I’ve started experimenting again with using stained glass and paper clay fired and fused together as part of both two and three dimensional pieces as well as a component of mixed media sculptures. Like Green Orchid Floxnia and Night View of Kilauea, Crucible #1 is composed of paper clay and stained glass fired together to over 2000 degrees F. It incorporates various underglazes, low fire and cone 6 glazes and is part of my Series: “Crucibles, Cauldrons, and Calderas”. 7 1/4″ x 7″ x 7″.
Scientists believe they have discovered a habitable planet orbiting the star Gilese 832 only 16 light years from Earth. My piece GREEN ORCHID FLOXNIA, part of my Child’s Garden on Gilese 832X, bridges those 16 light years to view what might be seen there. Composed of stained glass and paper clay, low fire and cone 6 glazes, fired together to over 2000 degrees F. 10” x 11” x 8” $250
I am pleased to announce that my piece “Night View of Kilauea” has been accepted into the Hawai’i National Parks 2016 Centennial Juried Exhibition. This Exhibition, presented by the Maui Arts & Cultural Center in partnership with the National Parks Service is the result of an open call to artists to celebrate 100 years of National Parks in Hawai’i.
Jurors Jay Jensen, Curator of Contemporary Art, Honolulu Museum of Art, from O’ahu and Nalani Kanakaole, artist, kumu hula, and cultural consultant, from Hawai’i Island selected from works submitted from across the country that reflect ideas about scenic beauty, cultural stories, memories and more, collectively honoring nature’s diversity and the parks we treasure.
Maui Arts & Cultural Center
Schaefer International Gallery
Exhibit Dates: August 30-Novermber 6, 2016
Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Sunday, 10AM-5PM
If you happen to be in the area, the opening reception is Sunday, August 28 at 5pm.
Night Skies: Antares 6 is another fantasy piece like Jupiter Rising and Child’s Garden on Gilese 832: Blue Floxnia all of which stand for the idea that while I maybe too old to physically visit the universe – I can still get there in my imagination. Join me. Raku fired ceramic Wall hanging 6″ x 14″
Scientists believe they have discovered a possibly habitable planet orbiting the star Gilese 832 only 16 light years from Earth. Child’s Garden on Gilese 832X: Blue Floxnia is a fantasy trip across those 16 years to gaze upon the life forms that might be there. A sculpture composed of stained glass and ceramics fired together this is the first of a series of pieces intended to explore this concept through a combination of different colors and shapes.
Usually I have at least a rough idea of what a piece will look like and be called before I start it. However, when I’m working with abstract multiple tile pieces, particularly raku fired ones, the finished piece is more likely to dictate both the form and the title. I started Behold a Pale Horse by firing 70 2″ x 2″ tiles using a combination of underglazes, glazes and a spattering of raku glazes, and then arranging the fired tiles into various configurations until i got one that “spoke ” to me. Behold a Pale Horse is called what it is because the image I see is that of a pale horse. My image may not be as sharply defined as in Revelations 6:8, but to me it is there. 63 tiles, 13″ x 16 1/2″.
I’m proud to announce that three of my pieces, The Yeoman, The King’s Dwarf, and Wood Sprite have been accepted into the 5x5x5 show at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, AL. The juror is Adrienne Callander (Assistant Professor of Art Entrepreneurship in New College at the University of Alabama). The Yeoman and The King’s Dwarf are part of my Medieval Series (hand built,one of a kind raku fired paper clay) and Wood Sprite is part of the Mythological Creatures Series.
Spatial Geometry is an assemblage of 18 hand-made and raku-fired triangular tiles which employs a variety of glazes,unglazed surfaces and both oxidation and reduction to create geometric patterns. Intended as a wall hanging, it is approximately 12.5″ x 12.5″.
Sand Hills is a hand built free standing ceramic sculpture that, using texturing and oxide stains, seeks to depict the layered and wind carved sandstone formations of the American West. 12 1/2″ x 10″ x 6″.
John Fansmith 