the mantel

Our Rookwood fireplace mantel - in the works... We spent our Thanksgiving break making sprig molds - and I am really loving the effect of piling them on. Can't wait to get this sucker glazed!

hyperallergic

We just wanted to say a giant thank you to Alicia Eler for the amazing write up on Hyperallergic about our work at Belger/Red Star. She totally nailed it. You can read the entire article here. 

progress

Our Rookwood fireplace is coming along... We have images for the mural, tests in the kiln, and a pile of sprig molds to work with.

installation photos - Red Star/Belger Arts Center

 

 

Installation images from our solo show at Red Star/Belger Arts Center. (finally) You can see more images of our show on Red Star's website here. The show runs through the end of January, so if you are in Kansas City, stop by and tell Michael and Mo we say hello!
All photos courtesy of Red Star Studios and Belger Arts Center

The Living Room Fireplace

This is the beginning of a huge project, and another new endeavor with artists and industry. We are working on The Living Room, an exhibition for the Contemporary Art Center opening this May. Terence Hammonds, Katie, and myself are collaborating with Rookwood Pottery on a ceramic fireplace. We will be altering Rookwoods modularly designed fireplace with utopian ideologies in both form and image. Here is the first day as we plan our layout. Whats amazing about working this way is that no singular entity involved could ever make what will come alone, and we all have something to bring to the table. Anything can happen here.

lovely lithophanes

Our lithophane tumblers on display - thank you so much to Michael and Brock for their innovative solution to lighting these pieces! 

Made in china - a series of 21 tumblers with lithophane bottoms.
porcelain, 5" x 2.75" each

one of many

A quick image from our show at the Belger Arts Center and Red Star Studios... The Alphonso Taft busts reinstalled with Bruce Goff inspired tiles and sconces. The battleship grey wall gives Alphonso a much darker look - referencing his old Skull and Bones days.

setting up

Setting up at the Belger Arts Center/Red Star - not too shabby company. 

coming soon

One week from tomorrow! Stop by and say hello... Red Star Studios at the Belger Arts Center, opening Friday October 5th. 

ovals

New ovals, fresh from the RPC! Looks like we have a pretty solid plan for this weekend - glazing more tiles and framing out our new wallpaper.

tile backdrop

Working on a tiled wall piece for our upcoming show. This base will replace the one you see here to display our Alphonso Taft heads redux.

base

New base carved by plaster master GMD. It amazes me to this day how he can turn a block of plaster into this - my brain and hands just don't work that way. We are gearing up for a 20 foot tile wall, this base fitting exactly into the patterning... more photos soon.

back to work

More pieces in the works for our KC show at the Belger Arts Center. I feel like we are starting to really see some of our ideas taking shape...
Nymphenburg still life #3 in progress

mao and monkey

From Jingdezhen, more porcelain monkeys. Katie made the piece on the left, Mike the piece on the right - but you probably knew that already.
Tiny Monkeys, 6" x 5" x 4" each, porcelain and china paint, 2012

back

We are back from China! It turns out that blogger is blocked throughout the country, so I had my brother post a couple photos from my phone. Jingdezhen and The Pottery Workshop were amazing, I can't stop thinking about how to get back as soon as possible. Above is the studio  - one of the last days when all the work started coming out of the kilns. As soon as everything gets unpacked and the dust settles we will post more images. 

Mao

Week one in Jingdezhen China. I couldn't resist...

old technology

Rapid prototyping in Jingdezhen

Jingdezhen

We are heading to Jingdezhen China (the porcelain capitol of the WORLD) next week to spend a month at The Pottery Workshop! We will do our best to post images and works in progress to this blog during our stay.  If there is only radio silence instead - we will be taking a ton of photos and will update upon return... Here goes nothing.

Model Citizens NYC

Images from the Model Citizens show last week in Soho. We rearranged our oval plaques from this exhibition, and made them a little more elaborate and over the top. It seems like every year when design week rolls around it gets us thinking about new work, and we end up showing small experiments that propel us into larger scale installations. Look for more gold leaf and architectural detailing later this summer - as this piece definitely points to where we are heading next. 

The warehouse space in Soho on Mercer Street. Two beautiful giant empty floors. 

printing

Printing tiles at Rookwood Pottery, round 2. From the amazing minds of Terence Hammonds and Guy Michael Davis. A 70's biker couple with a dollar bill backdrop. LOVE IT. Easily the best tile of the day.

lithophanes, round 3

Guy's new lithophane experiments...freshly printed. We have some solid ideas for these monkeys.

Rookwood collaboration

Guy and Terence Hammonds (print maker extraordinaire) checking out glaze options

8"x8" and 14"x14" tiles 

We are collaborating with Rookwood Pottery!! I can't believe it! We are working with artists and designers there, starting to brainstorm new ideas for one off art pieces as well as production work. The images above are from a print collaboration we did with Terence Hammonds today, who has been working at Rookwood for two years, but is also an AMAZING printmaker. What an honor - we are huge fans of his work and style. Fingers crossed that these tiles look as hot as we think they will. 

color

We are currently working on a series of large porcelain wall pieces, that fit with our new backdrops and paper work. Although the porcelain will remain white, there will be plenty of color involved. With pieces of this scale, putting them back into the kiln for numerous firings seems like a death wish.

new panels

New panels in the works, for a couple shows on the docket. We are shifting the color palate just a little - inspired by some of the cut paper work.
Above - l.5 layers screenprinted (out of 6)

blob making

The flower blob is growing...

In the Studio

It sure is getting dense in the studio. All of the walls and tables are covered with finished work, molds, and work in progress. There's a ton to talk about when we get studio visits, and by the way, the last guests presented us with a new and important collaboration. I cannot say anymore but along with our exhibition coming up in Kansas City there are some very interesting projects around the corner.

a lot of starts

While Guy has been busy carving plaster like mad, I have started a new "flower ball" form. (photo from day 3). Although, I am thinking of making a giant flower blob instead, which is harder than I thought it would be initially. This will be getting much bigger.

new work - step one

Step 1. Make a mold.

Guy Michael has been carving away into the long hours of the night, setting up a form for a new body of work. I am constantly amazed at his ability to sculpt a square block of plaster. 

lithophane, round 2

Lithophanes, round 2. The piece on the left is from our first test with CNC milling a lithophane, and it worked like mad. I am currently teaching a special studio on tile making at UC, so I am going to have my students make lithophanes this winter. Piece 2 and 3 (middle and right) are more affordable options - less time in the mill, and a 3D powder print version. I can't wait to see how these look illuminated. (and a giant thank you to Aaron Rucker)