My new blog

I have started a new blog at hot out of the kiln. I will be posting images of my ceramic art work as it comes out of the kiln.

I will maintain this blog for general news and observations about art, tiles and ceramics.

Starry, starry night on black

Starry, starry night on black
6" hand-painted ceramic tile, in 8" black wood frame

Click on image for larger view
(Photo and design copyright roslyn m wilkins)

Many Moons Ago - spacey ceramic tiles

Been feeling kinda spacey lately so planets, galaxies, moons and stars keep cropping up in my artwork. More to come, I hope.

Many Moons Ago tryptich
 Three 6-inch tiles - 20"x8" in alderwood frame

Click on image for larger view

(design and photo copyright roslyn m wilkins)

Change of heart for ceramic tiles

I painted a set of four ceramic tiles but when they came out of the kiln I wasn't very happy with the outcome.

Once again, jumping into the unknown, I decided to take a chance on destroying hours of work to create something more satisfactory.

I covered the fired tiles with two coats of Mayco Royal Fantasy Jungle Gems glaze and hoped for the best.

So, was the experiment successful?

As I have noted before, it is just about impossible to show ceramic glazes on a computer monitor. The glazing on the tile is a lot more complex than can be shown this way.

But without me reaching through your computer screen, scaring the daylights out of you, and handing you the physical tile, this will have to suffice.

Below is the result.  

I am pretty happy with them. I call the series Ghost Hearts 1-4. The tiles have an eerie, ethereal quality. The more I look at them, the more I like them.

4.25 inch ceramic tiles, 6.25 inches framed.
(Designs and photos copyright roslyn m wilkins)

Twinkle twinkle, black star, white star



Black Star One - 4/14" ceramic tile - 6-1/4" framed

Black Star Two - 4/14" ceramic tile - 6-1/4" framed

I am not sure if I am finished with this idea yet.

I painted two tiles entitled Black Star and two entitled White Star.

As I was painting them I thought they would go together as a four-tile set. But I think they are too different.

White Star One - 4/14" ceramic tile - 6-1/4" framed

White Star Two - 4/14" ceramic tile - 6-1/4" framed

The pencil drawings (which is how I start out on any of my tile paintings) were intended as one piece of artwork. And when I laid down the first two layers of glaze that was still my intention.

But the black overglaze on two and the white overglaze on the other two completely changed the story.

I am deciding if I should paint two more black and two more white tiles or leave these as two and two and create another "star" series from scratch.

In any case, I think before I paint anymore tiles I need to update my website.

(Designs and photos copyright roslyn m wilkins)

Making green mosaics with recycled materials

I ran across this article on Jessica Kortz, a mosaic artist using recycled materials, and I identified with the story.

In the article she states that "My New Year's resolution was to do more art every day."

That was, and is, one of my New Year expectations also. So far I think I am doing pretty well with that and I am extremely happy.

Click here to read the story.

Ceramic tiles that bend in the road

It's been almost three weeks since I was able to put any tiles in the kiln. Leading tours, being out of town on a business conference, and other duties have kept me separated from my paintbrush.

I have to say that these days, glazing tiles is my favorite thing to do and I actually resent anything that stands in my way, no matter how enjoyable it may be.

These four tiles came out of the kiln around January 5. They are truly a labor of love with many coats of glaze and four firings in the kiln in an attempt to get something I halfway liked. Out of desperation I finally decided to apply two coats of Cobblestone glaze, black on two and white on two. Back in the kiln one last time and voila! It worked.

These were originally painted to fit together in a four-tile frame, but I prefer them each in their individual frames.

I am calling the series Bends in the Road. 4.125" tiles. 6.125" framed.

(Photos and designs copyright roslyn m wilkins)

Digital Darkroom at The Annenberg Space for Photography in Century City

After guiding my tour buses through Hollywood and Beverly Hills, my favorite route to LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) is through Century City which was the former 20th Century Fox Studios lot (a smaller lot and corporate headquarters are still on the site). On the east side of the Avenue of the Stars, where the much-lamented Shubert Theatre used to sit, is now an office building housing the Annenberg Space for Photography which I always point out to my tour-goers.

Today members of the Culver City Art Group met at the museum for our January outing. It was my first time in the building. I thought it would be pretty interesting as I have always loved photography as an art form from my early days when I had a darkroom set up in the bathroom (much to the chagrin of my boyfriend at the time who had to make an appointment to use the facilities!).

The current exhibit, DIGITAL DARKROOM, runs through May 28 and features the work of 17 artists from around the world who are exploring the marriage of art with digital technology: Josef Astor, Pierre Beteille, Joel Grimes, Ted Grudowski, Claudia Kunin, Chris Levine, Bonny Pierce Lhotka, Khuong Nguyen, Mike Pucher, Jean-François Rauzier, Martine Roch, Christopher Schneberger, Brooke Shaden, Stanley Smith, Maggie Taylor, Jerry Uelsmann and Jean-Marie Vives.

Whatever you might imagine can be done in the realm of art photography (digital or otherwise) has been produced by these artists. Their creativity is nothing less than amazing. If you are any kind of artist or photographer you need to see this exhibit.

As a somewhat creative person, I take inspiration wherever I can find it. It could be a walk around the neighborhood, a movie, a sunset, a good book, music, a gallery of Renaissance or contemporary art, landscapes or sculptures, or in this case, imaginative photographic manipulation.

Jerry Uelsmann was my hero in the seventies when I was creating my own black and white darkroom "masterpieces" in the bathtub. It was wonderful to see some of his older and contemporary work at the exhibit. He still works in the darkroom while his wife has her digital studio across the street.

If you have any interest in art or photography, do not miss DIGITAL DARKROOM. Admission is free and at the weekends parking beneath the building is a mere one dollar. After viewing the exhibit you can walk across the street to the Westfield Century City shopping mall for a meal.

No photography is allowed inside.

(Photos copyright roslyn m wilkins)

Hypsography. You'll have to look it up.

I am calling these Hypsography White and Hypsography Black. I can't decide which one I like better. Well, I like them both equally in their own way. These are 4.125-inch ceramic tiles. Now I want to do something bigger in a similar style.

(Designs and photos copyright roslyn m wilkins)

Back to the sixties

I am experimenting with my new glazes. I like these colors and textures. I am calling this series Back to the Sixties as the colors remind me of that era. Of course, I don't remember that era personally... okay I do. But so do the Rolling Stones so it can't all be bad!

Ooooooh, I like these!!!!
(Photos and designs copyright roslyn m wilkins)

First tiles fired in 2012

Quartet of the New Year 010212
10.5 inches framed

After leading a whole bunch of tours around Hollywood and Beverly Hills over the holidays, I was anxious to get back to painting some tiles.

As there are so many things I am interested in, my brain goes around in circles like a train in a loop stopping off at the various stations along the line. I have to take advantage of whatever station I am at  while I am there. For right now that seems to be painting tiles.

I am having a lot of fun coming up with ideas for what I am calling "Abstract" designs for lack of a better name. I am sure at some point I will want to paint tiles in my cats series or places series.

And who knows when I will want to move on to something else entirely different in my bag of tricks. I never know!

I painted these tiles in a different order but when they came out of the kiln they were screaming to be rearranged. Like a jigsaw puzzle, there is only one way the pieces fit in a satisfying way.

I really like painting quartets of tiles and just bought a pile of new frames!!
(Photo and design copyright roslyn m wilkins)

Another quartet of tiles show their colors

This set of four ceramic tiles were painted before the quartet shown in my previous blog, for those of you who are keeping track of those things...

The image above is how the bisque tiles looked before they were cooked in the kiln. As you can see, there is no indication of what the colors will look like or what shapes and textures the glazes will form. The fired tiles are below.

I can only look at color samples online which really means nothing other than giving me a basic idea of which glazes to put next to each other... or not. So when I am envisioning the end result I have only a very rudimentary idea in my head.

Again, it would be great if there was some way of showing the luminosity and textures of these glazes on this blog. I guess that will have to wait until I can make a holograph.

As I am becoming a little more familiar with how these glazes will behave that end result is somewhat easier to control.... up to a point. As you can imagine, I had plenty of disasters when I first started using these glazes.

I haven't quite decided how to frame these yet. My first set of four tiles I framed together and afterwards wished I had framed them separately (too late, they were cemented in place). I am going to play around with the framing of these.

I have to say I am pretty much pleased with this set of tiles. There is something about designing in fours that is very satisfying to me. I am tentatively calling these Squares within Squares 1-4. But maybe Universes within Universes is a more poetic title. You can decide.

(4.25" tiles in 6" frames)

(All designs and photos copyright roslyn m wilkins)

A tile quartet I like more than I thought I would

I admit I had a little too much wine when I painted these tiles (or can there ever be too much wine?). I shoved them in the kiln at midnight knowing I had wasted bisque tiles, glaze, electricity AND my precious time by being so sloppy.

I had my Christmas lights blinking away, a log in the fireplace and Pink Floyd in the DVD player. With all that, could I really ask for satisfactory artwork too?

I wasn't that excited about taking the tiles out of the kiln. In fact it was about 6:00pm the next day that I even thought about opening the kiln. I took out the first tile. Hmmm, not too bad. The second one, oh, kinda nice. The third, this is promising. The fourth, I think I like this.

I put them all together as a quartet. Not too shabby. Yes, this maybe okay after all.

There is no way I can represent the real colors here or the shimmering effects. This image is a poor representative of the real thing. But you will have to make do with this. I'll let you know when I am showing it at a gallery so you can see it in person. The computer can't do it justice.

I am having fun painting with my Mayco Elements and Cystalite glazes.

They are totally unpredictable so you just have to use your imagination to "see" what the outcome will be when you take them out of the kiln. Of course, the more you paint with them the more you have a handle on them.

But they are pretty much like my cats. Just when you think you have figured them out they do something completely off the wall. I guess that's why I love 'em.

(Photos and designs copyright roslyn m wilkins)

Out of the fire, into the frame

I fired this set of tiles Friday night. I was able to open the kiln around 1:00pm when the kiln temp was down to about 200 degrees Fahrenheit (about 93 Celsius). The tiles were still too hot to touch so I had to place them in the frame with oven mitts. I was attending the Culver City Art Group holiday potluck in the evening and needed the pieces for the mini show.

Whenever we have a meeting (as opposed to an activity such as a gallery visit) the members can bring some artwork for the other attendees to vote on. Then once a year we add up the points and declare a winner.

As well as cats and scenes from my travels, I enjoy painting mandalas and abstracts. I am classifying this set of tiles as abstract. I used four different glazes of two coats each (Mayco Crystalite and Elements).

As I have mentioned before, ceramic tile painting has its frustrations. For me, the biggest one is not being able to see the colors before they are fired or how the glazes will behave in the firing process. This is also the delightful part. There are always surprises, both good and bad.

Although I like the idea of a quartet of tiles in one frame, once they came out of the oven I realized they would probably have been better in separate frames arranged next to each other, as each tile is like an individual painting. However, too late, as I did not have the required frames on hand.

Today I tried to pry the tiles out of the frame with a chisel and hammer but only succeeded in chipping the glaze and the frame. Fortunately, I was able to repair the damage. So I will have to leave these in the frame and paint a new set to be framed individually.

(Design and photo copyright roslyn m wilkins.)

Cats with coats of spring colors

With all the things I have going in my life I need to clone myself about a dozen times. For my blogs and websites I need at least two or three copies of myself. This isn't about delegating. This is about me needing to be in a dozen places at the same time. That is my excuse for not updating my blogs and websites on a regular basis. Okay, enough said!

In the recent Culver City Art Group Holiday Show I was tickled to win second place in the Members' Theme which this year was Colors of Spring. My piece, a tile tryptich, was a last-minute entry. I painted the tiles on Wednesday and Thursday, put the tiles in the kiln at midnight on Thursday and took them out at noon on Friday. They were still warm as I was gluing and grouting them into the frame. Whew, that was close! Had I not made the effort I would have missed out on a ribbon.

I really racked my brain thinking up an original idea for this theme. I certainly didn't want to end up with anything you would normally associate with the spring season but I did want to work with spring-like colors, because, after all, that was the title of the theme. I had already painted four cat tiles for the show in shades of black, white and grey so I decided on more cats. What could be more obvious?

I was pleased with the way the tiles came out and how they worked together as a tryptich. Of course artists are always their own worst critics. At least I am, always seeing the mistakes in 45-foot-high neon signs glaring out at me. A good thing nobody else is that nit-picky. I will be aware of that issue next time and not make the same mistake twice, or at least, not three times.

So I present to you my hand-painted ceramic tile tryptich, Cats with coats of spring colors. Reproductions of these three tiles are now available at www.RMWdesigns.com under the Cats! Cats! Cats! section.

Also, I have updated my ceramics website at www.RMWceramics.com although there still remain a lot of images to post.

(Photos and designs copyright roslyn m wilkins)

Culver City Art Group 16th Annual Holiday Art Show, November 12

I am happy to invite you to the Culver City Art Group 16th Annual Holiday Art Show, November 12, 2011 from 1:00pm to 7:00pm.
We have a beautiful new venue at Centerpointe, Playa Vista, CA. Just west of Culver City and across the street from the Marina del Rey Home Depot.
I will be exhibiting my new hand-painted ceramic tiles in the following series including Cats! Cats! Cats!, Alphabet, Places, Abstract and Mandalas. I am very excited to be painting again and my hope is that I can keep it up from now on.
I would be thrilled if you could join me at the show. The Artists' Reception is from 3:30pm to 7:00pm. I will be scooting out just a little early to attend another event.
The other members of our group are much more talented than I am, so come and enjoy their work in oils, acrylics, pastels, pencil, digital and photography. We are a multi-talented group of artists!!
Looking forward to seeing you there!
Playa Vista CenterPointe Club
6200 Playa Vista Drive
Playa Vista, CA 90094
For more information or to download printable flyers, visit our website at http://www.ccartgroup.org/

Young Summers at POST in 3D

Young Summers introduced her first three-dimensional artwork at POST Gallery (1904 E 7TH Pl, Los Angeles, CA 90021) tonight. Young, a member of the Culver City Art Group, is the creator of some prize-winning collages. She invited members of CCAG to attend her exhibit.

I always like to see new and different art. The exhibit was a lot of fun, and that is what art should be in my opinion—fun.

Yes, it can be about serious subjects but to get the point across it needs to invite the viewer in and that can only be done by creating an enjoyable environment.

Personally, I always prefer innovative, creative, adventurous art… even if I don’t particularly care for it… to dreadfully boring, serious stuff. Art should be an adventure, not a known quantity.

Fortunately, no worries, as I always enjoy Young's art work.

(Photos copyright roslyn m wilkins)

Art in the Afternoon: Venice Art Forum

On Sunday a friend and I attended the exhibit “Studio Visions” with works by The Venice Art Forum Group at The Center for Art and Spirit in Venice, California. We were invited by our mutual friend, Barbara Golbin, who was showing four of her paintings.

 

Other artists in the exhibit included Ciya, Debra Gangale, Carole Garland, Linda Jacobson, Regine Legler, Melissa Reischman, and Jean Wolff. I know several of the artists and it is always interesting to see their new creations.

Linda, who created the group and was the host, converted the garage of her house into a well-thought-out art studio/gallery with natural light, work areas, and plenty of wall space to accommodate exhibits.

After viewing the paintings we enjoyed sitting out in the garden chatting with friends and admiring the bougainvillea.

Linda provided a nice spread of grapes, cheese, crackers, and wine. At 3:30 there was a drumming session with maracas for those of us who wanted to join in the noise-making.

This was a very pleasant, informal afternoon of art and socializing.

(photos copyright roslyn m wilkins)

Fear No Art

Like they say, one man's trash is another woman's treasure. My friend KJ found this button in the trash and gave it to me. I love it and wear it proudly!

A Feast of ArtSaturday night the Culver City Art Group gathered at my place for our annual Holiday Potluck. We usually do this in December but last month it seemed all the members (including me) had other things going on so we rescheduled for January. I kept all my Christmas lights and decorations up a little longer to accommodate the party. This turned out to be a super idea as around twenty five people showed up including guests of members.
The great food included spicy jambalaya to turkey meatballs to chicken wings to tasty salads to bread straight out of the oven to cheese and crackers to homemade and homegrown guacamole to cup cakes to cookies to chocolatey things—well, you get the idea! Along with the goodies we asked members to bring a piece of their own artwork or something that someone else had created to briefly comment on. This turned out really well as personally I enjoyed all of the short talks. At our regular meetings we have mini-shows where each artist brings a piece to be voted on but we don’t get to hear the story behind it.

My cat Friday did his usual job of greeting everybody at the door. At one point he escaped outside and was welcoming all the guests out on the sidewalk. That cat loves people and he goes to great lengths to make sure they love him back!

In attendance were some new members which is a great way to make their acquaintance and for them to meet the regular gang on a more personal level.
Some of us were discussing that as creative types we sometimes have uneasiness about dealing with large groups of people and are more comfortable with one-on-one situations. I have to put my hand up there! I find all the vibes from parties such as this one almost overwhelming but I have learned to take each person on an individual basis—and the people who are attracted to our group are exceptionally comfortable to be around. So, if you are an artistic anthropophobic you will be very welcome!
One of the most rewarding facets of my life is being a member of the Culver City Art Group. We have activities such as gallery and museum visits, general meetings with mini-shows, art demonstrations, an annual art exhibit, and our famous Holiday Potluck. I have made some wonderful friends of members past and present. If you are already a member, tell all your friends. If not, why not join us now?

(all photos are copyright roslyn m wilkins and all artwork copyright the respective artists)