45th Annual Faculty Exhibition

The UF SA+AH faculty show was at the university's Harn Museum of Art this fall. I continued the White Tondo Series but in arrangements/installations. I had the pieces professionally photographed on site.

Artist Statement:

My new work comes from experiences in recent artist residencies and travel. On at trip to Jingedzhen, China, a visit to the “decal store” was a new experience, which opened up unique possibilities. I experimented with these Chinese decals while on residency at the International Ceramic Studio in Hungary. I also improved my mold making skills and learned to work with china paints and lusters there. I fell in love with the Herrend porcelain available for my use. Its whiteness offered me a pristine surface for decoration.

I use the decals in a collage-like fashion, cutting and “pasting” them to fit the areas and concept I am interested in. The shift from two-dimensional to three-dimensional as well as the negative and positive space becomes important and is critical to the composition. I started working with vintage decals and digital decals which a more accessible.

This work, although very different from my more typical earthenware work, continues my series of tondos, round wall platters with vessels as relief. Occasionally, I take the vessel forms off the tondo and place them in various installations. Ideas about relationships, with their similarities and differences, influence me as I group them.

Anima Series 2008

This series involves commercial tiles, decals both digital laser and vintage ebay decals. The tile gave me a canvas to work on. I could be playful with this format.

White Tondo Series

This series incorporates a magnolia leaf made into a mold, slip cast, thrown plates, digital decals. The plates are about 15 " in diameter.

I use the decals in a collage-like fashion, cutting and “pasting” them to fit the areas and concept I am interested in. The shift from two-dimensional to three-dimensional as well as from negative and positive space, becomes critical to the composition.

This work, although very different from my more typical earthenware work, continues my series of tondos, , or round relief, found in Italian Renaissance architecture , with vessels as relief. Occasionally, I take the vessel forms off the tondo and place them in various installations. Ideas about relationships, with their similarities and differences, influence me as I group them. Recently, I am using tiles as a surface for these forms as well. All this is in an effort to engage the viewer in the visual shifts and relationships.

Méi Series

Méi Series

These pieces are the most accessible and functional pieces I have made. I found simple forms and made 2- 3 part molds of them. I slip cast with a porcelain slip (wet) clay into the molds. They are fired to cone 10 in the electric kiln with a clear glaze. Afterwards, I apply decals, images made of ceramics glaze materials, on a sheet of coated paper, to the piece. Most pieces also receive a luster application. Luster is made up of metals, gold and platinum, in a suspension liquid that will allow it to stick and stay where applied when fired. The decal and luster is then fired to a lower temperature, cone 018, to finish the piece. Méi is the pinyin Mandarin Chinese word for small objects.

Teapot Series

Teapots

I have taught teapot making for many years. In 2006, I finally took the challenge on personally, using the form to deal with issues of relationship of parts, decoration and pattern.

They are made with earthenware clay, built with coils on a slab bottom. I repeat the form, a pot on a pot, with low fire slips and glazes on the surfaces, the 2 –d images repeating the 3 –d image in space. The feet give the pots a sense of animation. I like the playful quality of this series.