Where Catfish Bloom

In the last post I showed the greenware version of this piece. It progressed to bisque fired and now to glaze fired. This project was inspired by the poem by Lisa M. Pursley, "Where Catfish Bloom", which I am sharing with Lisa's permission.

Where Catfish Bloom

Yesterday she was daisies,

dahlias and a spray of baby’s breath

until she was trapped

by the frailties of a civil engagement;

an iron woman achieving honesty,

sanity and swept floors.

She shares a confident understanding

of individual smallness.

All her lovely habits fortified,

trampled like the spirit

of a goddess in the rain.

Now she sits, cut

and stuffed, in a clearly gripping vase.

Lisa's poem was one of many submitted to Riverside Artists Gallery's 2016 Poetry in Art and was one among some great poems that were not chosen by any of the participating artists.

It was in my short list of poems I was considering for myself, but at the time I could not seem to solidify my thoughts on how I would approach the project.

I am no longer with the gallery but at that time I had been coordinator of the 2016 Poetry in Art exhibit and had a file of poems that were submitted by poets for consideration by the artists. When cleaning out files this spring "Where Catfish Bloom" was one of several from that exhibit I kept. 

It was very difficult to delete any on them!  

Above:  As you can see the piece stands on a flat surface, but is also wired for wall hanging.

Below:  Some decision making about whether to leave it alone or keep going.  This is the bisque fired head. I thought about leaving the head just like this.  The color of the bisque fired clay is very much like flesh tone and I had burnished the clay a bit so it has a smoother appearance than usual.  The glaze I used on the box is rather rustic so I decided to go ahead and fire the head to cone 6 (my usual glaze firing) in order to get the tan color this clay obtains when fired to maturity.

Below:  I decided to add a little iron oxide to the hair and darken the irises with a combination wash of cobalt ox. and copper carb.  Later, I brushed a little clear glaze on the irises (not shown).  The bisque fired head is among some pots awaiting a cone 6 glaze firing.

Poetry in Art 2016

The "Poetry in Art" exhibit is a collaboration of poets and artists, mostly in the region of Marietta and Athens, Ohio and Parkersburg, West Virginia.  Poets submitted poems and artists used the poems as inspiration to create art in their chosen media. Poems were displayed alongside the artwork. The opening last night at Riverside Artists Gallery included a reading of the poems in the exhibit. The exhibit continues through Sept. 29.   Below is a progression of the making of one of my pieces for the exhibit.  As usual, I did not think ahead about taking pictures so many steps are missing, especially ones of building the forms while in the greenware stage.

 So, these are in the greenware stage, but out by the kiln in the garage, probably dry or almost dry.  Clay is stoneware (tan).  White slip was brushed on, then cobalt slip over the white. The small figure was left white.  A fragment of the poem was etched into the surface.

These are forms after bisque firing and after a black slip was brushed on, then wiped off.  Also did the same with a little iron engobe. I made two because I was nervous about the possibility of not getting the results I wanted so I gave myself better odds.  Since, with clay, the process often takes weeks, I think the advantage many other forms of media have is the artist usually knows to change or scrap the piece in a matter of a few days, if not hours.  

After cone 6 firing.  This is the one I preferred.  I was pleased with the results.  The words are there, but not so commanding as to take away from the image and form. Though it can stand on its own, it is meant to hang on a wall and I made attachments in the back to hold wire.

The poem, "Insomnia is my Father's Bartender" is a wonderful, haunting work by the very talented Christina Veladota.