Welcome to my city....

Today I made this. Been in the head for a while and it's nice to get it out.

Tons of new work....

Well maybe not "tons" but I really have been busy. It seems like I will do anything to procrastinate on getting a big job done. Like, I don't know, making tons of other involved work!
So the dragon lamp is to fix some faults in my first try at a lamp. People really seem to like this guy at the murmur so it can't hurt to have a second one on hand.
The boombox is a new robot I am working on. Not sure yet if he will be riding a skateboard or playing cards, or something else entirely.
The pig carving is for the big order of Delessios Market and Bakery platters I need to get busy on. I ordered a stamp online, but I decided to start the carving just in case the stamp does not work out.
And the bowls are a new design that are also potentially for Delessios.
All this is happening at the perfect time. A time when I actually have the time to get it all done.

Almost finished with this guy. Need to add a little more surface design and make some legs. I am going to use the giants hat to help announce the de Young artist in residency. Hope Oakland does not get too offended and throw a brick through him. 

Name that Troll.....

I gave him a new hat. Just need to finish his other arm and then he can dry out for the kiln.

Why drive to Florida to get you when I can just remake you!

Ghetto Boombox

san francisco!

Last week I went to the always entertaining Maker Faire in San Mateo with a group of friends for a day of fun, sun, crafts, R2D2's, steampunk, and street meat. It was all there, same as last year. And therein lies my problem with the faire, it was all the same stuff that was there last year....and the year before that. The giant robotic giraffe was there, as was the tesla coil demo, and the mentos and diet coke performance. I am not sure if these things were different or improved upon this year, but across the board I saw nothing new. I feel like a faire like that is all about innovation, creating, and inspiring new ideas, and I guess I missed out on the change from year to year. I still had fun, I will still make it a point to go back next year, but I am going to really keep my eyes open for something new.

On another note, and what really got me to write this post, is my reaction after checking out the Craft Art section of the faire. I have noticed a trend in the art and craft world that my generation and the ones after it are not really investing in art anymore. But who or what is to blame for this? A huge contributor to this problem can placed at the hand of technology, consumerism, and shifting values. But a great part of the blame also has to fall on the artist themselves. It's a hard gig trying to sell your works at venues big and small, so to make this happen artist need to provide light, affordable products for that people can walk away with. This most often means a print of some kind. 11"x14" prints seem the most common, but I also saw a bunch of cards, t-shirts, and even some ties and mugs. What was missing from most of the stalls though was any original art. Now I understand that we cant expect to sell only one of a kind pieces of art or that all consumers would be able to afford such creations. But to have nothing original to show is feeding into the notion that we do not value it as consumers. And why should we? I can pay $20 and have an almost exact copy of the original.

I want to make a commitment to only produce original pieces of art from here on out. Better grab those $10 prints while they are still here.

Going back to the figure....

New concept.

Champ

Champ is finally done! It took way to long to finish this piece and I was not happy with it until I realized that I had no shadow on the ground making her look like she was floating. I'm ready to move on to my next piece now. Any suggestions? Send me a photo.

chachachanges....

Redisplayed studio spot. Much happier now.

Last nights art murmur was a fun one. After months of being overtaken by the mess in my studio, I finally fought back and took everything out so that I could start the display process over from scratch. What ended up happening is a ton of more space was found, and thing are now organized in easy accessible places. I actually enjoyed sitting in my space for 4 hours as I felt a new confidence in how my work was being viewed. And the feedback was definitely much more positive.
Also, it was great to have a ton of students and friends stop by last night. I love talking to new people, but I love seeing familiar faces stop by to say hi too.

Plate art! My new salsa bowl. 

Dragon Vase

Quick studio shots of a new dragon vase I made today. Very happy with this one even thought it looks just like my monster vases.

The start of a long delayed commission. 

Dick Cheney

....is a piece of shit. But I really love this robot.

Meet the Sluggos!

Sluggo was a huge disaster to get made. I originally made baby sluggo, only to have a painting fall on him and break him. Before seeing how bad he was damaged, I went directly into the studio and made a much bigger version. During the firing the bigger piece was still wet in the kiln and most of the front and her underside blew up. I ended up epoxying about 150 pieces together and filling in the rest to fix her but there was still a pretty ugly seam down the middle. To hide this I made a bunch of butterflies and added them to cover up the seam. When I checked on the original piece it turned out that it only had a few broken pieces, all of which were easy to glue back together and are well concealed now. So a total disaster. A wonderful, adorable, successful disaster.

Gator Fountain

Originally this gator fountain was designed as a fish at the request of one of my students. It quickly took more of a gator form and was easy to put together with a simple aquarium pump, tubing, and some aquarium epoxy. This piece just recently sold, and I am look for ideas for my next fountain.

Froggy!!!

Evolution of a piece: Gordo from start to finish

Here is Gordo Sr from the beginning to end. I thought this piece would take me 6-12 months to complete and it ended up taking about 3 weeks to build, and then a little over a month to glaze and install. Honestly, the instillation was the hardest part, and with the time crunch to get it up on the wall before last weeks art murmur I had to make some choices that I quickly came to regret. All in all, its up on the wall for at least the next few months, or until I can find a more permanent home for him.

Art Murmur nights

I never sleep well on Art Murmur night. you would think I have this down after a year and a half of doing them, but you really never know whose going to show, whose going to be rioting in Oakland, or what the weather is going to be like. Regardless, they are almost always fun.

Elephant Woman

Gordo Sr. finally up on the wall.

Here is the big guy on the wall.  Still need to add a few more pieces and do some touch up work. Not nearly as hard as I thought it would be to get on the wall, but not nearly as cool as I had hoped it would turn out.

Oakland Library Piece

This guy was made for a show that my collective, FM, had at one of the Oakland Library branches. It was made to hang on the wall, but looks better sitting on a table.

Dragon Mantis

This guys has been sitting in the kiln room at the jccsf for 3 years waiting for me to finish him. I have no idea why I can't seem to get it done.