Nancy Kubale

 Nancy Kubale, potter

Today's quote:

We are beginning to explore the physics of beauty. Philosophers and scientists have come together to name certain universal themes.

The universe tends toward complexity.
The universe is a web of relationship.
The universe tends toward symmetry.
The universe is rhythmic.
The universe tends toward self-organizing systems.
The universe depends on feedback and response.

Thus, the universe is “free” and unpredictable.

Celebrating art on pottery

 I said in 2022: "I am the proud owner of two pieces of Charlie Tefft pottery."  (His home page is ctpottery.com)

I  found this neat video of him describing his process, Here.

Charlie Teft made this mug and I bought it at a pottery show in Marshall NC. I then kept a eye out when he'd be included in shows. He lives in Summerfield NC. Unfortunately an accident in my kitchen demolished this mug.

I did purchase another of his mugs, the crow to remember a good friend of many years who loved all things corvid! 

Wanting to have another cat mug, I was happy to find this one.

Not a great photo, but my last purchase was the otter, on left here in a years-gone-past-springtime photo!

Many more blog posts of ceramics by others are on my "art blog" Alchemy of Clay.

Today's quote:

Rebecca Solnit, “Hope is an embrace of the unknown and the unknowable, an alternative to [polarized certainties. . . .Hope] is the belief that what we do matters even though how and when it may matter, who and what it may impact, are not things we can know beforehand.”

Making art

  

Me (in my dyed-hair days of 2011) sculpting at the Community Clay Studio

Me in Community Clay Studio in 2024 trying to return (unsuccessfully) to working in clay. The needs for breathing clean air and not coughing won the day, so I quietly bowed out.

By Norman Rockwell

As an aspiring artist, I put my all into my efforts, but never once did I have this intensity. Perhaps that's why I made my living in other areas of work. However, I do remember that deadlines always gave me a headache.

Today's quote:

If more politicians in this country were thinking about the next generation instead of the next election, it might be better for the United States and the world.

 -Claude Pepper, senator and representative (1900-1989)

A potter my son knows

Noelle Hoover’s dripping, accentuated, confections!
"These sooo remind me of dripping frosting on a totally delicious bunt-cake. Don’t you just want to just put them to your mouth and know how they feel (and just imagine that they’re sweet as sugar?). I sure do. Well these precious pieces are by Indianapolis artist Noelle Hoover who accentuates her flowing white glazes with these great free-form lines w/ radiating shading. They’re drawn with underglaze pencils and often refired a few times to create exactly the look she’s after. Stunning and super functional - just what I’d like in my Holiday stocking… "
from 'In Tandem Gallery', Bakersville, NC (now selling her works)

work of Indianapolis based ceramicist Noelle Hoover.

Her own artist statement:
The challenge of the mold making process and the interaction of ceramic materials is what fuels my curiosity and keeps me active in the making process. My practice begins with carving models from plaster and augmenting found objects for positives. In these models I try to translate the gestures of animals, forms from nature and the swell and movement of cumulus clouds into functional shapes. A ceramic mold is then made from these models and caste in clay. Through adding elements together and multiple glaze firings the repetitious process is modified to create one of a kind functional pieces.
Recently my work has deviated to include simplistic forms that are heavily reliant on repetitive mark making. In this process the goal is to focus only on the line directly before as a way to center concentration. Something about the repetitive motion that requires tunnel vision to stay on task I find meditative. Using mainly underglaze pencil and very fine underglaze applicators, the work is left unglazed or minimally glazed to create a textural experience when held in the hand. The end result are pieces that reflect on natural repetitious patterns in nature. It is though this investigation of everyday tableware I strive to make works of art that the owner will use, handle and enjoy. I would like there to be a tiny celebration everyday and I hope my objects can inspire that in their owners.
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My son, Tai Rogers, graduated in the same class as she did with an MFA in Ceramics from U of Indiana. I met her while we had a dinner-out one night! Maybe 2 degrees of separation there, eh? Incidentally my son moved into working with wood sculptures, and then did other things since he graduated.

An extravagant potter

 Carol Long, potter, has long been a favorite of mine. Here are some of the reasons:

In Tandem Gallery's Carol Long pieces

I'm so glad to have the internet so I can see, and share, these beauties. 

Oh, late to posting a photo  of one of her works.

Today's quote: 

When you experience mercy, you learn things that are hard to learn otherwise. You see things you can’t otherwise see; you hear things you can’t otherwise hear. You begin to recognize the humanity that resides in each of us.

BRYAN STEVENSON

French Moderns: Monet to Matisse, 1850-1950 part 5 and last!

 

French Moderns: Monet to Matisse, 1850-1950 part 4

 

Today's quote:

Miguel de Cervantes said, “Too much sanity may be madness and the maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be.”