NCECA   2013                                                                        
                                                           Flor at airport in Houston

 Suzanne Shield-Polk
Life Journey (2)
This Video and ceramic installation is an extension of an ongoing investigation into the concept of life as a journey. Images Documenting personal and family travels are projected onto sculptural bottle forms. The projected images reference momentary experiences, sites, vistas, and snapshots of individuals which metaphorically imply stages of life , personal introspection and the transitory essence of the temporal moment. The bottle forms represent the notion of the human body as a vessel.

Hands on: An Immediate Approach for Capturing the Drawn.
Mason stain and 31/34 Frit
Making Transfer Paper

This is an easy way to trace a drawing an add it to clay.

Colby Parsons
Texas Woman's University
Stove, 2012
Ceramic with projection













                                            Colby Parsons
                                            Fried Eggs

 Colby Parsons
Bedroom Floor, 2012

 Colby Parsons











                             Colby Parsons

MUSHROOMS!

http://mushroomocean.blogspot.com/2013/01/art-mycelium-architecture-phil-rosss.html

Molly Goes to NCECA

I cherish all my experiences at the NCECA conference. There are infinite opportunities everywhere just waiting to be taken. This year in particular I saw so many shows, and so many artists. My mind is bursting at the seems! 

Margret Keelan

An Artist that always catches my eye is Margret Keelan. Her Surface is amazing, I really connected with this specific piece because it seems to talk about human vs. nature relationships. 

Blue Eyes
Marget Keelan.

"For the past few years my sculptures have been glazed, stained, fired, then glazed, stained and fired again to give the surfaces the look of disintegrating paint over weathered wood. This softening and reduction of form so that its essential nature is revealed is a metaphor I am using for life being lived, my exploration of the process of growing up and growing older. These latest small sculptures recall the “Santos” figures of Mexico and Central America and incorporate a reproduced 19th century doll head. Although my figures echo contemporary concerns, the borrowing of earlier styles gives them more of an ageless quality. Linda Gastrom, Professor of Art, states, “The subject conveys a sweet sentimentality twisted into melancholy that touches my emotional core and helps me remember the complexities of childhood and life”.

Juan Granados

Tesas Tech University

These pieces were very intriguing, not only because I have used butterfly imagery recently, but because of (again) the human and nature element. I was also attracted to these forms because of the color and the shape. It feels weird for me to look at this piece and I seem to notice the form second and the surface design first. Normally it is the other way around. I barley even noticed what kind of form these butterflies inhabit. I also appreciate that the raku process is not very evident. Especially in the detail image it is obvious this piece is not outwardly happy but more serious and contemplative.

Raku Fired Ceramic with image transfer.





Renee Brown.

Renee Brown
2012
This work is amazing it is not overtly ceramic and is the small specs of natural were chosen to create a natural masterpiece.

"My sculptural works are crafted from a personal vernacular of beauty.
Stones, bones and mineral specimens offer endless inspiration to me as I create. Introducing the shapes and textures of these objects to my imagination, I allow myself to expand the possibilities of surface and composition beyond what might rationally be found in nature.While some of the referenced objects in my work exist in scientific catalogs, many are inventions of my creative vision.  This blurred line between reality and created reality intrigues me.  With an intention to present a joyful visual experience, I invite the viewer to explore the nuances of these curious compositions and to embark on a personal imaginative adventure".


Janice Jakielski

     There was a whole room filled with this kind of work, the first thought that came to my head was the contemporary feel but Jakielski was using things from a pervious time period.I was immediately attracted to all of the color and found my self think how the use of the mannequin is really bizarre. I really enjoyed how she choose to display her work I think it really takes the work to a new level the strips and designs on the wall really make the work pop.
 "I make objects for the body in order to transform the world and how we perceive the world. As mediated experience due to the rise of technology has prevailed I am interested in the function of the object against the growth of depersonalization. Objects have the ability to cultivate intimate relationships and provide self-awareness through encounter".

Merrie Wright

Dazzle on Dry Land 003 (Downey Woodpecker) 2012
Earthenware.

This piece was so wonderful in person I could tell there is something on the branch but I could not tell what is was for the first few minutes. I thought that maybe the thing perched on the stick was a robot of some kind. Upon closer inspection I realized that the thing was a bird and the hole piece was completely natural and it was just the surface design that impacted the form so much.The treatment of the surface was so industrial, but on a completely natural form. This piece keeps reoccurring in my head when I contemplate my work and where it is going.


Linda Swanson

Oculus 2013
Water, Bentonite Clay, Glass aquarium.
Swanson seems to be talking about an artist relationship with their materials. The first thing that drew me into this piece was the the inside landscape that she was creating in the aquarium. It was beautiful and serene yet foreign. During the opening it started to leak and I am not sure if that was intentional.

"The piece is built fresh each day. Swanson explores the properties of clay as the potter knows it: malleable, wet, expanding and contracting. She selected bentonite specifically for its property of expanding up to 15 times its original size when placed in water. The glass orb, with a steadily building landscape of bits of deconstructed clay falling from the billowy mound at the surface, creates an alien landscape that seems to draw in most everyone that walks by it". Says Allison Currie. www.glasstire.com/2013/03/22/nceca-beautiful-affordable-art-for-your-pottery-filled-life-part-2-featured-artists-project-space/

Ryan Takaba

Porcelain, Mum, water.

I love these creations because they are living and the clay is holding water which is sustaining the flowers life.  The installation consisted of a bunch of these small contraptions and they were delicate and beautiful and made me think about how greenhouses and us nurturing nature as if nurtures us.
"I am interested in aspects of daily ritual, specifically in relation to a flower and a vase, the cutting, assembling, and connecting of the mums to complete a composition and the sorting of stem sizes to regulate its flow of water. This process of transformation engages themes of longing, waiting, and return"

Marina Kuchinski

"Avriri"
Earthenware cone 6 oxidation
Fan, Thread

I fell in love with the gesture of this piece It instantly puts me in a memory of enjoying the wind in a car like a dog. The gesture of her pieces are perfect. The fan is a vital addition. 
"I am interested in the relationship between physical presence and physical space and the resulting dialectics of inner and outer form. The question of place and location is placed within cultural, institutional, and psychological contexts. The object or the viewer can reveal the shape of a place or, the place of the body can be indicated as a void. Charging sculptural objects and spaces with meaning is an invitation for a physical interaction and the questioning of why things are the way they are and what would happen if they change".



I also had the pleasure of attending several very intellect lectures. 

One of the first lectures was by a friend we meet in Taiwan Craig Hartenberger. His Lecture was called "Seeing With New Eyes" In the lecture he talked about how important it is to get out of your comfort zone and experience. It can open up a whole new world and will be life changing. Traveling can shape the way you see work and your perception of art. He called all his travels visual research.

Another one I attended was Janine Antoni's Lecture. She was the keynote speaker, Antoni shared her latest project and she talked about how she approaches making. She talked about her work sense 1989 and how it has morphed and changed. SHe also touched on her processes. 

Also I attended a lecture that showed and taught the audience how to properly shoot your work and make your images magazine worthy. Dustin Miyakawa showed the audience how to avoid hiring a photographer. He talked about backgrounds and horizon lines. He also got more technical and showed us how to resize and save our images to specific formats.