The Artist's Statement

I usually hate to read Artist's Statements. Mostly because they often seem so ingenuine to me. Sometimes I get the impression that artists feel that in order to explain their work, they have to write not from the heart, but from the head. Art really should be from the heart. I've read some artist's statements that have actually made me laugh out loud. Some are so convoluted, as if they are the artiste not the artist.

I was saddened to read one artist's statement not too long ago. The main message was that this artist was determined to become a renouned artist. I had to look up the definition in my dictionary. Here's what Webster says, "fame; celebrity; exalted reputation..." So I guess this could be a good thing in some circles. But what drives us as artists should be a passion for what we do. What do we want to communicate to people that look at our work? What drives us? What inspired us? Those are the questions that our followers want to know. I can only speak for myself. What drives me is a passion. Almost an addiction. When I'm not working on projects I feel out of sorts. What I do has become such an integral part of who I am that it's almost like I've lost a part of me if I'm away from the clay for too long. This must be how drug addicts feel going through withdrawal, but without the shakes.

Now I want to give more thought about my own statement. I want to make sure that it communicates my message without pomp and circumstance; without pretentions. It could take a while to get it right. But in the long run, it's my message to the world about my passion.

Color Combinations

A big part of being a ceramic artist, or any kind of artist for that matter, is color. The choice of color, the combination of colors, and how we use them can make or break a piece. Working hours or days on a piece can come to ruin if we don't get the colors just right. Lately I've fallen in love with the glaze color combination of a truly red red and a wonderful soft yellow orange. Both are from the Duncan Ceramics line of glazes called Concepts. The red that I love is called Really Red and the yellow orange is called Safron. I now am driven to make a day's worth of bowls and plates to use the two colors on. These are the first of the bowls that came out of my last kiln load.

As I scroll through my recent posts I realize that my blog's name, Butterfly Farm Pottery, makes it look like the Fish have taken over the Farm. I have three major themes that I work with, Fish, (no major mental leap there) Cats and Butterflies. There are times when the mood strikes me to just make butterfly themed pieces and then there are times like now, when all I want to make are fish. I often feel like a person with multiple personality disorder. Just to give the butterflies some face time, I'm posting a photo of a recent Monarch Butterfly serving dish. It's an evolved piece and is one of my favorites.

New Old Teapots

I just finished two fishy teapots that are remakes. This version of "Mandy" is my favorite. I lucked out when I looked through my stash of beads and found the perfect hank to use for her beaded wire embellishment. I was equally lucky to have an ample supply of buttons for "Button..."

Pictured on the top is "Mandy" and of course every time I type her name I hear Barry Mannilow singing in my ear. And, on the bottom is "Button, Button, Who's Got the Buttons?"

Both teapots are made from soft earthenware clay that started out as two forms thrown on the potter's wheel.

Southeastern Guide Dogs

There are definitely days when I feel like I have a split personality. During the weekdays I'm "Pottery Chick" hard at work getting dirty with the clay and glazes. On the weekends I shed my muddy clothes and put on blue jeans, boots, a Harley Tee and a helment and jump on the back of my sweet husband's Ultra Classic Harley Davidson. This past Saturday our HOG Chapter took a very special ride to Southeastern Guide Dogs (SEGD). SEGD has been the recipient of our chapter's fund raisers for a number of years. Every year we take a couple of rides to SEGD to tour the facility, see the dogs in training and play with the puppies. It's a lot of fun to see burly, ex-teamsters cuddling up to little puppies. It's an activity that everyone in the group loves. Some of our riders also got to put on black-out glasses and let a guide dog lead them on a pathway. It's a very interesting feeling to surrender and trust the dog.

But, SEGD isn't just about raising puppies. It's a long involved process to raise and train a guide dog. The entire process costs SEGD $60,000 per dog and they don't receive any federal funding! The money comes solely from donations from individuals like our HOG members as well as from businesses. SEGD is a premier facility, one of only a few in the country. They started out in the early '80s with no facility and no dogs, just an idea and they've made it work.

The dogs used are ones that come from specific breeders to make sure that certain traits that they want are there and those that they don't want are not. Labs and Goldadors (a mix between Lab and Retriever) were the puppies that we got to play with this time. SEGD also tries to keep the cost of maintenance down for the recipient. Dogs that would require special grooming are not an option. Sorry, no poodles here.

The process of turning a puppy into a guide dog doesn't happen overnight. Once the puppies get to a certain age, they are outsourced to volunteer homes. The idea is to socialize the puppies and make them comfortable in every environment that they might have to go into as a guide dog. The host is given a jacket that the dog will wear when they go out and about. The jacket has the SEGD logo and the words "Puppy In Training." Most public establishments will honor the jacket and allow the puppy to enter. The hosts are encouraged to take the puppy with them just about everywhere they go. After this training phase is over, the puppy is returned to SEGD for final training. This is the nitty gritty. The dogs learn "intelligent disobedience." The dog has to be smart enough to know that if the master says "forward" and there are cars coming, the dog should stay not go foward. There are a number of commands and situations that the puppies are put through in their training. SEGD has a wonderful complex that has mock bridges and bus stops. But that can't take the place of a busy downtown street, so the pups are taken to downtown Tampa to navigate the downtown traffic. Each dog is assessed for traits, such as the speed that the dog walks. There are some dogs that don't make the grade as a guide dog and are evaluated for companion dogs.

Once the dogs finish with their evaluation, a class of recipients is brought in. The facility has a dormatory where they stay. They will be living at SEGD, meeting, getting to know and working with their new dog. The staff does an excellent job of evaluating the recipient and matching their traits with a dog. SEGD also offers follow-up visits. It's not just a "here's your dog, have a good life" at SEGD. If need be they will do a home visit to assist. It's a life-long commitment.

One program that SEGD has recently launched is Paws for Patriots. This program provides guide or companion dogs to returning veterans, at no charge to the vet or the US Government. Our HOG Chapter specifically contributes to the Paws for Patriots program. The local Fox affiliate ran a piece on Paws for Patriots recently. Look to the right of this page for the video.

This was my third visit to SEGD. Every time I learn a little bit more about the organization, and gain a lot more respect for what they do. I wonder if these little pups have any idea of what a noble future they will have ahead of them.

This morning I woke up to news that one of my pieces made it into a Treasury on Etsy and that Treasury made it to the Front Page! It's been a while since my work had FP notoriety and this was a real treat. By the time I was actually up and online the FP had changed, the screen shot is courtesy of http://www.craftcult.com/. What a great way to start the day!

The Invasion Continues

I love to load the top shelf of kiln loads with pieces that will make me smile when I open the kiln post firing. Yesterday's opening was a fun one because I staged my fishies so that they'd be pointing my way when the lid was lifted. These fishies aren't done just yet. I spent last night preparing them for their final embellishment, which is curled wire with beads. They aren't just pretty faces, they can also be used as a small photo holder, just slide the photo into the curled wire and there you go! One fun note about this load of fishies is that the fishy on the far right is already earmarked to go on a very long journey to Australia. Luckily this fishy doesn't have to swim, she's going to be flying.