Fresh out of the kiln: A new glaze painting

Black underglaze on porcelain

(click on image for larger view)

This one turned out great. It's pretty darn small, only 3 1/4 by 4 1/4", but very detailed.

It's for this show that I have coming up in August. Here is the card:

It's a new gallery that Derik Van Beers just opened up. The back half is his studio and the front half is the gallery. It is very neat and tidy and looks great.
Here are the details:
Roscoe Ceramic Gallery
473 25th St., Suite D
Oakland, California
Gallery Hours Saturdays 11 am - 5 pm
415-515-3174

I also just got out these completed sculptures of dams. They were really smaller studies for large pieces but they came out really nice.

Another Dazzling Art in a Box Piece

Believe it or not I had to fire this piece 3 times(in addition to the bisque firing) to get it to work. The darn rocket kept popping off during the glaze firing. Eventually I ended up using nichrome wire to hold it in place which also ended up looking rather nice. Just another example of mistakes(or mishaps) working out in the end. Join Art in a Box or give the gift of Art in a Box today.

Just a quick post to alert y'all that I'm going to drop off some new heads at the Professor Squirrel Shop located within the Compound Gallery. And actually Friday night their having an event within the shop. Here are the details:

"Two Events! Stowaway Card Game Launch Party and more!
Friday October 8th, at 8-10pm
Sunday, October 17th, 3-5pm

Come Get Some Booty! Pirate Party to show off Stowaway, a pirate card game by local game maker, Jonathan Curley
and to show off nautical art by local artist, Kerri Johnson
Learn to play Stowaway! Compete in a tournament! Prizes! Professor Squirrel is carrying Stowaway Card Game!

Pirate outfits highly encouraged! Prizes!
Art and decks of cards for enjoyment and purchasing.
Pirate Snacks and Libations
Arrrrrrr, mateys!"

Location:
Professor Squirrel & The Compound Gallery
1167 65th st
Oakland, CA

Normal Hours:
The Gallery is open: Thursday-Sunday 12-6

Here is another small glazed ceramic head that will be available:



And here is a small ceramic hand holding a pistol also available at the shop:
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Thanks!

Holidayland and Craft Fair at CCA

Well the craft fair time of year is upon us and I have been busy.
First of all I have work up at The Compound Gallery for their Holidayland event which they hold in conjunction with Blankspace Gallery nextdoor.

Here is the info from their website:
"Holidayland
(November 27- December 20th)
First Friday Reception: Friday, December 4th, 6-10pm
Galleries are open extended hours during the sale:WEDNESDAY – SUNDAY 12-8pm
*additional holiday cheer events Dec 13th and 20th 4-8pm

This is the second year we will be joining forces with Blankspace located next door to create a holiday Extravaganza! This year we are looking to offer more local original artwork, handmade crafty items, accessories, cards, ornaments, tote bags and creative fun stuff. Both galleries will be themed with rustic Paul Bunyan decor and will feature over 100 great local artists, designers and craftspeople. Small works of art, ceramics, accessories, paper goods, household goods, gifts for kiddies, jewelry and many more affordable indie gifts. Many fun activities through out the sale including- Get your holiday photo taken in our themed photo booth (proceeds go to Art in Oakland Schools) and spin the Wheel o’ bounty for prizes.

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS (see Blankspace for more artists!): 1.by.liz, Adrian Van Allen, Alissa Goss, Amy Martin, Anne Garvey, Art for a Democratic Society, Ben Belknap, Billy Davidson, Brandy Gardner, Brave Moonman, Claudia Bauer, Christopher Romer, Crystal Morey, Ezme Designs, Flock Home, Foxes and Robbers, Hue Yang, Jake Gillespie, Kate Donaldson-Fletcher, Katie Kaapcke, Laura Borchert, lemonade handmade jewelry, Lena Verderano Reynoso, Lucie-Lu, Matt Reynoso, Masako Miki, Noah Sakamoto, Noelle Nakama, Phineas Wilson Peale, Esq., Recession Clothing, Roberto Gastelumendi, Ryan McJunkin, Shannon Ingraham, Tallulah Terryll, Terrariums by Kat Geiger, unatuna, W.Ho Made It, YaChin Bonny You, and MORE!!"

I have several heads up on an awesome display made by Matt and Lena for the show. It's a stump of a log right up on the counter with the heads all hanging off of it.
I will add a picture of it later, it looks great.

I already had feedback from a happy customer from Holidayland. Local ceramic artist Derik Van Beers came in to my work to show me pictures of the heads that he bought because he was so excited. He even sent me copies:
This is a picture of a wall of ceramic art he has in his house. My work is on the far right.

Here is a close-up of the three heads that he bought. People always like to pick out a group of heads that look good together. I suppose it suggests some sort of narative.


So you can buy your own heads at Holidayland or you can buy them direct from me at the CCA(California College of the Arts) Craft Fair in Oakland this Saturday.


Here is the info from their site:
"Holiday Fair
A winter arts and crafts bazaar
Saturday, December 5, 2009, 11 am–3 pm

Main walkway, Oakland campus
Oakland campus map (PDF)
Directions »

Twice a year CCA Student Affairs staff turn the idyllic Oakland campus into a bustling arts bazaar. The public is invited to shop for one-of-a-kind, handmade, affordable gifts created by the CCA community: paintings, drawings, cards, jewelry, ceramics, hand blown glass, clothing, photography, textiles, and more. Discover unique gifts while enjoying live jazz music and holiday treats.

Participation in selling is open to all CCA students, alumni, faculty, and staff. To register for a table click here. The deadline to register is November 27, 5:00pm.

For more information email glee@cca.edu."

Hope to see you there!

East Bay Express: I'm on the cover. Awesome.

So, I've gotten a few emails in the last couple of days about reviews for "This Long Road." There are a couple of nice blog reviews as well as an online article that just came out in the East Bay Express. Anyhow today I just found out they used my 'Asbestos Suit' piece on the cover of the actual issue of the East Bay Express. Crazy. Anyhow you should pick up a copy if you can. Here is a picture of the cover:



All you have to do is remove this sticker for "Star Wars in Concert":


And this is the picture revealed:


If you're not in the bay area you can read the review here.

More Show in Progress

So these are some sculptures I'm in the process of glazing tonight. They have a base coat of underglaze on their skin that I fired on in the bisque firing. Now I have rubbed black underglaze into the crevices to bring out the detail and I am about to add shadows and highlights. Next I will glaze their eyes, hair and finally clothing.

This is a sculpture I got out of the kiln a couple of days ago using the same process as above(different grey-green underglaze for the skin color.)

Next is the finished flame wall pedestal. Turned out rather nice though I broke one of the flame points off of the upper left hand side. I'll have to glue unfortunately.


Finally a little test piece I made with an old 1961 slip casting mold of a geisha that I used as a press mold.

This Long Road

So I'm going to be in a show next month with my good friends Crystal Morey and Derek Weisberg. It's at the Compound Gallery where I have been selling heads for quite a while now(see earlier posts). Here are the details about the show:

This Long Road is a show of individual works as well as collaborative pieces, made by Ben Belknap, Derek Weisberg, and Crystal Morey. All three artists were schoolmates at the California College of Arts and Crafts where a relationship began rooted in the love of figurative sculpture. Each artist has their own interpretation and style of the body as well as emotional content behind the work. In “This Long Road’ the artists will each represent their own work, and then explore the wonder, innovation, and trials of working together on a larger project.
Opening: Saturday September 12
Closing: Sunday September 27th

restock of ceramic heads at the Compound Gallery

See older post for details on the Compound Gallery.
(Thank you Matt and Lena.)

Mountains - fresh

So just got these from Derek Weisberg, who was kind enough to fire them for me.
The big one had been sitting around for a couple of months waiting for the first available cone five firing.
They turned out pretty sweet, I just need to figure out how to display them and with what other elements.

Another Ceramic Head

New ceramic heads fresh from the kiln

I'll post several over the next few days.
Stay tuned.

Ceramic Head

New Ceramic Lady

As you may have noticed I tend to make sculptures of men. This is because I am not too good at depicting ladies. In recent months I have slowly been working on improving in this department and the sculpture which you see is my most successful to date. It will likely be included in a larger sculpture, perhaps with a landscape, at some future date.

Recent Head

Craft fair tomorrow at CCAC in Oakland

Hey I'm going to have some heads and some other work at the CCA craft fair.
Please come out and sample my wares.
It's located at the intersection of Broadway and College and runs from 10-2.

Ceramic Head

Guess what? another ceramic head

yet more to come

More ceramic heads....

More ceramic heads

More ceramic heads to come

Just got back some of my ceramic heads

As I said I just got back these ceramic heads from the show at the Guerilla Cafe where they were in a show of ceramic sculpture.
I will post more of these ceramic heads as I just took a bunch of photos of the ones that were left from the show.