The pull of pottery (how I got stuck spinning pots)

 

(Ceramic piece in place in a collector's home)

Recently our family has enjoyed the HBO show "Pottery Throw Down."  Besides the obvious entertainment value of the show, it has me reminiscing about my own ceramics journey.

I was just finishing up my last semester of my art degree with an emphasis in Painting and Drawing at the University of Utah when I signed up for a wheel thrown pottery class.  I had always wanted to take that class, but just hadn't found the time to do it.  The first assignment was to throw a 6" cylinder.  It seemed easy enough until I realized that for me, it was almost impossible to center the clay.  

After futiley trying for several hours, I called my wife to tell her I wouldn't be coming home until I figured this out.  That resulted in four days where I don't remember leaving the seat of the wheel.  After completing the assignment, I promptly went to the office of the register to sign up for a further two years of pottery classes before graduating vowing to not leave the University until I had conquered this medium.  Of particular interest to me where the Shino glazes and the lusters and iron oxide effects from slight chemical alternations.  I continue to be attracted to similar effects in my paintings.

Have you ever tried wheel thrown pottery?  Did you find it as difficult as I did?

-Tyler

Did I capture it? (the struggle of a commission)

 

Warrior Woman

108 x 144

I find that one of the most difficult parts of a commission is trying to capture the vision of the patron.  I might be given a blurry photograph with no context or asked to paint a specific tree that obviously holds deep meaning that I am only witnessing as a spectator.

In 2008, I was commissioned to paint the biggest artwork I have ever completed.  The client requested a piece that celebrated the Native American heritage of his wife as well as her strong personality.  He was clear enough about his desired look that I could be pretty sure that my usual techniques would not produce the piece he envisioned.  I felt like I got a good start with the sketch, but was overwhelmed by the immensity of space to fill.  I went several directions before finding footing, one night even bringing my 10 year old daughter (a budding artist herself) to the studio and allowing her to paint in the background.  The freedom of watching her paint in joy over the expanse was inspiring.  It helped me recover the spontaneity I had lost in the stress of trying to create a piece that fulfilled the commission.  If you'd like to see the evolution of this piece, check out my real on Instagram.  I'm still proud of the result.

-Tyler

It's a dare (why I use bright colors)

Given the brightly colored spray paints I often use, you might be surprised to learn that I'm really afraid of color.  In response, I find that I am drawn to paint using colors that seem like they will be difficult to use effectively.  Originally that was a metallic paint.  It seemed like it would be difficult to make a piece that could be considered "serious" artwork when metallic was one of the main components.  Now almost all of my paintings have at least some metallics in them.  When I first started using fluorescent pink, it was at least partly due to the pull of finding a way to use it.  Now I find those pinks everywhere in nature and combining fluorescent pink with bright green, turquoise and canary yellow in palatable combinations is almost a dare that I can't refuse and might be the best parts of any of my pieces.

-Tyler