Added soda as sawdust – bury box only
					50/50 mix (5lb total) over 3 stokes(flutter damper)
Thom B John Donna	830	2201	2190		high ash bed
Thom B John Donna	930	2250			HOLDING
Thom B John Donna	1030	2267	2226		c11 bending C11 down in middle
Thom B John Donna	1130	2350	2270		HOLDING
Thom B John Donna	1200				Closed – temp dropped to 2100 in 8 minutes
Opening July 21 – 3pm					Note: Firing of Refrigerator with Mr. Alyiss took
					took place 6am to 5pm on 7/17
					Total wood used 2.5 cords.
					Need to look at termites and carpenter bees in pile

WOOD FIRE WEEKEND

Spent the last 14 hours glazing pieces for the Wood Soda Firing at Pottery West.

Glazed the "Bento Boxes" using a combination of flashing slips and glaze. They should be amazing! I decided to try using a latex wax and Aluminum Hydrate on the "lids" for the forms. Off to Aardvard Clay and Supply to teach class....

The photos I keep forgetting to add

Playing with the idea of "Lunch Boxes" -- Would have loved to open my locker at school or work to find one of these dudes with my lunch in it.... Now that they are to this point, firing, should prove to be a wadding nightmare.


The box scooter arrived in....Scooter -- YEAH

FUN STUFF

first spent a $1.75 to fill the tank on my new ride -- Cruising back and forth to studio on a scooter: Wearing a helmet as the Vegas drivers are NUTS!

Just got an email that my face mug "SPIDEY DUDE" was featured on a new artist blog; http://etsianartists.blogspot.com/2011/07/wonderful-wednesdays.html

Check it out.

Tomorrow I start splitting wood --- who's idea was it to wood fire when its 110 outside; oh it was mine.

New Adventure --

My new project: Bento Boxes, sort of...

Found a open to interpretation, the theme, “To Go,” hopes to inspire both vessel and sculpture creation, from the obvious flasks, thermoses, car cups, lunch boxes, things with lids, wheels… to the more outrageous or unpredictable. The possibilities are endless – surprise us!

I think this is a fun idea, even if I don't enter the show.

process photos soon

IT'S ALREADY MID JUNE....

So when last I blogged, I was loading the Wood Soda Kiln at Pottery West. The firing was AMAZING lots of really good work. We had a slight mishap, we used three of the hollow core shelves at the front of the load. Those shelves are now dead, and hollow core shelves are in general are dead to me.

For the last two weekends I have been in north of Salt Lake City selling pots. The first show was in Ogden UT, a great one day art show. The weather was amazing and the folks there ate up the new product.

Last weekend I was in Logan UT, it was a three day show called LOGAN SUMMERFEST. It was interesting. I did sell one of my favorite pieces from the Soda Fire. I was told told by the women who bought it was going to be a Father's Day gift. Her dad is a collector...

Memorial Day Weekend

What better way to kick off the summer heat in Las Vegas then an old fashion Wood Soda firing - we a Japanese smokeless design. So John Gregg, Marc Rosenthal and Myself (and some great students at Pottery West in Las Vegas) have been splitting wood, grinding shelves and furniture, kiln washing all the parts and glazing like mad.

We will be starting to load this Saturday (5/28) early in the day, and hope to start the fire by 8pm. I think we will be doing a 30hr firing, we could do it much faster, like 18 hours, but who wants broken pots, and non-developed color. The plan is 100 degrees pr hour for the first 800, then a bit faster to 1250. After that we can let it rip. Of course there is reduction at 010, and reduction again at cone 9.

I would really like the kiln to get to cone 11 bending, and keep it in that area for for four hours or so. Talking with Tom Coleman the other day, he said four hour hold should be fine, he would rather it be about six to get the best color development. We will see where our energy and labor force is..... I am already planning on DENNY'S very early Monday morning.

Some photos from the last wood soda fire in February....












What better way to kick off the summer heat in Las Vegas then an old fashion Wood Soda firing - we a Japanese smokeless design. So John Gregg, Mark Rosenthal and Myself (and some great students at Pottery West in Las Vegas) have been splitting wood, grinding shelves and furniture, kiln washing all the parts and glazing like mad.

We will be starting to load this Saturday (5/28) early in the day, and hope to start the fire by 8pm. I think we will be doing a 30hr firing, we could do it much faster, like 18 hours, but who wants broken pots, and non-developed color. The plan is 100 degrees pr hour for the first 800, then a bit faster to 1250. After that we can let it rip. Of course there is reduction in there, and again at cone 9. But I would really like the kiln to get to cone 11 bending, and keep it in that area for for four hours or so. Talking with Tom Coleman the other day, he said four hour hold should be fine, he would rather it be about six to get the best color development. We will see where our energy and labor force is..... I am already planning on DENNY'S very early Monday morning.

Some photos from the last wood soda fire in February....

FRESH FROM THE KILN

All of these pieces were fired at Pottery West in Las Vegas. John Gregg and I did a 19 hour firing in the propane reduction kiln.





These three cups were glazed with B's Shine over Laguana's Soda Fire body. Not sure the reason for the orange peel. Candled for for 4 hours at 250; two days after glazing... Love it, but confused.

This little dude is a porcelain cup that was a re-fire. I he was fired in the wood fire soda kiln a few months back, but had a huge dingus in the handle. A little grinding and a shot of glaze, and some more time in the kiln, he is good to go. (He needs a name..)


This small tea bowl has the same issue as the first three cups. But boy oh boy did the warmth of the Death Valley clay body come through.

Off to post a piece on Etsy.

Back in the saddle

s
So I have been back from my East coast adventure for about 3 weeks; I leave next week for Columbia Missouri to design a production THE MERRY WIDOW. While in Vegas i've been throwing, teaching classes, carving, and loading kilns. I have also been applying to shows and compilations, its great to be back.

Last night John Gregg and I were firing the "Refrigerator Kiln". It is a aprox 45 square foot propane reduction down draft. We fired it to cone 10 in 20 hours. Long time candling, something like 7 hours, as it was rainy and damp the day prior.

While firing I worked on 10 face cups... here is one of them.

13th Annual Faces Juried Online International Art Exhibition

A few of my pieces were accepted to this show: check it out!

http://www.upstreampeoplegallery.com/exhibition/default.asp?XD=3/1/2011&AN=Akrish%2C+Esther

DEBRA FRITTS Workshop

I had the great fortune to travel to Baltimore before the snow-mageddon 2011 and participate in a great workshop with Debra Fritts at the Baltimore Clayworks. The workshop revolved around creating a hand built head with attention to proportion and human anatomy. Super fun and made me leave the comfort zone of my face jug creations.

Day 1: Creation of the shell.

Build Neck


Create Chin and Head: Tapper Neck


Find Jaw


Setting placement for features


Ears, Jaw, Cheeks....
Closing the head

Day 2: The fun - Making it personal

I didn't take any photos of the altering and adding of the parts pieces and shoulders. I did take a few of the piece after the AMACO under glazes and englobes were applied. AMACO provides the underglazes for the workshops.


Debra showed us how to apply layers of dry clay to create a interesting surface texture that will crackle when it is fired. Wonder if it will work at cone 10?

I think the one of the things that Debra reminded to be a painter. I spent years painting for theatre and film, and I do not think I have ever tried those techniques with glaze. You don't always need to spray an even coat of glaze, perhaps I need to think of it as colored gesso.

Thanks Debra!