China 2012

In June of 2012, a group of artists from various backgrounds and countries came together to make work at The Pottery Workshop in Jingdezhen.   This unique artist residency attracts serious artists to come and work in the setting of the Sculpture Factory in the city famous for its porcelain.  The residency enables the artist to utilize the resources of available local artisans and materials to be very productive. 

I had already been to China five times and visited Jingdezhen twice before going back in June to be an artist in residence.  I wanted to continue my work using 3D scanning and 3D rapid prototype printing to develop models for molds and porcelain slip casting.   While working at the Pottery Workshop, I had assistants available with technical knowledge as well as English speaking skills. I had molds made of the models I brought with me then slip castings done using the molds. I had available to me prepared glazes, a glazing expert as well as a community gas kiln to fire in.   I was able to be very productive, much more so than I would have in my studio at home.

One of the valuable aspects of such a residency is the opportunity to work along side other artists.  I was fortunate to be there at the same time as other artists from the US and Australia.   There was a lively exchange of ideas and technical information.   

I look forward to returning to The Pottery Workshop in the future.  I now have the knowledge and experience to best take advantage of what it has to offer me.  I will allow me to make work in a large numbers and grand scale with exceptional materials and craftsmanship.

More recent work

The bases are made with laser cut wood and masonite. The pieces made slip cast porcelain from 3D scanned and printed models.

Latest work

Recent work, slip cast during my residency at Australia National University last summer. I have since lustered the work and added some stands, laser cut.

The pieces are created from 3D scanned natural objects, 3D printed and molds made from those models.

Adventure in India - Day 8 and 9 in Delhi

We flew in early evening from Varanasi. The agency put us up at the swanky Le Meridiane hotel in the city center. We met Ela and Prasnata Mukherjee from New Delhi for a drink that night. Ela was a Fulbrighter at KSU when I was there. It was a brief meeting but great catching up.

The next day, Dolly our guide returned and took us through the old markets on a rickshaw. We walked through the spice market, which was wonderful. We visited the tomb of Hasam, which is pre-cursor to the Taj Mahal. We visited the cremation memorial to Ghandi. We stopped at a small craft "village" where I saw some of the little clay production there is to find in India - tomb figures made with terra cotta clay. We had lunch in a garden restaurant and then were dropped by the colonial era Imperial Hotel to have tea with some time to kill before our flight.

On the trip back, while in Newark Airport, the sun was rising over the Hudson and Roy realized that the last sunrise we saw was over the Ganges Rivers…. not something we are likely to forget.