Something a little more unusual...

The following works are by Tim Berg and Rebekah Myers

Enjoy it While it Lasts

get'em 'fore they're gone

Between a rock...

Souvenirs from All good things

Eat your heart out!!!

Bones of contention

Installation in a Valise (Cause and Effect)

Better an ounce of luck than a pound of gold

Something for nothing

 In Tim's artist statement on artaxis.org, he indicated that though his works have a satiric charm to them, he only uses that to "disarm the viewer and challenge them to evaluate the larger implications of our cultures relationship to them." It was precisely that charm, however, that drew me to them and encouraged me to look into his work further. These familiar objects that he chose to recreate have significant memories in my childhood and bring a smile to my face. So, though he is using familiar objects such as this to speak to a much larger and more significant issue than just childhood and playfulness, I still appreciated them for their light-heartedness.


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And for something even more obscure...

Brownie meets mudman (the lonely rock) by Pattie Chalmers

Something a little different...

Ryan Fletcher is a ceramicist who creates "Tapas Micros", which are interesting table ware sculptures for micro menus at specialized restaurants. He works with porcelain and usually simple white gloss for his pieces (which is partially why I was engaged in them, since my new project is porcelain).  His work has little to no surface treatment to allow the chefs to add their own artistic design to the plain white forms on which they are placing their culinary designs.

Fletcher states that his interest lies in the functionality of these objects within the restaurants. There are several different interactions that take place: the chef's reaction to these atypical sculptural forms; the server's presentation of them to the diners; and finally the diner's response, which seems to be initial hesitation and then investigation. Fletcher likes taking normal forms used daily and transforming them so there's that moment when they have to decide how to interact with something new.

 

All photos found on artaxis.org... but Fletcher also has a detailed website that I encourage you to look at to see more of his interesting and fantastic pieces: Ryanfletcherdesign.com

Let your light so shine...

Beautiful, beautiful Light Sculptures by Margaret O'Rorke

She says of her work, "The translucency of fine high-fired porcelain has led me...to throw forms which give light.These ideas stem from the nature of the material, forms that can grow from the potter's wheel, the process of firing and a sense of adventure with light and space."

So, most of her work is thrown with translucent porcelain, allowing it to shine forth the brilliant light that she places within or behind her sculptures. I love this idea of letting the light shine out of such delicately and artistically crafted objects and vessels. It reminds me of how we, as vessels created in the image of the Lord, have been delicately and artistically crafted... and we too were created to shine - to reflect the light of Father into the surrounding darkness of this world. 

I would love to create works that represent this important truth so brilliantly. That is why I selected Margaret's sculptures for this week's posting. I am searching for inspiration for my new project, and her work certainly inspires me to create something beautiful in form and design that abstractly conveys a specific message or concept. I originally wanted to create some type of sculpture that incorporated light... and now having found her work, I feel motivated to pursue that idea further.

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify 

your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16

Thinking About Glazing...

All of the above pieces are by Dan Derber, who works in San Jose, CA, and were found on Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/people/HigherFire?ref=ls_profile). I am drawn to his use of the glazes, like in the above teapot with the turquoise and blue that draw my eye up to the spiral spout. I also love his detail and design in the large bowls, like the patterns around the inside rims, the swirl in the middle that caught the golden hint of the glaze, from where the green ran down, and the decorative knobs on the outside of the serving bowl at the top of the page. I also love his creative handle on the casserole dish, but how that element of crazy is still balanced in the piece because of his neutral glaze work. Overall his work that I've seen is lovely and I feel inspired to make lovely pieces.