November at Carol Robinson Gallery

...5 chawan arrangement...

With Thanksgiving just around the corner and the fall semester drawing to a close, I am both proud and relieved to have this show up at the Carol Robinson Gallery in New Orleans, LA.  Between finishing the work for this exhibition while simultaneously making work for a recent show at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, I've been somewhat of a studio recluse and it's time to ease back into society for a bit....

Here are a few images of highlights from this show that is up until November 31st.  It is a 2 person exhibition, with me and furniture artist David Goodman displaying work together.  In most cases, my porcelain and wood fired stoneware pots have been arranged on David's pieces, and I think the styles of work tend to compliment each other quite nicely...

...woodfired bowl on altar...

 David's craftsmanship is first-rate, and there's a beautiful sense of fluidity in his forms. I believe it's always helpful for the potential user/owner to be able to view pots in context, rather than on a white pedestal or wall shelf. Of course, many homes, including my own, are unlikely to be furnished with David Goodman tables (...someday, Dave, Someday!..) ...but, then again, few kitchen cupboards often house celadon teabowls, either.  Fortunately, in her thirty years as a gallery owner, Carol has managed to cultivate quite a remarkable list of clients who are willing and able to have both.

...ignore all those pesky lil' red dots....

The opening reception was well attended, and it's always a welcome experience to meet people who've been kind enough to support my work overt the past six years of showing here.

I am always a little wary of gallery openings, mostly because I never quite know what to do with my hands. Often, a glass of wine occupies (at least) one hand at all times, while the other takes turns shifting from behind my back to my pocket. It's true that I genuinely enjoy talking pots, regardless of whether or not I made them, but what I really love is meeting the person who is about to give one of my pieces a new home.  On this particular evening, I had the pleasure of being introduced to several people who will certainly make fine "parents" to a few bits of lucky porcelain....

This exhibition was of particular significance to me, as it represents the first time where some of the older, more voluptuous figurative vessels were displayed with my newer work.  Seeing them both in context, the new pots appear much less disparate than I first believed and, perhaps, I will continue to make the occasional large altered bowl that I had previously grown so tired of.

..one of a pair of large altered bottle vases.

.....soon, my little friend, you will be filled with fine brown liquor.

With the changing of the seasons (or, "season", as we really only go from hot-as-hell, to reasonably cool,  to hot again in New Orleans) and the conclusion of these two separate shows, I look forward to a little break from the studio routine to catch up with friends and family, as well as the occasional domestic duties of doing laundry and food shopping or, as they say around these parts, "makin' groceries"....

......then, maybe start some rough stoneware pieces for a winter wood firing :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!