How are you? I am still in a reflective mode while working in the studio. I am looking back at 2024, choosing to remember the good, and looking forward to the future. The Italian trip with a good friend in combination with a ceramics course has helped me think more creatively in a long time. My new clay work allows me to slow down and really think about forms while I roll out very thin porcelain coils. More on that later.
This year is packed with fun projects. I will be exhibiting at the March LVAC member show; work on the School Board; Banner Project for downtown Grand Haven; co-chairing the LVAC Art in the Yard (10th Year for this event); curating an Invitational for the Muskegon Museum of Art and other local projects.
Have you ever wanted to walk on water? Wouldn’t it be fun to walk across our channel to the North Shore? Check this out!
“On Water highlights the divide between two different worlds. Erkmen had noticed how the harbor divided the northern side with its promenade and cafes from the industrial southern part. In essence, On Water is the bridge of the divide between work and pleasure.
Like her other site-specific installations, the bridge calls our attention to the overlooked harbor. Not just that. It calls attention to the concept of urban transportation and displacement.”
Gallery:
You may remember that I moved last year. One of my new neighbors is an two-dimensional artist, Dave Warmenhoven. I enjoy seeing his studio lights on late at night. He says this about his artwork, “I want to convey emotion through selection of color and expression of line and form in each piece that I create……. Working on multiple pieces at a time so that the energy and consistency of the medium experimentation flows from one piece to the next……..heredity……primitive, absurd, exaggerated, inventive and lively……a melting of left brain and right brain……….always evolving.”
Last week, I was reading an email from Hyperallergic. This online newsletter introduced me to Mitchell Johnson who has an exhibit in SanFrancisco. This artist has a catalog available if you are interested in his work. I like the geometry and how his paintings are constructed. Plus, Mitchell focuses on objects and scenes that resonate with me. You might relate to them too.
Please remember that the Muskegon Museum of Art is celebrating its $15 million dollar expansion in February. Plan to make a trip there and spend an afternoon. There are wonderful new exhibits planned and even classes.
Need something new to read or to add to your book list:
I read about an artist who wondered about discarded Christmas trees. It caught my eye and had to read more. Do you collect books like I do? This might interest you. “O Tannenbaum – pine trees of late capitalism”.
“The project captures the peculiar journey of Christmas trees after the holiday season — tossed out of windows, left inside broken ATMs, propped on traffic signs, or even carried on the back of an elephant. With incredible support from CRP/Centre régional de la photographie Hauts-de-France and its director, Audrey Hoareau, who believed in this vision, we were able to bring it to life as a beautifully printed hardcover book. The pictures were taken in Berlin over the past two years.”
Other books:
Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder
Windigo Moon: A novel of Native America by Robert Downes
The Power of One: A Novel by Bryce Courtenay
Studio:
I have been taking an online course and have had an “ah ha!” with regard to my clay work. I think this might be “it”. I am enjoying the slow process of hand coiling very thin, 1/8th inch thick, porcelain coils and creating tall forms, bowls, and vases with them. I have been working on mugs, something many of you love, too. What I enjoy about this process is that I get to slow my movement down and really think about the form. The making is very meditative for me. I get to think about all kinds of things and listen to books or music. By slowing the process down, I get to consider what I might form next. Last fall, I made a ceramic demijohn. It was well received at the Art in the Yard show. I am thinking of making more demijohns using this coil method. One thing that I am wondering about is whether they are thin enough to be transparent and reflect the interior glaze.
I am leaving evidence of the coil. The pattern created reminds me of the patterns I see out at the lake as I walk our beaches. For me this is the connection that I have been looking for all of these years between my artwork and living on this fresh water ocean. My forms allow me to share a piece of art connected to Lake Michigan.
As you look back on 2024, take a moment and celebrate all the creative risks you took.
Sure, some fell flat.
Some flew.
You could have stayed in your comfort zone.
But you didn’t.
You chose to create.
I hope 2025 is your year.
(Truthfully, I didn’t write this.The denim company, Huit Denim, included it in their year end newsletter.)
Best from the lakeshore, C2
