It is an invitational exhibition called ART OF THE CUP 2016 and opens September 1st. They were created as memory pieces while we were spending the summer in Nova Scotia. Ferns in the yard of the 150 year old farm house we rented for a month, were pressed into the surface of these pinched pieces. They were fired when we returned to our home in Greenville, SC in. They sell for $195 each should you be interested in a purchase. 504-539-9606.
These Half Pods are just a few of the works for an exhibition at Blue Spiral 1 that opens on Thursday, September 1, 2016.
2016 Annual Benefit Auction http://penland.org/support/annual_auction.html
Friday, August 12 & Saturday, August 13
The Penland School of Crafts Annual Benefit Auction is the premiere craft auction in the southeast, providing funds to support the operations of Penland School of Crafts while introducing new artists to collectors and expanding public understanding and awareness of craft.
Entering its 31st year in 2016, the auction attracts over 800 collectors and volunteers to the Penland campus in the mountains of North Carolina each August. The weekend brings artists and patrons together and provides collectors with opportunities to meet established and emerging artists, learn about trends in contemporary craft, and see and purchase exceptional new work. If you are passionate about art and interested in investing in the health and the future of the arts, join us for this gala event.
All attendees who register online by April 30 will be entered to win a pair of tickets to the historic Biltmore Estate in Asheville.
THE MIDLANDS CLAY ARTS SOCIETY PRESENTS
Alice Ballard Workshop
Finding your Form through Nature September 17, 18, 2016, 10-4
Where: Edisto Discovery Park 1914 Wiley Street, Columbia SC 10AM–4PMeachday Potlucklunch
Description: Alice Ballard is an expert at Seeing and looking to nature for inspiration. She will be showing us several of her hand building and surface treatment techniques, including pinch pots, dowel pots and slab construction. This will include hands-on participation. Bring your collected treasures for inspiration or direct impressions into the clay surface. A journal is also necessary. We will create a series of pinch or dowel cups with a relationship. Participants will also get a chance to use terra sigillata on their own work that is dry or close to dry. Overall, other than discovering forms we like and using terra sig, this workshop is about connecting with the clay and ourselves, learning how to slow down, observe, feel, and respond creatively. Equipment list shall be sent upon your paid registration.
Attendance is limited to 15 participants.
TO REGISTER: Please mail a check and Registration Form, or give them directly to the registrar, Mary Lou Price. No space will be reserved otherwise. See fees and address below.
Registrations will be accepted in the order received, or by the postmark dates, and confirmed.
Refunds are available up to one week prior to the start of the workshop, provided your space can be filled. Because of obligations to the workshop artist, no refund will be given if your space can not be filled. Refunds for emergency situations arising within one week of the workshop will be considered at the discretion of the MCAS Executive Board.
If you’re registered & cannot attend, please notify the registrar ASAP:
Mary Lou Price legishap@aol.com
----------------------------------------------------Detach and Send-------------------------------------------------
MCAS Workshop Registration Form
NAME _____________________________________________________________________ PHONE_____________________________EMAIL_________________________________ ADDRESS__________________________________________________________________
Registration Fees: (Please check one of the following) includes half a bag of clay to work with _____MCAS MEMBER $ 95 _____NON-MEMBER $110
Make checks payable to: MCAS Mail To: Midlands Clay Arts Society
C/O Mary Lou Price 185 Carlyle Circle
Columbia, SC 29206
If the workshop fills, would you like to be put on a waiting list, or have your check returned? Circle one
Waiting List Return Check
GCCA Lecture Series www.artcentergreenville.org/
I have the honor of introducing my long time friend Ann Hicks. We met when she had just moved to Greenville to start her job at the Greenville News and our lives and our stories have been woven together in unlikely ways ever since. I promise you, her story is one you absolutely don't want to miss! I hope to see you at the GCCA this Tuesday!
On July 12th at 6 pm, visit GCCA and spend an evening with Ann Hicks as she shares her story of starting life as a Hungarian refugee to the revered Greenville News art critic for 11 years.
The event is free and open to the public, no RSVP needed.
Come early and enjoy the full gallery exhibit "Telling Her Story" showcasing 11 women with ties to Greenville. Daydreams, questions of identity, motherhood, cultural stereotypes, nature, and technology are some of the themes interpreted in the artwork. Many materials are represented, including textiles, ceramics, paint, papers and collected objects.
Such is the tale of the Pod...
Paul Hyde, arts writer for the Greenville News, interviewed some of the artists in TELLING HER STORY today at the GCCA. This seemed the perfect chance to get some pictures of the show and to have a chance to meet and talk to some of the other women artists.
I am including a slide show of some of the unique and highly personal artwork in the show. If you have not seen TELLING HER STORY, you have one more month to drop by for a visit. You will be glad you did!
I really loved this interview with Richard Serra....
Registration has begun for this class that I will be teaching this October at Penland School of Crafts. http://penland.org/classes/classes_by_session.html
October 9-15
Workshop description: In this process-oriented workshop, we’ll move back and forth between clay and various drawing media, seeking inspiration from the beautiful Penland setting and the host of natural forms within that environment. Working inside and outside the studio, our ideas and materials will be our partners, and the creative process will lead us. Artists who are used to working in two dimensions and those who usually work in three will all benefit from the contrast and combination of these two ways of working. We’ll use earthenware clay and have some electric firing for small pieces, and we’ll make lots of drawings. All levels. Code F01CB
FROM THE STUDIO...
After much thought and discussion, my technology expert and web-master, who also happens to be my son Ryan, and I, decided the time had come to change the focus of my site. The site is now focused on the work itself. You may have read more about the history of the sequence of events that lead up to this change, in my post on "Day to Day".
Numerous questions from former clients and from people interested in the work, were a tremendous help in our decision making about how best to redesign the site. The hope is that the new features will help to address those questions and others about availability of work, technical aspects of the work, installation concerns, of course the time line is always a factor, and prices, along with other concerns. The new features and information should help answer many of those questions.
One huge goal is to help a potential client visualize the work they are considering for a particular space(s). This is true whether they are considering work that is available or a commission. For this purpose we have a section of available work and a section with images of many of the commissioned projects I have done over the years. Testimonials from some of the clients, along with their contact information are available. In addition, soon there will be a video explaining what is involved if you are considering a commissioned art work.
My site will include examples my newest work, event announcements for exhibitions and workshops and will feature images of work in progress in my studio. Other videos are being planned that will answer frequently asked questions such as, "What is terra sigillata?"
Last but not least, I hope to do all of the above in a highly personal way that will reflect my 50 years + experience as an artist. In my case, my life as an artist is woven with a tangle of everyday life experiences, teaching, travel. Sharing with others is part of my life's mission as an artist, a teacher, parent, mentor, grandparent, spouse, and friend.
Please give feedback! We are still ironing out the wrinkles. So bring it on! We would love to have your questions, thoughts and suggestions. What so you like, what is unnecessary, what don't you like and what will keep you coming back to check out what is new....Thank you!
The Alice & Ryan team
The weather was cool, clear, not too hot and the skies were the vivid blue of Alaska skies in the summer....
Corbin Tucker met me when I arrived at the Barn on Sunday. The studio was completely set up for the next morning. Our friendship started when I met Corbin in my very first workshop at Odyssey in Asheville, NC. Since that time, our friendship has grown and flourished! Corbin has become an accomplished ceramic artist and a beloved and trusted friend!
VESSELS FOR ALL SEASONS had filled quickly with many returning friends from 4 VESSELS FOR 4 SEASONS IN 2014 along with a host of other clay enthusiasts of all levels and from many parts of the country. With such an exceptional group arriving on Monday morning, it was not long before the Barn with its superbly equipped studio was buzzing with energy, excitement, laughter, and an explosion of creativity! We succeeded in firing at least 4 or 5 kiln loads by Friday. The resulting work was stunning. A wide variety of sizes and forms were covered with a thin layer of terra sigillata in a rainbow of colors! Accents of brown and black copper carbonate looked stunning the way it brings out the texture and gives life to the form. The grand finale, however, was to see the final projects. Each person created an incredible arrangements that married the form of the vessel with their chosen "natural treasures" of branches, pods, rocks, blooms, grasses and leaves... It seemed a fitting way to bring our fun and the communion of being together to a chapter's end, a moment in time I will always remember, but certainly not an end.....
Special thanks goes to each and every one of you who brought along your own special knowledge, experiences and your energy and you shared it with us! The sum of all of you together, created the unique, sometimes quiet and sometimes, wildly exuberant atmosphere of our workshop!
Thank you Samantha Oliver, for being an outstanding artist-in-residence and superb studio assistant. Your willingness to stop and help was noticed and appreciated. Thank you Frank Vickery, for your incite, wisdom, knowledge and creativity that have lead the Bascom to having one of the most outstanding clay programs in the country! Thank you again Corbin, Robert and pooches for your friendship, support and that fabulous party!!!!!
Alice
Here are a few images from the Bascom workshop. I hope some of you from the workshop will send me some of your best pictures, especially of your work and a class picture. I will share them later! Thanks!
Hope to see you at the opening this Friday at the Greenville Center for Creative Arts! www.artcentergreenville.org/
Hope to see many of you at the opening on June 3rd!
It is always a great pleasure to know my work has been well received....This was a particularly enjoyable commission because I had the luxury of getting to know the clients on a more personal level. Apparently their young children expressed that they really liked the work and that really warmed my heart...
OS RETRO 2016 will be open at MAC from April 22- May 27, 2016. An opening reception will be held Saturday , May 14, 2016 from 6:30 to 9:00.
www.greenvillearts.com
This pair of Meditation Bowls, are my way of thanking and honoring Paulus Berensohn, friend, fellow artist/teacher, philosopher, dancer, environmentalist, and all around wonderful human being........ Thank you Paulus....With love from Alice...
It is hard to believe the opening on Good Friday at Eno Gallery has come and gone along with Easter!
Before the show is just a memory, I do want to share some images of the installation of my work at Eno Gallery. Kudos to Mark for a great job fine tuning the lay-out of the show. And a special thank you Tinka for deciphering my inventory and preparing the labels and invitations and other printed matter. A huge thanks to Glory Day Loflin, former student at the SC Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities who accompanied me on this journey to Hillsborough, NC. Glory saved the day with all her help, fun and antics! Having completed her undergraduate work, Glory has returned to Greenville to contemplate her future in the arts. She will be embarrassed by this but I will have to call her a "Rising Star" in the world of young, emerging artists...Speaking of stars, she deserves a Gold Star for putting up with my snoring...