Pots & Bowls – Click on thumbnail to see full size image – Sculpture and Contemporary Spirituality

Tall Planter

Tall Planter

Tall Planter

15″ W x 15″ D x 38″ H

Steel, rusted patina

Wikipedia reminds us that planters are often round, earth colored pots, usually fashioned from fired unglazed clay. This is a planter that is not. All (except the flowers) are of steel. The base of the planter has a rusted patina; the birds and swirling wind-like structures are a powder-coated vivid black.

Planter/Aviary

Steel, lower section rusted patina; upper section powder coated black

36″ W x 36″D x 77″H

$650 (flowers not included)

Glazed Pots

“Glazed Pots”

11″h x 9”w x 4.5”d

10.5″h x 9″w x 4″d

Ceramic

Three Pots

“Three Pots”

8″h x 9”w x 9”d

Large Pot

“Large Pot”

14″h x 12”w x 12”d
ceramic

Mugs With Stand

8″ x 8″ x 3″

Making mugs is a staple for ceramicists. Whether beginners or proficient, whether production potters or one-of-a-kind enthusiasts, whether artists who throw mugs on a wheel or construct them from slabs, all have excelled at cup-making. From the perspective of marketing that is understandable. Year after year as the holiday seasons roll around, mugs are what sell.

I found cup making boring even tedious, that is until I received an email from one of my brother’s grandchildren. He wanted to give his grandparents a surprise gift …something they would really like…something personal to them. He wondered if I had anything he could afford! Even a “dented” piece would be okay.

While I’m not sure what a dented ceramic would look like, I began to think about his request. I found it touching as well as enlivening.

The gift turned out to be the two mugs pictured here. If you look closely you will see the word “Ragtime” embedded near the rim of each cup. That is the name of their sailboat.

My brother and his wife were delighted with the thoughtfulness of their grandchild. The young man is as pleased-as-punch with himself.

Since that time I have enjoyed making unique mugs for others. That is his gift to me.

Six Shooter

“Six Shooter”

14″ x 14″ x 11″

Ceramic, steel, gun parts, aloe vera plant, dirt

_{Rifle barrels (part of Santa Fe’s buy back program to lessen gun violence) have been f}_{orged into six leaves that seemingly grow from a live Aloe Vera plant known for its healing qualities. Together they grow from desert soil. The clay bowl, already transformed by fire, holds out hope that the gun culture can change.}

_{This piece, simple as it is, was difficult to sculpt. Gun steel, because of its carbon content, is so much harder than mild steel. I have the blisters as proof.}

_{It is difficult to forge gun parts into art. To change ourselves is troublesome enough. To lessen gun violence even more challenging.}

Large Basket in Clay

14″ x 14″ x 11″

After being fired, this piece sat on a table in the studio. When I arrived, three potters were discussing it. “I thought it was a woven basket.” said one. Two others nodded in agreement. “How hard was it to adhere the bronzed owl to its lid?” asked another.

I did not try to make this large slab built pot to resemble a woven basket. Neither is the owl made of bronze. It is clay. My only intent was to make an earthy-looking attractive pot that was both functional and eye catching.

Trigger Happy

TRIGGER HAPPY

10″w x 9″h x 8d

Ceramic and steel

A trigger cut from a rifle, the result of Santa Fe’s gun buy-back program, lies submerged and encased in clear plastic within this cracked gun-blue bowl. Mirroring the tradition of some native peoples, leather straps hold the broken bowl together. A glance inside the bowl reveals something more than the brightly polished trigger. There a nest contains three fragile robin blue eggs.

Pair of Planters

Approximately 10″ x 8″ x 6″