New Studio-1455 Union Street b/t Ash and Beech

Some of you may know that I have been searching for a new studio for the past 2 years, probably even longer. After wondering if it was possible to find something suitable that met all my specific criteria, I have found an incredible space that is now home to Josh Herman Ceramics. A freestanding warehouse in the Little Italy section of downtown San Diego, the location I have always preferred. I had come to terms with the fact that I would never get something in Little Italy so getting this building feels like a miracle.

The building was built in the 1950’s and was home to the local restaurant Anthony’s Fish Grotto’s salad and soup prep warehouse. It is a 2100 square foot cinderblock and concrete building, 14 foot high ceiling with 2 large skylights that give the space excellent light. Behind the building is a 1500 square foot yard that is totally private and is covered with a corrugated steel covering. Its really cool back there. I can work outside, protected from the rain and the rest of the city! The building has 400 amp 3 phase power and a permitted 2 inch gas line that runs to the back yard which enables me to have practically any size gas or electric kiln.

The building was in severe disrepair when I first took possession at the end of December. I have spent the past month fixing various issues and making the space my own. I am thrilled with the results as the space is bright, clean and interesting. I can do good work here.

My hope is that friends and collectors will enjoy visiting and spending time at the studio. I want it to be a community space. Already, people are dropping by to visit and I am finding I love having visitors. In fact, I am intending to put a comfy couch into the studio to encourage lounging. I installed a refrigerator and Rachel already filled it with nice drinks.  There’s a picnic table out in the in the yard and it is a perfect spot for lunch or a snack so come on by!

A quick check in

When I first set up this blog, I intended to post on a regular basis. Little did I know that I would get swamped in the studio! Not only have I had several deadlines to meet but I have had several things happen that have demanded my time. Those include, a house skunking, mice in the house, my wife getting sick for almost 3 weeks and then my son getting  roseola virus (a fever followed by rash all over his body).

So it has been quite a whirlwind here. Trying to manage being a dad, a husband and being an artist has never been more challenging. But in the midst of the chaos I have been able to put out a bunch of work. I placed a 6 foot sculpture called ‘Stacked Form’ into Jett Gallery. I also filled some commissions and now I am working on several pieces for a solo exhibition at ‘Spacecraft’ gallery here in North Park, San Diego.

I hope to post some photos of the recent work soon.

Getting ready for Exhibitions

I had better get my clay cloths ready to go because I am going wearing the work stuff exclusively for the next 8 weeks. I have a solo exhibition at Spacecraft gallery in North Park, San Diego. Spacecraft is about 800 square feet divided into 2 rooms.

Then I also have the official Jett Gallery opening on November 7th. I currently have 2 3 foot sculptures in Jett. Joey Viasuso, the owner of Jett Gallery, has asked me to make a floor piece for that opening.

Those 2 shows alone will be a push to get done. I also have commissions to complete and retailers to resupply. The retail stores primarily carry the pottery line and some small sculptures. I am very happy to be making larger sculptures. They are more difficult to do for many reasons. One is simply the time they take to build and fire. I will need to work fast and efficiently to meet the deadlines.

For me, time pressure is a good thing. I forces me to move forward. I can not dwell in a indecisive place. With a deadline, the fear of creative failure blurs into the background of the activity of working. Its a good thing.

I have taken the past few days to think about what I want to make for the shows and I have some good solid options. I started 2 potentially 8 foot sculptures this morning. I figure, it is going to take me approximately 3 weeks to complete the construction of them both. They are going to be stacked forms. I see using 4 2 foot sections for each. I am very excited to immerse myself into theses pieces.

I also loaded my new smaller kiln with a few glazes tests, a large bowl and a thrown bottle. I have my fingers crossed that it will turn out well. Then I can go on and complete a rather large commision. The glazes are so finiky and I am still learning about using them. I am still working on getting my white glaze just perfect. I have improved my Tangerine, Red and Turqiouse glazes.

In the midst of all the busyness I hope to keep making posts about my process with the preparations for the shows.

My first blog post

I am thrilled to be writing my first post on my brand new blog page! I have just set it up and I am starting to explore all of the blogging possibilities.

My intention is to use the blog as a vehicle for documenting my relationship to my ceramic process. I want to be very organic with how the blog unfolds but I do have some initial ideas of what I want to post.

I want to use the blog as a ceramics journal. I hope to make written posts of all aspects of my involvement in clay. Since ceramics is such a process driven activity, my writing topics should be quite varied. I will post photos of work, me and anything that I feel is related to clay.

Right now I am working to complete a commission of eight pieces of pottery. I want to get it done because I have a solo exhibition coming up in December and a group exhibition in October at Jett Gallery.  My plan is to do a large floor piece for Jett. The big problem with that is that I have a smallish kiln and a large piece will require construction in several sections. The more sections, the more firings, the longer the process takes.

For example, a 5 section piece with one section filling the entire kiln will take 10 firings, 5 bisques and 5 glaze firings which is at least 10 days. And then if something goes wrong, the whole thing is down the tubes. As you can imagine, given a limited time frame, this causes some stress. 

So I am really going to need to buckle down and get some work done. The first thing is that I have to come up with an idea for what I am going to make. This is always quite edgy for me as I am doing abstract work. I always come up with ideas, but it can take some time to come up with something suitable. 

Tomorrow I will finish construction of the commission work, fire my new test kiln for the first time and do some glaze mixing. It should be a fun day.