Getting Back To It

Well, it’s certainly been too long since I posted on this blog.  But there has just been so much that has happened.  The house and studio were completed three months ago.  It took me awhile to complete most of the organization and get set up to work in the studio.  Thanks to my friend P. Clay Volmer, we were able to accomplish the big job of moving out of our apartment and moving in to our new home.

P. Clay also spent many long hours working in my studio building a rack on the south wall that I designed to be versatile enough for large paintings and ceramic murals up to 84 sq ft.  Tying in the panels to the framework was really tricky.

I’m now at a point in my life where I finally can get back to the many artworks that I have been envisioning for the last forty years or so.  Life just kept getting in the way.

May 16th I made the commitment to put in a full year to completing the elusive body of work that life kept getting in the way of.  (Oh yes, this is my blog and I can end a sentence with a preposition)

Two weeks ago I finished up an amazing 5 day workshop, Big Clay,  with Billy Ray Mangum and Carl Block, who have been offering this gig for the last five years.  The workshop took place at Billy and Beverly’s Eye of the Dog Art Center in  San Marcos, Texas.  This wonderful community of artists has embraced us with open arms and we love being a part of it.

I am now working on several projects at once and I’m getting real flow in the studio.  The first painting I completed in May, The Source, was one I started when I was still in recovery in 2010 but never finished.  Now it’s done and I’m working on four others.

I also started a large sculpture in the Big Clay workshop.  Based on drawings from 1990, this is part of series of works that were planned in multiple media.  This first work, Standing Figure, is slab built, composed of modules, and may stand as high as 6 ft when completed.