very planet of the apes

Things are coming together, and we are in full china painting mode. This is layer only one, but I love how the lapels look like futuristic ape robes...

frames

Here are the frames we cnc milled to hold the prints for our Philly monkey project.  There are five that will have silk our screened graphics inspired by the unicorn tapestries. In the center, a porcelain monkey, mounted on a sconce presenting some curious artifacts on a plate that he will be chained to.

The incredible shrinking monkey

Progress on the PAFA project. Shown here is monkey, mini monkey and mini mini maker bot monkey. All of the digital work is being fabricated, most molds made, and the screen printing is done, but there is still a lot of china painting to do.

working

We have been busy busy in the studio, working towards a show at PAFA this October. We are putting together a large wall piece, consisting of handprinted wallpaper, porcelain monkeys, and a few other finishing touches. A couple shots from our studio - the wallpaper getting close to completion... (with the help of our amazing studio assistant Audrey!)

And our monkey getting ready to be sliced, diced, and molded.

Still[ed] Life

Our show "Still[ed] Life" opens today at the Taft Museum of Art! The Cincinnati Enquirer did a nice write up about the show today, which you can read here. We will be posting pictures of our installation over the next few weeks, but if you are in town definitely go check it out. The show runs from August 5th through October 16th, with an opening reception on September 18th. More details to come...

(Alphonso Taft with chinoiserie patterns from the Taft's collection, 12" x 7" x 5.5", porcelain and china paint)

coming soon

We have been in the studio constantly, working towards our big show at the Taft Museum of Art here in Cincinnati. Installation starts next Monday morning at 10am sharp, and we could not be more excited. So, until then, here is a tiny peek from the studio...

Working class monkey

 

Yes, the monkey is digital! Almost squared away with Taft Museum show we are already getting busy for the exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art Museum.

to be glazed

Guy has carved and cast these amazing sconces, and now we are finally ready to glaze them. They seem very Emile Galle to me, with their lovely flowing lines and edges. Here goes nothing...

the jell-o mold competition

We have just received video back from my brother Ben, taken at the Jell-O Mold Competition at the Gowanus Studio Space in Brooklyn tonight. It is hilarious! I have no idea what song this is, but the jiggling goes along perfectly. Ben is our newest collaborator, making our jell-o creation and plopping out the lion head on site, and we could not be happier with the result. Thank you Ben for all the hard work!!

the monkey

oh monkey, do we have big plans for you this summer...

awesome

Myself and Guy have been working closely with Jordan Tate to build a space in the photo department at UC loosely named "the awesome room". We are filling it with a MakerBot, 3-d scanner, decal printer, thermofax, glow in the dark printer, maybe a letterpress, and any other crazy equipment we can find. The idea is to have an experimental space that functions as both a studio and a lab, supporting the use of alternative processes and equipment. This is only the begininning.

Model Citizens NYC 2011

"Force of Hound" die cut paper, screen printed wallpaper, and porcelain with china paint and luster. 5' x 18' x 4.5'.

Our piece for the Model Citizens 2011 show at the Chelsea Art Museum during New York's Design Week. This is a combination of a lot of ideas happening in both Guy's and my own studio - taxidermy, porcelain figurines, hunting scenes, and topiaries.

Opening night - Saturday May 14th. The place was packed - and we met some amazing designers from all across the country. We also spent a day at the Cloisters admiring the Unicorn tapestries (one of the major influences for this piece), and were thisclose to getting standby seats at SNL. A giant thank you to Mika and Kris for including us once again!

FRESH figurines

"Beasts of the Chase" 12" x 7.5" x 8" each. Porcelain with china paint and decals.

This piece will be part of the FRESH Figurines exhibit at the Fuller Craft Museum this October.

pink noise - the record

Pink Noise is a collaboration between myself, Guy, and sound artist Ken Montgomery. It started as a simple tour of the ceramics studio at UC, and quickly turned into an amazing sonic experience. Ken has played the piece for audiences across the country, and the three of us have performed live sonic (blindfolded) tours of the initial recording to a select audience. We are now finally getting a record together, that will be released in a limited edition coming soon.

My wonderful studio assistant Jamie helping out on the letterpress. We started printing the album covers yesterday on the old C&P.

in the studio

Currently working on a giant still life. Giant is a relative term, especially when talking about porcelain, but we are aiming for something that can really stand on its own. So, this is a start.

obsessive

a sneak peek of how we spent our spring break. who needs a vacation, when you can china paint and cut decals until your eyes bleed?

head sandwich

Mike has been working all week, making the master mold of Taft. This is the first thing that caught my eye in the studio this morning.

in progress

Attorney General, Secretary of War, Father of US president William Howard Taft. Our favorite thing about him is his stately pose and the mean carbuncle on his forehead.

still life

Still life - the first one. Inspired by Dutch still life paintings, we are working on a ceramic version for our show at the Taft Museum of Art this summer. Stranger fruits are currently be molded, as well new takes on older ideas we have been tossing around.

unleashed

We are working on a pack of hunting hounds for upcoming exhibitions. The porcelain heads are in production and the armatures are close to the final design. The finish is the next exciting part!

Alfred NY

We were recently invited by the ACC to give a visiting artist talk and demos at the New York State College of Ceramics, and had one of the best weekends in long time. We stayed with Amy and Max, ate a ton of good food, saw some amazing work, and met the kindest group of ceramic artists I have ever come across.
On our way out, we sampled the Rochester, NY antique scene which did not disappoint. This smoking monkey automaton was a little tricky to get through the airport (along with all the plaster molds and china paint) but totally worth it.

studio play

We come up with a lot of crazy ideas in the studio - but I really like this one. Hanging Dead Project part 3. We will see...

Alphonso Taft

We have been offered the opportunity to show at the Taft Museum of Art next summer. The work for the exhibition will be in response to the museum and its very special collection. First off we needed to to take a 3-D scan of the marble bust of Alphonso Taft, sculpted by the great Hiram Powers; which we are very excited to have the chance to work with. Above you can get a peek at the scanning process happening in the museum. Believe me there will be much more coming in the next few months regarding this unique encounter and the development of this project.

2011

Happy New Year!

studio shots

working on it...

(didn't even notice the picture Mike posted of me below - too funny)

So, just a little more of a step by step, in case you are interested.

working

Katie has been breaking her back while working on the mold of this hunting dog head that is bound for an upcoming exhibition. This is a large 3-d print that came from a scan of an old German porcelain figurine of a hunter and his hounds. The original dog head was less that an inch long. His ears and lower jaw are molded separately. I think this form is one of our best yet and there are several large projects already coming from it.

High Street install

Last week, we installed our squirrel chandelier "PVR's Garden" at High Street in Cincinnati. We love the way it looks in the window, especially driving by late at night. Makes us think that this might look even better installed in our new house.... Hmmmm.

thinking about...

Dutch Still Lifes and how to bring some of their goodness into our work...

The top piece is from the Taft Museum in Cincinnati, the bottom two from the Art Institute of Chicago.

Just giving you a heads up.

final photo

Finally, I am uploading the finished photos from our Window Display in the Short Vine area of Cincinnati. This was a collaboration with Future Blooms, who put up multiple displays in the windows of vacant buildings in the area. We were going for an over the top, mash up of our work - branches and squirrels with flowers and patterns. The back panel is my favorite part - and gives the whole piece a fantastical feel.
12' x 4' x 1.5'

the studio

Halloween is the perfect day to get work done in the studio - no one is around at all...

This is the latest batch of work, heading out to High Street to round off an earlier shipment this September for their store and new ecommerce site. After this - we have some big BIG projects coming up that we are so excited to start working on. Coming SOON!

More fron the Slow Service Line

These bowls fit in to our Slow Service project that has taken form to reference, in a way, the concepts of slow food, slow design etc. Inspired by European porcelain patterns, the imagery is hand printed, painted, and been through multiple firings. On the left is a construction worker monkey who has trapped his own tail in a board, complete with a harlequin pattern background, and on the right fancy birds with Sevre inspired pattern and lustre. These pieces are being shipped to The Clay Studio ,in Philadelphia, for their gifted exhibition.Click on the image to see the fine detail.

back to normal

Mike came home from Poland to a hero's welcome in last week,

which cheered Chewy up tremendously.

A small example of the work Mike made in the factory.... For more images, click here.

finally

Slow Service is here! Took a quick shot of the tumblers so far - hand thrown, printed, glazed, and painted. (slow might be an understatement) Inspired by Sevres and Meissen patterning, but loosened up a bit. I like the way this is going.

install

A couple pictures of the window display install in progress. Sudsy Malones is not as square and true as it looks from the outside. So, we built a box on the inside to frame in our windows...

Then started hanging up the work.... Will post the finished pictures soon once we get the lighting in place. So far so good. The guys who run the shops in the neighborhood found it all highly entertaining.

backdrop

We are busy working on our window display, and set up shop in our new (to us) basement. Mike is taking off for a residency in Poland in less than a week, and our idea is a little intense to say the least. So, for now a snapshot of our backdrop in progress.

snarling head

Coming soon will be this snarling dog head in porcelain. It is HUGE and I am so excited to get started. The dog was scanned from this Nymphenburg figurine. But, Mike and I do have a couple other things on our plate. One, we moved into a new house which will be our most expensive and labor intensive art project to date. And second, we both have huge trips planned in the next month, so our studio time will be a little hit or miss.