Grace Sheese

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I’ve been nominated by Poppytalk for “Favorite Handmade Ceramic Artist” category. The list of ceramic artists is amazing and I feel very honored to be listed among them. If you have a moment, your vote would be greatly appreciated! Voting ends Jan. 26 at 11:59pm and winners will be announced on Feb. 5.

I realize that I’ve been absent from this blog for a very long time. I will back very soon for images of recent work and what I’ve been up to.

First off, I’d like to apologize to Charan from Creative With Clay because awhile back, he so graciously awarded me “A Lovely Blog” Award.  I was busy getting ready to leave for vacation for a month and with time slipping past me so quickly, I never thanked him and continue my part in passing on the award.  Charan, thank you so much for the award.  I truly appreciate all the support you’ve been giving me and I promise I will return the favor by giving the award to blogs that I enjoy reading.

I realize that I haven’t posted in awhile.  The quiet summer I was envisioning this winter turned into a busy one full of travels.  We spent a couple of weeks back on the west coast visiting my sister in the bay area and the city of my heart, Eugene, Oregon.  Then together with my sister, we flew to China, where we met up with  my parents for an intense 11 days of touring.  Having just arrived home after a month long absence, I’m still recovering from jet lag and am slowly processing all that I saw, heard, smelled and ate.

I went to China expecting to see lots of these types of buildings, which I did.

But you know what I saw more of?  Buildings like these, especially in Beijing and Shanghai.

I don’t know why I was so surprised because I should know better.  Regardless, after staring at high-rise after high-rise, my potter’s mind began to visualize these buildings as vases.  I think these high-rise buildings are a truer representation of China today because she is a country that is constantly battling traditional and modern ideas and practices.  The great respect the Chinese have for the beauty and serenity of nature also came up quite a bit during the trip.  Yet, this is the same country that has more people than trees and the people tends to be more interested in commerce than preservation.  Filling a modern, high-rise inspired vase with beautiful flowers seems like a good way to capture part of my China experience.

Upon returning from China, I was shocked and deeply saddened to read a notice sent by the Studio Potter magazine about the sudden passing of Tom Rohr, a wonderful potter and instructor at Lane Community College.  I was always in awe of the energy and passion Tom had for life, food and pottery and can’t quite believe that he’s gone.  My heart goes out to his wife Kathryn Finnerty, his family and the pottery community. Donations in memory of Tom can be made to Studio Pottery.

There are far too many pictures of China to share in this one post so I will dole them out in the weeks to come, along with more stories of my adventures.  In the meantime, remember to appreciate the ones you love because you never know what’s around the corner.

One of my jars will be at the Jersey Shore Clay National 2009 hosted by m.t. burton Gallery in Surf City, NJ.  This year, the show is curated by Jeff Gudio, artistic director of The Clay Studio.  The show goes from May 23 – June 22.  The opening reception is Sat., May 23, from 6-9 pm.  If you are in the area, I’d encourage you to go.  There are lots of really amazing work.

Speaking of The Clay Studio,  I have a piece in their current show “Small Favors IV“.  This was definitely a fun yet surprisingly challenging piece to make.  The piece had to fit inside a 4″ x 4″ cube.  I was surprised at how making such a small piece can be challenging.  The hardest part for me was surface decoration since there were not too much space to do my usual surface work.  However, I really enjoyed branching out and trying something new.  The show ends May 31 so there’s still time to check it out, either in person or on-line.

Jeff Campana recently wrote a really informative article about ceramics and pottery on The Storque, Etsy’s blog.  I feel quite honored to be included in his 2 part, in-depth article , which spans the entire process of working with clay.  This is a great read for those who are curious to learn more about the involved field of ceramics and pottery making.  One of the things that really struck me when I was reading the article is how versatile clay is. There really aren’t too many art mediums out there that allows for so many possibilities, in every step of the process.  Thanks Jeff for such a wonderful article.

I was recently contacted by Olan from Ofifteen Magazine for an interview.  Olan describes the magazine like this:  ”Ofifteen is an online lifestyle magazine that covers features such as home tours, interviews, videos, trendcasts, fashion and a whole lot more that is updated throughout the week. Our goal is to inspire individuals through a variety of topics that are beyond the subject of home and garden. We are an online only magazine and are quite content with that idea as we are obtainable to readers from all over the world.”

My personal favorite is this image showing you how to use beige and brown.

A big thank you to Ofifteen for being such a great magazine!

I have an extensive collection of pots, mostly cups, bowls and plates.  We use eat off of those pots, stick them in the microwave, and wash them in the dishwasher.  For me, my pottery collection serves as a photo album.  There’s a story behind each piece of pottery I own.  I love how using a cup made by a friend or fellow potter will trigger memories of that person.

When we have friends over, I always make them choose their own cup.  New friends find this a bit daunting and will often times just grab the first cup they see.  Friends who are use to this custom will take more time to choose.  Maybe it’s because they got use to me grilling them with questions like:  Do you want to drink alot or a little? Because let’s face it, size does matter here. Do you want a cup with or without handle?  Handles might be important if you are planning on drinking something hot.  Are you in the mood for something funny?  I have cups with funny drawings on it or do you want something pretty?  How does the cup feel in your hand?  Do you want something bumpy or do you enjoy a cup that is smooth?  These and many other questions are always important considerations when choosing a cup.  Believe it or not, I think about these things each time I reach for a pot to use.

I’d like to encourage you to consider purchasing a handmade gift for Mother’s Day this year.  How wonderful is it to bring something beautiful and handmade into your mom’s life?  Not only will the gift be special, it will also come with it a story of the artist who made it.  If you are not sure where to look for handmade gifts, Etsy is a wonderful place to start.  It is filled with numerous handmade items in a variety of price ranges.  

Finally, I’ve taken some pictures of my bud vases with flowers in it.  Aren’t they pretty?

Highlights from the kiln:

Please note that the stacking jars are commissioned so are not for sale.  The other pieces, along with few more are now available for sale in my Etsy shop.

 
1.  I will have new work posted to my Etsy store tomorrow afternoon/evening.  It will be mostly vases, something that I’ve been obssessing over, as a possible sign of spring fever.

2.  The cup below is currently at the LUX Center for the Arts in Lincoln, Nebraska called “National Juried Cup Exhibtion”. 

3.  I’ve been packing up some pots to ship out.  I’m incredibly lucky to finally own a house that  has a basement large enough to store all the materials needed for shipping.  Please excuse the mess.  I find that there are just better things to do in my life than to organize that room, although, one day, I’m sure I’ll get to it.

Packing room in the basement

The more organized part of the room.

Well, that’s all for today.  I’ll write again when new work has been added.

Licia from LiciaBeads wrote a really nice blog post about my work.  Thanks so much Licia!

A few days ago, I wrote about the process of glazing.   Today I have 4 pieces that are my favorites from this firing.

I particularly like how rich the colors of the red bowl looks.

Flowers and foliage really make the vase look complete

The success story for this firing, however, is the 2 jars.

I started making these jars back when we lived in Indiana about 5-6 years ago. I threw these jars as a completely enclosed piece, including the finial. Then I would cut it open to make the lid. I encountered all kinds of problems, from the lid getting fused together during the firing process to the lid and body warping so that the 2 pieces no longer fit together.  I was obssessed with these jars and made a whole bunch of them, only to have them not turn out. In frustration, I set them aside.

Over the years of making pottery, I’ve learned that the importance of “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again”.  With the twist that you dont’ try, try now but later.

Usually, when a new idea doesn’t work, I retreat to my comfort zone to make “comfort pots” – pots that I already know how to make.  But the beauty of exploring new ideas is that exploration opens up new thoughts, ideas and solutions that can be applied to the “comfort pots”.  Suddenly, the “comfort pots” have changed, which leads to more new ideas, more exploration, and well, you get the picture.  The whole time this is happening, the failed ideas sit at the back of my mind, patiently waiting until I’m ready to dust them off and give them another try.  This is what happened to these 2 jars.  After patiently waiting for 5 or 6 years for me to figure out how to make them, I have finally succeeded.

Parts of the lid are cut out so that it can double as a vase or candle holder

These 4 pieces along with 6 new pieces are available for purchase at my Etsy shop.  There are also more images of the 4 featured pieces.