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

Life of a Potter, taking chances, and getting ready for the Holidays...

It's almost December 25th!

We have new artwork that arrives throughout the month.  Each week, I think, I will find time to throw on the potter's wheel, but not to be.  I haven't thrown since mid November.

I did get a chance to fire the gas kiln two weeks ago.  I had three large trays in this firing.  All three of them cracked or slumped.  Here it is, December, and I will not have large trays for sale until January.  Missed the entire Holiday Season.  The life of a potter, never a dull moment.  I did have several very nice small tray sets out of this last firing.  They sold the first weekend.  Only one is left.

I made small candle holders and small dishes.  The small dishes would be perfect for soy sauce, olive oil, or jewelry next to a sink.   The candleholders are the right size for our small Green Daffodil candles.  Also, Michael Kifer's small square plates would be perfect as a soap dish.

Michael Kifer's Square Plates

Michelle Courier, our Bay City painter, was featured in January's Art Collector Magazine.  I am thrilled for her national exposure.  She is very talented and I love having her paintings in the gallery.

January American Art Collector's Magazine

I organized an ornament making workshop.  You could use these at Christmas or on packages throughout the year.  I have had customers making them today, Saturday.  Plus, this coming Wednesday, I will have the supplies ready for any creative people.  It is fun, easy, and you will be surprised at how creative you can be.

Have you been checking your lists?  Let me help you complete your Holiday shopping.  

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas, 

Cyndi

The Holidays, Christmas Trees, and Being Creative

Can you believe that it is almost December! The Holidays. Christmas trees. Baking. The Gallery. Family. BEING CREATIVE.

I love managing the gallery. There are always many tasks. I never have a boring day. But, back to being creative. It is hard when I need to use the logical side of my brain most of the day. I have several serving trays and two sets of dinnerware to make that have been ordered for early winter. Luckily both customers are flexible as to when the sets need to be completed. It makes me wonder though if it allows me to procrastinate.

Josh Herman, www.joshherman.com, and I talked this fall about carrying his work. Josh and I met at MISSA, www.missa.ca, several years ago. We had both signed up for Robin Hopper's glaze formulation course. We worked hard in that class for two weeks. Over 2000 test tiles later, a strict formula for recording test glazes, and we were sent on our way to continue the paths we were headed down. Josh was interested in textural glazes. Look where he has gone with them!

Josh's forms and glazes are not easy. I know that for all of the successes that we see, he has had many smashed with the hammer. We have five of Josh's pieces in the gallery.

For my own work, I use reticulation glazes once in awhile. I have been thinking about focusing on them this winter. It's hard to articulate what swirls in your head when considering new paths. It is probably best to not talk about it, just be quiet with your thoughts, letting them formulate so that you do not get locked into an idea that might cause an unwanted path, ultimately. It is hard to know.

So, here's to putting tasks, thoughts, needs....into mental boxes and allowing the time to be creative.

 

It must be the texture

It's Monday morning and the week of Thanksgiving.  All of our kids and significant others will be joining us later this week.  I have a long to-do list both for home and the gallery.  However, I am pausing.  I have to wonder if I am procrastinating.  Yes, I am.  Oh well.  Maybe this is my way, of taking a breath.  Long breath in; long breath out.  

I am continually amazed by the information on the internet.  Some days I think it is too much and not good for us as human "beings".  Then, I get caught up in learning about something that crossed my path.  20 years ago,  I would not have been able to do this learning via my home computer.  

Tripod Wine Cup, Shang Dynasty

Shane Norrie

When I visit the Art Institute of Chicago, I always visit the Asian room with their Chinese Bronzes.  I am drawn to this piece.  Some day, I will incorporate something from this piece into my own clay work.  It is rumbling around in my brain, waiting for me to puzzle it out.  Another blog that I read is by Shane Norrie, a Canadian artist.  I love his glazes and forms.  

So, it must be the texture from stampings or glaze, that I am drawn to.  Because of the web, I can learn more about this information, and sometime, in the future, I will put it all together in my clay work.

Ok, enough "learning".  Time to get into the gallery.  Put handles on mugs, check the bisque kiln, get an order ready for shipping, pick up produce from my local CSA (Certified Sustainable Agriculture), grocery shop.......

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Desert, Weddings, and the Gallery

Last week was a busy one for me.  Getting the gallery ready so that I could attend my son's wedding.  Writing notes.  Making sure there was enough change in the till.  Thinking about arranging for social marketing posts in advance.  Re-checking notes to the artists who helped me out over several days.  The list and tasks seemed endless.  Then, I was out of time.  Off to the airport.  I always say "to hurry up and then wait".  Your life is now in the hands of the airline. Who knows if you will arrive to your destination when anticipated or the next day, due to delays.  I remind myself to be patient with everything and everyone around me.  Relax.  Enjoy the time processing thoughts that have been bouncing around in my head.  Read.  And of course, I have my ipad!

The wedding was in Scottsdale.  Land of sunshine and great bypasses.  Check out this turtle.  The wedding was wonderful.  We have a new daughter-in-law who we love.  I couldn't leave Arizona without visiting the Heard Museum.  It has been years since I visited and had heard that they had expanded.  Lots of great Native American art.

There were pots from two thousand years ago and current artisans.  I loved the wall of clay and glass totems.  I can feel a new winter project percolating.  I better write the ideas down before they evaporate to wherever lost ideas go.  Time to get moving, work out, and head to the gallery.  Tomorrow is Night Light and I need to decorate for the Holidays.

Remember:  if you like to cook, I send an email about every other week, with recipes and other interesting bits of information on the area and in the arts world.  To sign up go to:  http://www.c2cgallery.com/Site/Contact.html and

please "Like" our Facebook page.

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Moved....Just in Time

One angle of our new space.  I LOVE IT! Visitors have walked in and said "WoW!  This feels great.  Peaceful, beautiful, calm."  I hadn't thought of those adjectives but when I look around, I realize that maybe this is the reason that I love walking into the gallery each morning.  

I am working on details still.  Always details with running a small business.  Inventory, cleaning, dusting, accounting, banking, advertising, social media.  Oh, did I mention, that some where in all of these details, I am supposed to be creative and make my own ceramic work.  The very strange thing is that I am more energized than I have been in years.  Hopefully, my ceramic work will show that new enthusiasm also. 

Many of you know that I visited Vermont, a couple of weeks ago.  Two days was all I had.  I saw family members, visited friends, and popped into my favorite art galleries.  I think C2C Gallery will benefit from this trip.  We are adding a new jeweler, Lochlin Smith, http://www.lochlinsmith.com.  I think his work will compliment Julie Sanford's work, http://www.juliesanforddesigns.com.  We, also, will have new scarves created by Maggie Neale, http://colormusings.com.  Both Lochlin and Maggie are Vermont artists who have many many years in their craft.

New ceramics work is being delivered daily.  Michael Kifer's work has been leaving the store quickly.  I had to visit his studio to pick up more of it.  Michael's work is bright, painterly, many colored, and in some pieces lots of texture.  Josh Herman's work, www.joshherman.com, is all about texture.  I met Josh about ten years ago in Robin Hopper's Glaze Course.  

Brian is in the gallery, this morning, so that I can write this note.  I have a hard time focusing when I am in the shop; too many details and things to do.  I can't quiet my mind.  

Upcoming events:  Friday, November 2, 6 - 8pm.  "Keep the Lights On".  We are raising money for Grand Haven's Local Icon, the Lighthouse.  It will be a fun night to purchase art posters by Christi Dreese, engraved bricks, and the chance to win a Jon McDonald painting.  As we do on First Friday's, we will have wonderful live music.  This month, Susan Picking is performing, www.susanleighpicking.com.  Please plan to support this worthy cause and Have Some Fun!

Image by Bob Walma

Remember:  if you like to cook, I send an email about every other week, with recipes and other interesting bits of information on the area and in the arts world.  To sign up go to:  http://www.c2cgallery.com/Site/Contact.html and

please "Like" our Facebook page.

www.facebook.com/C2Cgallery