Historical Influences

"Feather Bowl" by Maria and Julian Martinez

In creating an application for History in the Making II, a National juried pottery exhibition, I was forced to think about my historical influences; what inspired me to make the forms I do and the methods that I use to make and finish them. My thoughts fell to the first potter that I was introduced to in my first college ceramic class. I remember watching a very old documentary about a Native American potter named Maria Martinez and being simply amazed at what she was able to accomplish with such limited tools. I have since watched that same video several more times and studied her work more extensively. She has been a major inspiration in my current "Personality Pot" series, though our forms and finishes couldn't be more different.

Maria Martinez’s (1887-1980) handbuilt pottery began with a slab of clay placed in a puki, or bowl-shaped form used to support the base of the pot. My personality pots are likewise started with a slab of clay laid in a puki. However, instead of building up from the puki with coils as traditionally done, I take two slabs formed in identical pukis and attach them together. I then cut and alter the form to make feet and add coils and slabs for a neck and head.

Maria Martinez used tightly controlled outdoor firings to create her beautiful, simplistic black on black ware. More can be read about her firing techniques at the Museum of New Mexico's Site. Learning about her methods, I became intrigued with the idea of finishing vessels with nothing more than an open fire. Rather than meticulous control for specific color, I encourage spontaneity in my firings by stacking pots loosely and sprinkling on several organics, metals, and salts.

"Remy the Personality Pot" by Tara Robertson

Empty Bowls, Utah

Empty Bowls, Utah is the annual Clay Arts, Utah fundraiser to feed the hungry. Artists throughout the state donate food safe soup bowls. On May 5th, the bowls will be sold for $15 each and all proceeds go to Catholic Community Services’ Vincent de Paul Resource Center which provides meals to the homeless as well as families in need. The fundraiser takes place May 5th, 2007 from Noon to 4:00 at St. Vincent De Paul Resource Center located at 437 W. 200 S. in Salt Lake City, Utah.

New Offspring Vessels

I just unloaded a new kiln-full of Offspring Vessels and wheelthrown work this morning. I was very pleased with the way the glaze turned out and (thank heavens!) there were luckily no hairline cracks or other problems with this batch. Below are some pictures of the new pieces.

Wall Art Sale!

I just posted a sale on all Wall Art for the entire month of April in my Etsy shop. There is a large variety of Tile art and Mixed-media collages in this section and they are all 10% off. You can check out the sale at www.trpottery.etsy.com.

Now that's more like it!

I opened up the guts of my Skutt cone 10 kiln today to see if I could bring it back to life. After unscrewing a few things here and there, I found the issue to be a worn-out thermocouple. Of all the things that could be wrong, this was the very best option. I replaced the part, screwed everything back together, reloaded the kiln, crossed my fingers, and started it up again. Now, 8 hours later, the kiln is nearly finished with the glaze firing cycle and I'm feeling at peace with the world.

Kiln Woes

I have spent the last month producing a large mass of both sculptural and functional pottery. Over the past week, I spent all of my daughter's nap-times and most of my nights in my lab mixing and applying glazes. With a very full kiln (and still two shelves full of glazed work waiting to be fired), I started my kiln this morning. Three hours later, the kiln just stopped. ERR1, it said. Basically, that means that my kiln is no longer able to heat fast enough. Best-case scenario, I just need to replace a thermocouple. Worst-case scenario, there is something wrong with the heating coils. If there is something wrong with the coils, it means the kiln will be out of commission until I can get the only kiln repair guy in Utah out to my house (yes, there really is only one in the great state of Utah!)

Argh!! Right now, I have to wait until the kiln cools down enough for me to take the stuff out and open up it's electrical innards. It is such a depressing thing to see all the cheery rows of bisque-fired pots with powdered glaze on them and to wonder if they will get to see the inside of a hot kiln any time soon.

My Art Profile

MyArtProfile is a Free website dedicated to Artists and Art appreciators that lets them meet friends and display their works. MyArtProfile is developed with Artists in mind and therefore if Artists wish to buy, sell or swap Art, Myartprofile charges ZERO Commission. This a very nice switch from auction or fixed-rate sales-oriented sites. Artists are free to list their works and then handle the transaction side on their own. Myartprofile facilitates by helping artists/sellers message back and forth.

The site itself has a very modern, professional feel to it and individual artist mini-sites have some nice features. Each artist mini-site has a large photo at the top that randomly circulates through the artist's gallery photos. There is ample space for information about the artist and the ability to create several different galleries that people can browse through. Overall, I was very impressed with the look, feel, ease of use.

To check out my newly created Art Profile, you can go to
http://www.myartprofile.com/trpottery

Silent Conversations

Some of my work has just accepted in a national art competition with the theme "Silent Conversations" hosted by the Craft Alliance.

The Craft Alliance Exhibition Gallery features the one-of-a-kind work of several different contemporary craft artists in 6-8 themed exhibitions per year. For every exhibition, professional curators are selected to identify themes and choose artists and works from submissions. Each exhibition consists of 12-20 artists, both emerging and established in their careers.

Two of my works were accepted into the exhibition, both from my Offspring series. The Offspring series explores the relationship between parent and child in vessels that, though separate, literally rely on each other for balance and completion. They are especially personal for me because they reflect my own feelings about raising my daughter and being a stay-at-home mom.

The opening reception will be on Friday, March 16, 2007 from 6-8 pm and the show will run until May 6th. The Craft Alliance Gallery is located at 6640 Delmar Blvd. in St. Louis, Missouri.

To learn more about this exhibition, visit the Craft Alliance’s website at http://www.craftalliance.org. If you would like to see more pictures from my Offspring series, they can be viewed at www.tararobertsonpottery.com and http://trpottery.myartplot.com.

My Art Plot

MyArtPlot.com (MAP) is a global artist/buyer website. It is a global art community and market venue, armed with functional tools. MAP is trying to create an "Art World" with the active support and participation of artists around the world by bringing together artists and interested buyers.

I just found out about MAP today and immediately got on it. It's a free site that may be used as an online portfolio (you don't even have to have things up for sale) so I figured there wasn't anything to lose by creating my own artist plot. Every little bit helps to get your name out there, right?

My new site can be viewed at http://trpottery.myartplot.com

Two Great Art Shows!

Solstice Picture Framing and Gallery, who represent my work in the Salt Lake area, are hosting two art shows this month which will include quite a bit of my work.

The first show is Friday, February 16th with an open house from 5pm to 9pm. The show will feature Matthew Gaulke, a local artist who created colorful abstract oil paintings. There will be a meet-the-artist session with refreshments.

The second show kicks off Friday, February 23rd, also with an open house from 5-9. This show features several up & coming Black Artists from the area and will be in celebration of Black History Month. In addition to great art works, there will be a raffle to benefit the “Youth Empowerment
Scholarship Fund”.

If you are in the Salt Lake area, these are two shows that shouldn't be missed!

Solstice Gallery is located at 355 E. 3300 S. in Salt Lake City, UT.

Etsy Treasury List!

For those of you that aren't acquainted with Etsy, it is an amazing site that sells all handmade arts, crafts, and clothing. I've been selling on Etsy for a couple of months now and have come to really appreciate how easy it is to use (and how addictive searching it is).

The treasury is a place where members can create a list of 12 items that appeal to them. There are only 101 lists at any given time, and they run for 2 days each. Because of the limited amount of lists, they are often very hard to get. I had never put together a treasury list before, but last night when I logged on to browse, there was a list free, just sitting there. Not believing my luck, I snapped it up.

Take a look at my list at under the name, "bea" at http://www.etsy.com/treasury.php
It will expire in 1 1/2 days. It has a blue theme and is comprised of painters, photographers, and potters that I admire.

Random thoughts on Wheel-throwing

For the last two years, I have worked nearly exclusively with handbuilding. I've handbuilt my pottery, and have assisted in handbuilding classes. Because I felt that it was time to become re-acquainted with the wheel, I decided to assist in a wheelthrown class this semester.

Teaching others to throw has made me think a lot about what it takes to change a lump of clay into an aesthetically pleasing (one hopes) vessel.

Among beginning students, the biggest challenge that I've seen is simply holding still. The clay obstinately pushes against the hand and makes the arm bump back and forth. Sometimes a student will decide to push back hard, and end up throwing the lump off the other direction. When this happens, the spinning lump gathers force and pushes back even harder the next time around. It is easy to explain--yet so hard for new students to do-- to brace their elbow against their thigh, their hand against the clay, exert an even pressure, and just hold still. The entire body must be tensed, calm, and very still.

It occurred to me tonight that centering clay is a lot like parenting. With my daughter, when I get distracted or busy or lazy, I find myself being "bumped around". Whenever I get frustrated and push too hard, it always comes back to bite me. But when I can be steady, calm, and "still", things go so much better for the both of us.

Worlwide Women Artist Show--Press Release

WHO: Progress Energy Art Gallery
WHAT: Worldwide Women Artists' Organization Exhibit & Art Sale
WHEN: February 2 – March 31
WHERE: 6231 Grand Boulevard, downtown New Port Richey

Progress Energy Art Gallery &
Greater New Port Richey Main Street
6231 Grand Boulevard, New Port Richey

January 17, 2007

Contact: Lia Gallegos, Director
Email: lia@nprmainstreet.com
Phone: 727.842.8066

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A WOMAN'S WORK IS NEVER DONE
Women Artists From Around the World Exhibit To Aid Czech Photographers

New Port Richey, FL – The New Year is starting off with a definite
global flavor at the Progress Energy Art Gallery in downtown New Port
Richey. During the months of February and March the Worldwide Women
Artists Organization members will be exhibiting artwork from local
members as well as from members all across the globe in the show, A
Woman's Work is Never Done. The exhibit opens Friday, February 2 at
6:00 p.m.

This dynamic group, led by artists Laura Milnor Iverson and Teresa
Turner who created the group in May 2004, has a long history of using
art to help nonprofit organizations and charities. Ms. Iverson has
been a leader in the online art community, setting a fine example for
other artists and encouraging artists to take on the role of
philanthropist. She has been featured on MissionFish.com
(http://www.missionfish.org/toolsforall/Iversoncasestudy.pdf) for her
efforts.

The February exhibit is dedicated to the strength, passion and
compassion of women and their impact on the world around us today.
The art collection will be as diverse as the women who create it;
with influences from all around the world including the Canada,
Brazil & Greece.
Local members exhibiting will include, Toni - K, Michelle Astuto
Collins, Margaret McKeehan, Michele Palenick, Paula Showen and Karren
Doll Toliver. "This exhibit is going to be absolutely fantastic,"
says Exhibit Coordinator Michelle Astuto Collins. "It's something
I've wanted to do for a long time and now to see all of this artwork
from around the world here in our Gallery is just an amazing
accomplishment. I know the public is going to love the diversity and
quality of this exhibit."

The Gallery will be donating its percentage of all sales from this
exhibit to raising funds for the following exhibit A Czech Dialogue:
Images from the 7,65foto Club located in the Czech Republic town of
Liberec. This exhibit will take place April through May 2007 and
several of the artists will be in attendance to personally share in
this exchange of cultures.

The artists from WWAO are also going to be hosting an online art sale
during the month of March in which they will also be donating part of
the proceeds to the Czech exhibit. The online sale will begin March 1
and go through March 15. Sale items may be found at the Gallery's
website, www.nprgallery.com.

Artist Spotlight:

Laura Milnor Iverson is a professional artist who has been painting
since the age of 12. Iverson, a native Californian, takes much of
her inspiration from the beautiful natural landscape of the San
Francisco Bay Area. She expresses her love of nature in both Dreamy
Realism (realistic landscapes and seascapes with an impressionist
overtone...the imprint of a scene on the mind, with the soft edges of
memory) and Contemporary Zen (botanical abstracts in a modern Asian
style, such as autumn leaves, florals, cherry blossoms, and so on).

Teresa M. Turner became a full time artist in 1992, creating mixed
media sculptures and paintings. Teresa works in a variety of media,
though most of her two dimensional pieces are acrylics or oils on
canvas. Other two dimensional media she employs include watercolors,
pen and ink, photography, graphite, and gouache. Teresa's sculptures,
employing a variety of ancient techniques, are often done in leather
and porcelain.

Frequent travel in the US and Canada, as well as travels in Europe,
provide Teresa with the ideas and inspiration for many of her pieces.
She has great appreciation for impressionist art, as well as a
lifelong love of the outdoors, which greatly influence her work.

Teresa's work appears in private collections throughout the US and
Canada, as well as throughout Europe and the UK. Additionally, pieces
have been added to locations in the public sector for permanent
display in city offices and art and educational centers. Her work has
been exhibited at such locations as the Royal Botanical Gardens in
Hamilton, Ontario, the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, DC,
among many others.

A complete list of participating artists and their biographies is
available at: http://www.nprgallery.com/

The Progress Energy Art Gallery is a community gallery which was
opened by the not-for-profit organization, Greater New Port Richey
Main Street with a grant from Progress Energy, to encourage the
growth of art and culture in our downtown. All proceeds from sales go
toward keeping this valuable asset to the community operational.

The Gallery is located at 6231 Grand Boulevard, downtown New Port
Richey. For further information please call 727.848.6500 or see our
web site at www.nprgallery.com.

Potters Workshop

I went to an amazing workshop this weekend hosted by Clay Arts Utah and taught by local potters. The workshop ran all day Saturday, and featured demos, recipes, and discussions. Suzanne Storer shared her terra sig recipes and processes. Ken Marvel demonstrated how to throw monster-sized pots and also spoke about his horsehair and saggar finishes. Sharon Mikkelson showed how overglaze brushwork can enhance pottery and also shared her recipes. Dawn Atkin explained the results discovered during the summer Saggar Firing Experiment and also the basic process of Saggar firing. Aaron Ashcraft (isn't that a great last name for a potter?) spoke about the business side of pottery and how he made the transition to a professional potter. There was an excellent panel discussion with several potters on how they price their work. Cheryl Glenn shared her display ideas for exhibiting work in fairs and festivals. Last but not least, Chuck Parsons demonstrated how to build a backyard kiln from a metal garbage can.

I can't wait to try out the new recipes and techniques that I saw. Sometimes I can feel very isolated between making pots alone and being home with just Emily (my 18 month daughter) for company. I really enjoyed seeing and speaking with several other local potters. I was especially interested to speak with Aaron Ashcraft. In his class, I learned that he started work as a professional potter around the same time that his son was born. In a reversal of usual roles, he was the stay-at-home father/potter while his wife worked a 9-5 job. It's inspiring for me to see positive examples of parents who make pottery and parenting work.

Valentine's Jewelry Sale

From January 14th to February 14th, I'm having a jewelry sale in my Etsy Store. I've reduced prices on all of my unique clay jewelry pieces by 10%. Be sure to check it out at http://www.trpottery.etsy.com.

Squidoo!

Strange name, great site! Squidoo is a fast way to set up a small website. I just heard about it from some other members of Worldwide Women Artists. Having never heard of it before, I had no idea what people were talking about when they said that they had set up a new "lens" or asked others to "lensroll" their site. I went on out of curiosity and ended up making a site of my own. It took me about an hour to set up a workable site, or "lens". I joined two groups of other lenses, "Self-Representing Artists" and "Fine Arts Group" and "lensrolled" or basically, "marked as favorite" a couple of other lenses. You can check out my lens at http://www.squidoo.com/trpottery/ and even "lensroll" my lens for yourself.

Worldwide Women Artists

I recently joined an excellent organization called Worldwide Women Artists. It is a collective of women from all over the world who share their insights on art, marketing, and being a woman. I'm excited to have been accepted into the group. Below are links to the WWAO site and the Artists Who Blog list of other WWAO blogs.

A New Venue

I just discovered a great place to buy and sell handmade arts and crafts. Etsy.com has an amazingly varied collection of artists from all over the world in all different mediums. The set-up is somewhat like eBay, but each artist receives their own storefront free-of-charge and listings only cost 10 cents apiece plus a 3.5% commission. Listings stay up for six months instead of a week and there is a built in system for contacting the artist and/or commissioning pieces. The other huge advantage to artists is that the site is specifically geared towards people looking for hand-made art.

For a whopping $2.00 and 3 hours, I made the plunge and set up my own little shop. You can check it out at trpottery.etsy.com. I'm starting out with mostly small items--necklaces and cups. As I see what sells, I can expand my listings.

The Challenge
As I was setting up at the Avenues Street Fair, a woman who was jogging by stopped to take a look. She said something to me that I've been thinking about since. She said, "There is a lot of clay out there, but yours is different."
I asked, "Oh, are you a potter?"
"I'm firing up my gas kiln this afternoon,” she said as she jogged away.
Although I do make some functional ware, my emphasis since starting on my own has been making forms and surfaces that were interesting to me. Since my brief meeting with this woman (whose name I didn't even have time to ask) I've been pondering how I can continue to differentiate my work from the mass of pottery being created today. How can I keep my work original and fresh? The woman's quick comment was both a complement, and an enormous challenge. I truly hope that I can live up to it.

Cobalt in Saggar Firings
I was very excited by the results of last week's saggar firing. I have tried cobalt in saggars before and never got more than blushes of periwinkle. This week, I was surprised with full-blown deep blues, as well as vibrant pinks.

Here is what I did to get these results:

-First, each pot was painted with a wash of cobalt carbonate mixed with water.

-The pots were wrapped in newspaper bundles filled with hay and a lot of miracle grow (about 1 Tbs. per pot)

-The bundles were placed in clay saggars with rock salt sprinkled liberally around them.

-The kiln was fired to 1600 degrees in about 3 hours.