The Holidays are almost over...

December has ran away with it's days and we all seem to be hanging on for dear life as we are steered into the New Year. 

On December 21st I picked up my diploma from college. Yep, I did it! Finally! I have my BFA. It is truly anti-climactic though. I am starting my Masters degree right away. I really have no time to waste anymore. I am already in debt for college and nowadays a Bachelors degree is as simple as a high school diploma. So here I go again. On the 24 month road to my MFA. It is worth it though. It is giving me time to work on my art and learn more things that I wouldn't have had time for. I am leaning for my main focus to be more 3D than 2D. It is something I am enjoying more and I can always play in 2D stuff on my own. The 3D work is the work I need more time as an apprentice. With that said the New Year will bring me new beginning as a college graduate, and a true masters student. Something I have learned about being an art student is that everyone has a love for some kind of medium. Rather than try to be the best at all of them, it is time to focus on your hearts medium and what calls to you more. 

As I mentioned in the last blog I got my own potters wheel at home. I am busting out pieces left and right to start building my collection of things. I already have events on my schedule for 2016 where I will be attending art events to sell my ceramic art. It is truly exciting to see your dreams, goals, and work come together. So far it look like in June I will have be at Liberty Courtyard winery in Evansville, IL and in November I will be at an Art & Wine Walk in Belleville, IL. That is as far as I have gotten in my schedule for the sales events. I am running into an obstacle of needing to purchase a tent for the outdoor art fairs. There are a lot of opinions on what tent to buy. I think I am going to start with the $300 EZ Up type tent. Not that I will pick that particular brand, but something like it. Once I get that I will be able to start the process of art fairs and see if that will work for me and my medium. I would like to try 3 or 4 fairs this 2016 year to get my "feet wet" with the idea of this business avenue. I will have to find a way to fund this purchase to get things off the ground. 

Other than these two items I have been full force throwing clay and planning for next years events to try and reach people with my art. I am in the infancy stage of all this, but I am truly blessed with what I have rolling so far! 

Until the next post... Happy New year!

Blog Break...

I got my new Shimpo VL-Lite potters wheel a week ago yesterday. That has been the biggest reason for my absence in my blogging. I was having trouble with it. It seems to have a slight wobble. My husband helped me to level the wheel. Our old basement floors are not even and we thought maybe that could be the problem. It has helped a lot. I am now in the process of trying to get to work. I was thinking to throw at least two pieces a day. I think with this kind of work ethic I should be able to grow my inventory as well build my skills more and more everyday.

I am in the process of working on a commission for a church. They need two chalices and one more plate. I threw a plate last night. I actually like how it turned out. I am going to try and throw eight more. I was thinking I could do two sets of four with the same glazing design. I also was wanting to continue my work on making cups tea, coffee, cocoa, or soup. Different sizes, shapes, and glazes to create that perfect cup for speaks to someone.

Other than those initial thoughts to get going in my potters studio. I am in the process of looking into art fairs around the United States. I thought that this would be a good place to start. I am hoping down the road I am able to make a living at selling my pottery at art fairs, local shops, and who know,  maybe even out of the U.S. What a dream come true to be able to travel all over for work.

Just wanted to stop in an let you know what was going on in my world. As soon as I get some pieces drying I will shoot before pictures so you can start following the journey of my creations!

A Day Throwing and Firing!

Today I woke up at 5:30am to get back to the studio and fired up the cone 10 kiln full speed ahead. The weather here is seasonly warm which made the fire go much faster. My studio mate Cindy was losing her mind as she felt as though it is firing too fast, but only tomorrow will we see the results. The kiln should finish some time between 6-8pm this evening. We will have to let it cool down, and open it up tomorrow afternoon. 

While all this fire was burning in the kiln I took this time to throw a few cups and create some new texture. Below are some of the pictures I snapped of the cups I created while waiting to see what the cones are doing. Just thought it would be fun to share some work in progress. Enjoy!

Learning New Things!

Today was a great learning experience. I began my day finding that for the first time I waited too much time to trim a piece of my pottery and it got to hard to trim. It is still a successful piece, but it didn't get the opportunity to turn into the cup I was hoping for. This has only driven home the idea that I am looking forward to picking up my own wheel to have at home. I will be able to be closer to my work so I will have the opportune time to create my vision. I will also be able to work on more pottery as it will be readily available all the time. I have a 30 minute drive to my studio space now, and  it makes it difficult to swing by and check on the progress of drying clay. I will keep you up-to-date on when I get my new wheel. Hopefully this weekend, but we will see how it all works out. 

The other fun and exciting task I took on today is firing my first cone 10 gas kiln. Up until now I have only fired electric kilns up to cone 6. This is an awesome opportunity! Ceramic studio assistants Cindy and I loaded the kiln this afternoon around 3pm. There were a ton of pieces to load, and it took about an hour to get them all loaded and stacked safely on the shelves. Then we hit the gas and lit the fire. I spent the next 6 hours drawing a life-size skeleton, and got home about 10:30pm. So now it's time to get about 5 hours of sleep and back to the kiln in the morning to turn up the heat and bring it all the way up to cone 10 which is approximately 2350 degree fahrenheit.

So with that said... I am off to bed. More fun learning to do tomorrow. 

Friday Night Out!

Tonight we went out for an art opening at the Hoffman Lachance Contemporary Gallery in Maplewood. I got a chance to see Jon Cournoyer's work in person. Recently I had the opportunity to sit at a round table discussion with him and a few other successful St. Louis artists. Jon was inspiring to talk to about the business of art, and very supportive on the journey in to finding our niche.

In his show tonight "That is Why" his work was a perfect example of design. His graphic design background really comes through in these collage pieces of art. The pieces had remnants of old books, spectacle boxes, pins, fabric, photographs, and paper. The texture, color, and rhythm of each piece had it's own story to tell. What a great evening to fill your mind with art and ideas.

Having these moments of exposure to artists and their work is always a great way to kick you in the butt, and get you working on your own pieces. So I came home at started looking for a used potters wheel to add to my tools. I have been thinking about projects and ideas in clay and I see that now is the time for me to grasp these ideas and make them reality. Now is always the time to make art! I also think taking time to keep exploring my abstract paintings could turn in to mixed-media work down the road. 

So next time you are feeling lost or un-inspired go to the next gallery opening and see what you can take with you to kick your butt back into the studio! 

Now! Go make Art! Go!




Fontbonne University Fall Thesis Show 2015

I had a Fall Thesis Show at Fontbonne University on November 13th. Here are some of the pieces I exhibited.

-Nicole-

Introduction
Hello! I am starting this blog as a way to motivate myself to start working on my art everyday. One thing that has been the hardest for me in life is sticking to things. I have a tendency to runaway from anything when I get scared, bored, frustrated, or when somethings just get plain hard. I have always been good at dreaming though! I have been a daydreamer since I can remember. I can think of creative ideas all day, but that is usually the problem, I have so many ideas that I can overwhelm myself and then I give up on it all. 

I have been working on this part of me for at least ten years now, and I am on my way to getting a better hold on what I love and not give up on it. With that said I have sent my focus into two major areas of interest. I teach and practice yoga for a living, and I make art. 
Over the past four years I have really been focused on my art. It started with photography and spanned into painting which lead me into drawing. After that I went back to college and got a degree in fine art. My bachelors is focused on photography, but in that process we had to take tons of drawing and learn about all different mediums. As I was finishing up my bachelors I started to find myself taking every extra minute I had in the ceramics room trying to learn how to make ceramic art. 

That brings me to present day... I am just starting my master program in fine art and I am really interested in sending my focus in to the 3D world. Now with that said; it does not mean I will not continue my photography work. That work just calls for a different subject matter. My clay work allows me to open my ideas up into another medium that allows my daydreaming mind to run wild!

So... My hope is with this blog I can make myself more accountable to work on my art daily. I have found working on art even when I don't want to still helps me make better art. This blog will help teach me this, and show others who are scattered in mind and workflow that it is possible to achieve anything with practice and persistence!