Saturday, July 17, 2010

The Boots




I was asked to participate in an exhibition fund raiser. The gallery is the Great Art and Frame. A portion of the proceeds from the show are going to the Quantum Leap Horse Farm. Quantum Leap among other things uses horses as therapy for disabled vets. Anyway, my friend, the owner of the gallery, Joose Hadley talked to me about what sort of things I could submit. The theme of the show is the Divine Equine. Most of my art buddies are submitting paintings or photos of horses. But Joose said that I could expand the theme out to such horse related items as horse shoes, cowboy boots, etc. My first thought was to make a horse, and I found out that horses were definitely out of my comfort zone. Then I tried making a boot. Then I made a boot, Then I got worried, what if the boot exploded in the kiln, cracked, what if I drop it, what if, what if, what if. So I made a second boot. I'm happy to report that I made a boot, I made a back-up boot and both survived. I'm also happy to report that neither boot exploded in the kiln, survived me carrying them from drying shelf to kiln and all other potential dangers that can befall pottery while it's in the making. Because the boots are patterned after a pair of my boots, I tried to stay close to their models and painted them in the same colors as my boots. Also, I was forward-thinking enough to make a right and a left, so they are a true pair. Now, all that's left is delivery to the gallery and the opening of the show, which is Friday, July 23rd. If you're in the area, please stop on by. There are a lot of very talented artists that are part of this show and it's guaranteed to be a fun evening.