AFTERMATH #1 is a sculptural piece that is seven years in the making. The main body of the piece is part of a tree limb shattered by Super Storm Sandy in 2012. The only work done to it was wire brushing it to remove dirt and evening the bottom. The base is unglazed bisque fired paper clay. While the original inspiration for AFTERMATH #1 was cleaning up after Sandy, the final impetus to finish it was the images of the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian. (19 ½” x 9” x 9”) (2019) ($245)
I am very pleased to announce that five of my pieces DARK MOON RISING, a smoke fired/raku wall hanging, its companion piece HIGH MORNING SUN, ORACLE, a mixed media/found object sculpture, REQUIEM FOR A MUSE, a raku fired paper clay assemblage and THE GREEN MAN: WINTER SOLSTICE, a mixed media sculpture will, along with work from other members of the Cheltenham Ceramics Collective, be part of the Opening Exhibition for the Atticus Paine Gallery. The Atticus Paine Gallery is located at 107 Central Avenue, Cheltenham, PA 19102 and the Exhibition will run from June 2, 2019 until July 7, 2019.
GMO # 37 is a mixed media sculpture using a found object and hand built raku fired paper clay. Somehow, using a purely natural object (a piece of yew root), and something completely manufactured (paper clay), seemed the appropriate way to depict a “genetically modified object”. GMO #37 is part of a series of mixed media sculptural pieces I’m going to be concentrating on this year. For want of a better title, I’m calling it my “Look What I Found” Series.
PRELUDE, part of my “Look What I Found” series of sculptures using found objects and hand built paper clay elements, draws upon my “Rim of Fire” series for its inspiration. The pieces in the “Rim of Fire” series use stained glass and paper clay fired together to depict the early moments of a volcanic eruption. PRELUDE, as its name implies, is of an earlier moment: the clouds of ash are rising but the eruption has not started. PRELUDE is composed of distorted Styrofoam, handmade paper clay, resin, underglazes, and acrylic and enamel paints.
In Greek mythology, Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave it to mankind for which he was punished by being chained to a rock and having his liver eaten by vultures. My PROMETHEUS, a hand built and raku fired paper clay sculpture deconstructs the myth by having Prometheus part of and one with the rock holding the chain rather than being held.(8” x 8” x 8”)
In ORACLE, two High Priests seek guidance in a desolate place amidst a surreal mixture of the natural and unnatural. ORACLE is a mixed media sculpture: the base consists of handmade paper clay using rehydrated scrap clay and recycled newspapers fired together with glass tiles; the “tree” is a found object, part of a yew root from a necessary brush cutting; the “Oracle” is composed of a different type of glass tile than in the base, and the “High Priests” are hand built and raku fired using a different type of paper clay than used in the base. Underglazes, epoxy, acrylic paint and shellac complete the piece – as I said, a combination of natural and unnatural. (11” x 13 ½” x 7”) ($325.00)
HIGH MOUNTAIN MEADOW is set in spring when the mountain’s snow cap is melting but still visible and the meadow grasses and flowers are starting to come into their own. HIGH MOUNTAIN MEADOW is part of my “Landscape” series of stained glass/paper clay wall hangings. (11” x 6” x 2”) ($255.00)
For the Hawaii National Park Centennial competition in 2016 I created two stained glass/paper clay wall hangings NIGHT VIEW OF KILEAUA and ERUPTION, and since then have been intrigued by the potential for depicting a volcanic eruption using that medium. Hekla is the name of an active Icelandic volcano surrounded by ice which erupted in 2000. HEKLA is my effort to depict, however abstractly, that moment when the eruption has started but the ice has not yet been overwhelmed. HEKLA is intended to be part of my “Rim of Fire” Series. 9” x 9” x 2”.
BAYOU, part of my “Landscape” series of stained glass/paper clay pieces, is an overview of a lush place where land and water mix and merge in timeless but ever changing patterns. (12” x 6” x 1 ½”) ($265.00)
I am very pleased to announce that my stained glass/ceramic sculpture, CHILD’S GARDEN ON GILESE 832 X: BLUE FLOXNIA, will be part of the Descanso Gardens “Unusual Views” Exhibition. CHILD’S GARDEN ON GILESE 832 X: BLUE FLOXNIA can be viewed at the Stuart Haaga Gallery at Descanso Gardens,1418 Descanso Drive, La Canada Flintridge, CA 91011 from the opening reception for the Exhibition on February 10, 2019 until its closing on June 9, 2019.
John Fansmith 