All posts in Art making

Next kiln load.

Next Kiln Load ©2012 Sarah Regan Snavely
By On January 22, 2012 In Art making With 2 Comments Permanent Link to Next kiln load.Permalink

I set a goal: the next kiln load ready to go by the end of January. And, by golly, I’m working at it.

It’s going to be close. The large boxes are drying nicely.

Lots of sleeping Greyhounds. The “flat” sleepers are easier – these upside-down hounds make things more complicated. The poses are not any more difficult that usual, but the upside-down hounds need particular boxes.

See what I mean? Same box, different hound. One I like, one I don’t. Can you guess which one it is?

Because if they don’t fill up the space the way I like, I don’t like it. It’s a question of balance…

Filling up the space. I like.

And more figures waiting for their boxes. Working on all three sizes for this load.

January Blues

January Blues
By On January 21, 2012 In Art making With 5 Comments Permanent Link to January BluesPermalink

When the gallery director of the Dickinson State University gallery invited me to participate in an exhibition with the theme, “January Blues” I knew I’d have lots of source material. Because, you know, the landscape around here often looks like this in January:

What I didn’t think of is that I’d be creating the work for this show in the fresh, crisp autumn air. I contemplated ideas as I drove back from Delaware in October. How do I feel about January? Blue… blue… do I want to think of this literally and make something the color blue?  Too easy… humm…

I worked out two ideas. One focusing more about the things I like about January. The other the opposite feeling.

Here’s the nice side of January. The calm, cool, collected side. Peaceful, snow covered, yet potentially dangerous.

The title for the piece above is Everything Has Its Wonders. It is 19H x 9W x 16″ D – slightly larger than life-size.

And here is the other side of January. Titled, Bring Your Own Sunshine ©2012 Sarah Regan Snavely. Yes, it’s a sunflower “hat”. No, he’s not smiling.

The exhibition will be up through January.

They are my models.

By On December 2, 2011 In Art making, Memory Boxes With 2 Comments Permanent Link to They are my models.Permalink

My Greyhounds sleep around me as I make the figures for my memory boxes. They make handy models – being right there. Here is a memory box waiting to be bisque fired and Winchester sleeping on the couch. Isn’t he sweet?

My big toe feels cold.

By On November 26, 2011 In Art making With No Comments Permanent Link to My big toe feels cold.Permalink

Must admit I’m feeling a little tentative about sharing my process on this blog. That is not good. Especially considering all the benefits received FROM sharing. So I’ve moved a few things around on the internets. Makes me feel better. And that talk with my lawyer.

Moving on! Besides how can one feel anything but inspired when we have sunrises like this?!

Sarah Regan Snavely studio

This one is thanks to Winchester. The photo, not the sunrise (though he may have something to do with it? Who knows…)  Winchester has decided that I need to get out of bed at 4:07 AM. Exactly that time. Every day. For the last three days.

The benefit of this is that when the sun finally rises at around 7AM, I’m coffeed and awake enough to notice.

Winchester, however, is asleep at sunrise. He is also asleep at 4:15 AM. He goes back to bed after he’s satisfied that I’m awake. I’m still trying to figure out his grand plan.

There are two exhibition opportunities on the horizon. I need two pieces for the January show at the Dickinson State University gallery. This is the same gallery that Mom and I had our show in last march. The theme and title of the show is January Blues. Several artists have been invited to participate. I can’t wait to see how the other artist interpreted the theme.

The sculpture above is one of my offerings. Shown unfinished and unfired. The second sculpture is drying also. I’ll take a few photos and share them next week.

These two pieces have sparked many ideas about a North Dakota themed exhibition. My sketchbook is humming! Where will this take me?

The other exhibition that is coming up is the Art Show At the Dog Show. This is a juried show for canine art. Deadline is January 11th. I encourage artists with work centered around the canine form to enter!

It doesn’t feel like flattery.

By On November 20, 2011 In Art making With 6 Comments Permanent Link to It doesn’t feel like flattery.Permalink

I’ve heard it said that “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” Mine version, created nearly 10 years ago, is in green. The one I stumbled upon on the internet (framed) isn’t mine (except that it is… kinda). Copied?

How about this one? Mine is the sculpture, created for a Greyhounds in Art show in 2003.

Or this? Again, mine in the sculpture created for the March 2011 Dickinson State University exhibition.

Or this?

Complete with emphasized feet?

But the one that kicked me in the gut was this one… Closer look?

Because that was so not cool. So, so not cool.

I want it known that none of these were made with my consent or sold with my knowledge. They are not endorsed by me or made in my studio or by my hands.

 

 

 

The nature of clay

By On October 18, 2011 In Art making With 1 Comment Permanent Link to The nature of clayPermalink

The studio shelves are bare except for a few boxes that didn’t make it into the last firing before the big Dewey Beach event. They are now the beginnings of a next firing, the next kiln load.

More than any other time in the year, these weeks after Dewey Beach feel like  a new beginning. Turn it all over, let’s get started again. Feels funny – the weather outside the studio is fall-ish. Trees winding down, losing leaves, getting ready for winter.

But it’s time to get moving again. I’ve got three pieces to start/finish for a January themed show. I need to figure out what I’m going to enter in the Art Show At The Dog Show also in January. And there are the memory boxes that need my attention as well. My store is in need of some small sculptures for holiday gifts.

Clay is a medium of chance and “kiln gods” and luck. It’s also wait and see, timing, and moisture. Time to get moving again.

I ordered more clay today.

 

Fun and adventure.

By On June 2, 2011 In Art making With 7 Comments Permanent Link to Fun and adventure.Permalink

In the spirit of the last post I thought I’d try to mix things up a bit. After posting that little whine about the lack of new challenges – jeez, it even makes me roll my eyes – I stumbled on Alyson B. Stanfield’s ArtBizBlog and her current online class. What the heck, let’s try it.

It’s day 2 of 30. I’ve run into trouble.

So the problem presented is to rate oneself from A to F on how well one is doing on seven different categories. A’s and B’s… except for the Fun and Adventure category. That’s one big stumbling block. The glaring F in red pen with a circle around it. Failure.

Because… I’m not that good at Fun and Adventure when it’s mixed in a non-art context. Like “Taking A REAL Vacation”. I read that and my eyes squint, brow furrows. “What does that mean?” complete with head tilt and quizzical look.

I suck non-art Fun and Adventure.

Fun and Adventure within the art context? I got that one covered. I know how to do this. But pull out the Art… and there goes the Business excuse for doing things… and my “This-Is-Not-Prudent” android-like inner voice becomes oh so apparent.

“Why would you want to do that? That’s expensive. You should be working. Remember that email you got three days ago about the (insert piece of art) that you haven’t finished yet? Besides you have XX number of projects to be finished at the library job. And who will take care of your dogs?” Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

I know what fun looks like. It’s why the hounds and I go to the dog park every day. Hands down, dog park time is the best part of the day. It’s the closest I get to non-art fun…. course if I bring my camera then I take photos that I’ll later use for sculptures and other art projects…

But conventional ideas of vacation fun? Like me on a beach with a fruity drink in one hand, lounging on a towel, soaking up the sun? I can’t imagine that that would be fun at all. Or Las Vegas? I am physically incapable of gambling. A cruise? I get seasick on boats.

Totally ridiculous.

So what is fun?

Restless.

By On May 31, 2011 In Art making, Life in North Dakota, Memory Boxes With 2 Comments Permanent Link to Restless.Permalink

I should have scheduled a workshop. Or planned to attend the big event at the Bray. Or a vacation (what’s that?). Something to get away from this place for a while. Something to look forward to.

As it is, I’m waiting for boxes to dry. I’m working steady. Soon they will be dry and I’ll be loading the kiln, glazing and firing. Lots of interesting stuff to do.

But until then… North Dakota is dearth of inspiration. The rains keep coming but my creativity well is running a bit dry. Like the rain clouds… it’ll pass.

Gray and green.

By On May 30, 2011 In Art making, Life in North Dakota With 3 Comments Permanent Link to Gray and green.Permalink

Cold. Wet. Rainy. Gray.

On the bright-side the basement is dry. That can’t be said for most of my neighbors. Or those along the Missouri river here in ND. Flooding. Sandbagging. Stress.

I don’t know how long it has been raining – just that it seems like we’ve had more rain this year than ever. If memory serves, we’ve had three nice days in all of May. I long for 70+ degree weather. I had to turn the furnace on last night.

And no Greyhound Gathering in Kanab, Utah. And no Art Show at Dewey Beach, Delaware this year either. I sit with no set events this year. No finalized engagements. The calendar is wide open with not a deadline in sight. I’m not sure I like this.

But my memory box goal for this month has been met. The boxes are drying and should be ready soon (rain/humidity is slowing the process down… slow drying is a good thing… but it takes forever…) There are also smaller smoke fired greyhound and saluki sculptures ready to be fired. In about a week things might shape up around here. The kilns will be firing, at last. I’m excited for the results. I’m really liking this batch of boxes and small sculptures.

The hounds and I have been squeezing trips to the dog park in between rain storms. I’m not crazy about them running on wet grass, but there has been little choice, of late. They need exercise and while the leash walking does fulfill some of that, it isn’t enough.  The dog park ground is squishy and saturated like a sponge that needs to be wrung out. The hounds don’t seem to mind it or the baths when they get home.

Back to work. May has been a productive month. Memory boxes started. Small sculptures started. Shipped a larger piece (cross your fingers UPS will be kind in shipment). Have two other larger works possibly sold. Am *this* close to completing a $36,000 grant at the library job. It’s all good.

 

 

The gritty details.

By On May 15, 2011 In Art making With 2 Comments Permanent Link to The gritty details.Permalink

The drying racks in the studio are filling up with memory boxes. I tend to work in batches – batches of small sculpture, or tiles, or boxes, or even big sculptures. It’s been awhile since I’ve made memory boxes.

Sarah Regan Snavely Greyhound Angel memory box

The truth is – they are hard to make. Not the actual construction. There are tools and practice that make that much easier than it used to be. In clay, practice doesn’t make perfect, but it does make “perfect” easier. (Who wants perfect anyway? Perfect is boring. Handmade is interesting).

The reason the boxes are difficult to make is that they are emotionally difficult. Because I know what the boxes will be used for… and that triggers memories of my own losses.

My email inbox always has messages from people seeking boxes. These emails are raw and emotional. I know how it feels – with every email I remember how it has been – how it hurts to lose these creatures – how you are never quite the same.

Strange how thoughts creep in. Like how I’d overheard someone talking about planting trees. “I should plant a tree in the backyard,” I thought. Innocuous enough. But then I realized that I wouldn’t know where to plant that tree. All the good tree spots are occupied. That the yard is a graveyard of dogs past. Really… Even the studio is built over a dead dog’s grave.

I try not to think about it too much, you know? How does an artist bring the emotional sensitivity to the work, without crossing the line into personal grief quicksand? Practice? Ugh.

So as I make this batch of boxes I try to positive. To think of the good parts… There are lots of good parts.

Maybe these memory boxes will bring similar good thoughts to the people who have loved and lost their Greyhounds.

 

Three days to more clay work.

By On April 27, 2011 In Art making With 1 Comment Permanent Link to Three days to more clay work.Permalink

I had nothing on my calendar this past friday, saturday or sunday. I cannot remember the last time that happened. No events. No library thing to distract me from studio time. Plus sunshine. It was wonderful.

So I pulled out of 25 pound block of clay and began to work. I’ll admit – friday things didn’t go well. I made ugly things. Really ugly things. Wasn’t working. I was fighting the clay.

Saturday wasn’t much better, but I kept at it. I’ve been at this long enough to know there is a time to quit – to shut the studio door and walk away for a better day – and there is a time to work out the ugly. This was the time to keep at it.

The way to get out of the Uglies is to stay on task but scale back. I put the big pieces away and make small heads, or feet – on Saturday I made new stamps to press into the wet clay (for boxes, etc.).

Here’s why this works for me. The stakes are lower. I’m not using large amounts of clay. I’ve solved the engineering and firing problems already. All that’s left is working the creativity muscles.

It’s like stretching before running a race. A warm up. Preparation for the Big Art.

After a Saturday of making the stamps (so much fun!), I started a few of the smaller maquette sized pieces. I’ve sculpted many of these small works. They are the my equivalent of sketches  - solving basic problems, working out simple ideas, practicing success. Sunday was beginning to look productive. The clay was fun again.

Smooth Saluki

By Tuesday I was ready to tackle a few Salukis. Here’s the smooth Saluki in a play bow position in the working stage. Maybe a larger piece is in the future?

There is an ebb and flow to this clay work thing. I try to jump in at the middle – to take short cuts. But the process is the process. Even if I try to “cheat”, the process keeps me honest.

On to more work!

 

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