Thoughts and Questions

C2C's exhibits revolve around a theme, artist, or style of work.  Last October, I asked Julie Devers and Michael Kifer to create work for a joint show.  I greatly appreciate both of their ceramic work.  Polar opposite of one another.

Julie wrote this poem for the Kalamazoo Art Institute, where she teaches.  It gives you a glimpse into the thoughts of a potter who fires a wood kiln.

Wall hanging/Platter by Julie Devers

I Ask 

I ask how did I bruise my arm?    

    

did you hold mine?

have you raked recently?

do you have a tall skinny pot?

is someone ready to stoke that side?

can someone send in some floor bricks?

how did the graveyard go?

wow, did you see that flame out the stack?

who brought the banana bread?

I ask who do we have for the fire-off?

The questions are asked through artist time and artist creation.

“At this juncture I would put the question might not beauty and the love of the beautiful perhaps bring peace and harmony.  Could it not carry us forward to new concepts of life’s meaning?”

“Can you hear me in the back?”

“How many times must a man look up before he can see the sky?”

The questions are endless, like the shigaraki night sky, surrounding the half moon and the cone of flame.  Even owls ask their question to the graveyard shift. “who? who?”

If I could belch out the answers with the confidence of an overheated train,

I may as well pull over onto the shoulder or begin sleeping at night.

                                                                                 by:  Julie Devers

Tea bowls and Larger Bowl by Julie Devers

(This poem is from a 2010 publication, Shaped By Fire.  It was poetry and reflections from the 10th anniversary of the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts anagama kiln.)

 Baby Teapot by Michael Kifer

This Friday, is First Friday Gallery Walk.  6 - 8pm.  The "Yin and Yang of Ceramics" is up, ready for your viewing.  Friday night, March 1, listen to Michael Drost perform jazz on his acoustical guitar and enjoy our refreshments, throughout the evening.  

Michael Drost Performing

C2C Gallery offers art for your every day life.  We have selected ceramics; photography;  acrylic, oil, and encaustic paintings, silver and gold jewelry, glass, wood and metal sculpture, and textiles that you will enjoy in your personal and business surroundings. 

Thank you for reading my blog.  Please send it on to any friends who might enjoy it.  

Snow, Kilns, and New Exhibits

It's February.  I thought we were going to have another mild winter.  Not the case, at least for this week.  I am home firing my gas kiln, catching up on paperwork, etc.  

Brian and I were able to get out of Michigan.  Brian had been wanting me to see Tamarindo, Costa Rica.  It was beautiful.

Miles of beaches, lots of surfers, 95 degree days and warm nights.  I found a potter there who makes low fired work.  Arbin Guevara was handed down the coil building traditions by his mother, a Chorotega Indian.  Arbin blends traditional designs with his own patterns.  

Guaitil Potter, Tamarindo Beach, Costa Rica

You can check out his work by clicking on the image of his pots shown above.  

Natural patterns in the sand.  Looks like trees.

Sea Creatures working under the surface.

Of course, many shells. Lots of these auger shells.

For me, going to the beach is about looking to see what I can find along the shore.  Of course, shells, patterns in the sand made by crabs, water, people.  Some of this information is starting to appear on my own personal clay work.  

New Vase by Cyndi Casemier

March 1 is our next First Friday Gallery Walk.  The title of this show is:  "The Yin and Yang of Ceramics:  New work by Julie Devers and Michael Kifer".  More on this later.  If you are in the Midwest, stay warm and be careful driving.  C2