The pose and facial expression of this piece reminds me of a description of one of the Old Testament prophets: stern, righteous and unyielding, hence the title – JEREMIAH. Part of the more representational subset of the “Hooded Figures” Series, JEREMIAH is hand built and raku fired paper clay on a hand cut MDF base. 7”x 5”x 5”.
I am very pleased to announce that juror Bram Colby has invited two of my pieces, A FAMILY TREE, and SAND HILLS into the “From the Earth” Exhibition at the Tubac Center of the Arts in Tubac, Arizona. A nation-wide competition, “From the Earth” is an exhibition of art created from materials related to the earth including clay, bronze, ceramic, wood, glass, terra cotta, soapstone, and metal. A FAMILY TREE is composed of torch cut sheet steel on a cherry wood base while SAND HILLS is a free standing, hand built ceramic sculpture which uses texturing and metal oxides. The exhibition runs from January 19th until February 26th, 2018 at the Tubac Center of the Arts, 9 Plaza Rd, Tubac, AZ 85646 with an opening reception from 5 to7pm on January 19th. It’s warm there and both pieces are for sale.
FAMILY TREE is made from torch-cut sheet steel set on an artist made cherry wood base. With its material, hard edges, and asymmetrical form FAMILY TREE is intended as a perhaps more realistic depiction of a “family tree” than is usually presented and references that my family surname is derived from the German “pfannenschmidt” meaning “a metal worker”. 9 ½” x 12” x 5”
I don’t regard JUDGEMENT as one of my more subtle, abstract, or obscure pieces. The message is pretty straight forward with the only questions being: who or what is standing in judgement and what will be the result? I expect the answers to vary from person to person. Hand built and raku fired paper clay with a found object and bamboo resting on an MDF base.
THE ROOTS OF DANCE started out with me finding some driftwood on a lakeshore which when combined together (with minor trimming) reminded me of a pair of dancers from a recently seen contemporary dance performance. I hope and believe that my ROOTS OF DANCE comes close to capturing the grace, power and enthusiasm of the original dancers. Found objects on an artist-made wooden base. 12” x 9” x 6 ½”
John Fansmith 