Hotel Pupik

I’m spending the month between the 22nd of June and the 22nd of July in an artist colony in Schrattenburg, Austria.  Hotel Pupik is a summer residency program for all types of art.  At the moment an animation, dance choreography, and an installation are in the works.  By the end of our stay, performance art, jazz and experimental music will be joining the group for a presentation on the 18th of July. My wife, Tiffany Rhynard, has a residency in dance (see www.bigapensemble.com).  Isa and I came along for a month in Europe. Since arriving, I’ve been given 60 kilos of beautiful butterscotch colored clay and a space to work.

Hotel Pupik is housed in the farm buildings of a baroque castle built in 1680. The cross vault is used both in the castle and in the farm building.  This is a type of ceiling support where 2 barrel arches intersect each other at a right angle. The prevalence and beauty of this simple voluminous form intrigues me and has become the subject for a formal exploration.

At the moment, I’m trying a techniue that I haven’t used much.  I’m starting with a solid block of clay and carving the interior to make a slightly compartmentalized space. I’ll post some images of some of these shapes in the coming days.

cross vault in the castle

Welcome friends and colleagues,

The past year has been one of new beginnings for me. It started nearly a year ago with the happy blessing of Tiffany’s pregnancy and Isa’s birth on November 2 . She is now 3 and half months old and it seems a bit early for me to join you in Baltimore for the show this year. I’ll miss seeing you.

The second development of 2008 was my transition into working with earthenware. I’m very excited about the new work for several reasons:

• Using green CVPS Cow Power – My electricity is generated by burning methane collected from cow poo. By lowering my firing temperature to cone 04 from cone 10, I’m using less energy as well as clean energy.
• Color – I feel like the color is stronger, although my palette is staying relatively similar. The iron red of the terra cotta clay has a warmth and richness that gives a visceral response. The color of the glazes are clean and vibrant in a way that is difficult to achieve at higher temperatures.
• Terra Sigillata – A very fine particle slip that gives a soft sheen without being glazed. It is my low temperature answer to shino glaze. I can use it as a matte surface juxtaposed to glaze, and to keep accent dots and lines from being blurred into the glaze.