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)

Moving through mutations of the Galactic Landscape

I was in a "sixties" kind of mood when I laid this design out on paper (well, actually in Adobe Illustrator).

Original Adobe Illustrator sketch

 

Galactic Landscape after firing with first layers of glaze

But I wasn't happy with the way it looked after the first firing... it was too blah.



Galactic Landscape after firing with third and fourth layers of glaze
(Three 6x6-inch tiles - 8 inches x 20 inches framed)

So I covered it with a reddish glaze, let it dry and then applied the top layer of Black Cobblestone. Now I am thinking I should have reversed that order.

But I'm not unhappy with it and don't want to mess with it again. I am done and on to other ideas.

(designs and photos 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)

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)

What is it About Ceramics?
I love all kinds of art. I even love really bad "contemporary" art that I can't make head or tail of, just because it IS art (well, maybe in some strange, perverse kind of way). Maybe I should say I love all attempts at art! But what really turns on my appreciative juices is anything to do with ceramics (and that can include mosaics, of course). Well, the name of this blog is not Art, Photography and Tapestries (although I have nothing against P or T).
Saturday, BG and I visited the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), obstensibly to see the BMW art cars painted by Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, and Robert Rauschenberg on view in the BP Grand Entrance. I've seen "painted" cars before (although not BMWs) and was not impressed then as I am not impressed now. I happen to admire all four artists but seriously folks, if some 15-year-old kid did this to a car on the street they would be doing time in juvie for YEARS! If I was going to make art out of a car I would at least take into consideration the style and design of the vehicle itself. These are beautiful cars on their own, don't mess 'em up!!
(Yes, I'm getting to ceramics.)
Next up we visited the Francis Alÿs: Fabiola exhibit. The original painting of Saint Fabiola is now lost and these are 300 depictions of her by different artists. LACMA describes them as a "collection of nearly identical paintings." All I could see was the differences. Different noses, different chins, different eyes, different painting techniques... there is no way of knowing what she really looked like from this exhibit. To me, it's the differences, not the similarities, that make it interesting...
(Yes, I'm getting to ceramics!)
Sometimes it's just relaxing to meander around the permanent collections. Two of my all-time favorite paintings are on the third floor of the Art of the Americas Building. David Hockney's "Mulholland Drive, the Road to the Studio" and Lee Mullican's "Space", just around the corner from each other.
(Now we're at ceramics...)
On that same third floor the contemporary ceramics are displayed. I love them all but if I HAVE to pick a favorite for the moment I'll go with Ralph Bacerra's "Untitled Cloud Vessel"... so isn't that a title? Love the piece, hate the untitle...
BG then suggested we visit the Japanese Pavilion. I have not been in there in several years. Perhaps because I figured I've been there, done that too many times already. But I was wrong. The building itself is extraordinary. If you've never been in there, promise yourself you will on your next visit to LACMA. Even without the artwork it houses, it is a work of art in itself.
On the top floor (which is where you start your visit) are the ceramics, both modern and ancient... and in between. All the pieces are wonderful. (I was just browsing the online Japanese ceramics collection and it is magnificent... I am drooling over it!)
What can I say? I am in love with ceramics. I am in love with art. I'm in love with loving art!!!!
(Photo copyright roslyn m wilkins)

The Puppy Bowl (and other ceramics)
My friend KJ tells me that, yes, there is a Puppy Bowl (on Animal Planet, of course) on Super Bowl Sunday with cat cheerleaders at halftime. How could I make this stuff up?
I was at her house on SB Sunday to admire her tile and mosaic work at the entrance to her house. A really super job.
But our mission on this day was to visit the 65th Scripps Ceramic Annual exhibit at the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery in Claremont.
It was a splendid sunny southern California day for the first day of February, and with four brand new tires on my car gripping the road, a great day for the hour or so drive out there from her house to the little town at the foot of Mt. Baldy. We could see just a dusting of snow still at the cap. I was reminded of my trek up to the top 25 years ago in heavy snow and ice with pretty much white-out conditions when we reached the summit and could not imagine attempting such a hike today, or even wanting to!
The Williamson is a nice little gallery. The exhibit was small. I knew it was going to be contemporary ceramic art, and we all know the problems I have with anything labeled "contemporary" and I was not disappointed. So I won't go into all of that again. Let's just say it wasn't my cup of tea. We looked at some of the catalogs from previous years and personally, I would have preferred to see one of those exhibits. Maybe I'll take another shot next year.
But one of the works did fascinate me, if not in the way the artist probably intended. A series of shovels made with "human bone china." My aunt and uncle who recently passed away donated their bodies to science. So I wondered, did the people who ended up on this wall know they were going to be part of an art exhibit when they died? And how do you go about donating your body to art? And can you specify the work of art you want to be?
I thought about the pickled sheep at BCAM at LACMA. I would not want to end up in a tank of formaldehide for the whole world to see. But I wouldn't mind being turned into a beautiful bone china teapot used for elegant tea parties at some rich lady's mansion. Or maybe as part of a sculpture in a park where families come to sit at my feet with their picnics. As I like functional art more than anything, it would be nice to know I would be useful as well as decorative when I am gone.
But in the meantime, before I give up this body for some higher purpose, I am in need of it to take me to more art exhibits and galleries!

Latest Ballona Wetlands Marsh Series Tile

Just back from the kiln, my latest Ballona Wetlands inspired hand-painted ceramic tile. 6" x 6".

I may do a series with sunsets as the theme.

(All designs and photos on this blog copyright Roslyn M Wilkins and not to be used without permission.)

My First Light Switch Plate.

I just picked this light switch plate up from the kiln. Of course now I see all my mistakes but that's good as next time I won't make them. I'm happy with it anyway. I'm experimenting with tag-alongs which are small ceramic (unpainted bisque) pieces glued to the base tile with glaze.

(All photos and designs on this blog copyright roslyn m wilkins and not to be used without permission.)