A Portrait Started

Clive has started a portrait of me. I’m lying with my head nestled in the juncture of the arm and back of a black leather chair, and it is not too bad, as far as sitting for artists goes. He’s only painting my head, so I can move my feet around as I like, and really the only pain is in my right shoulder and ear pressed deeply into the leather to keep the angle of my head steady, and my right pinkie losing circulation. I spend the time thinking or not, and sometimes the crows doing aerobatics outside the window distract me. (photo by G. Pates)

Here's what we have for tea breaks:

Roches Terrace

June 24, 2013 - Settling in to Roches Terrace.

I’m looking out the window, over the roofs of the houses below us (this town is as steep as Jerome, Arizona!), across Cork Harbor, to the Atlantic Ocean.  The Capricorn full moon started out yesterday morning with a rainbow stretching from Cobh out to sea. The jackdaws are building nests in the chimneys, and fighting with the crows that live on Spike Island out in the bay. Out the back window are the convent gardens: 

It is very quiet, except for the cathedral bells that ring out every fifteen minutes on unholy days, and more if there’s a reason, and the foghorns from the ships when the yacht club holds sailboat races in inclement weather.

It poured with rain our first day, as we arrived in the little Cork airport, almost alone except for the Boy Band (the Wanted?) and the screaming girls. From the baggage claim, I momentarily thought we were under a terrorist attack.

We thought the weather would hold, but the little squalls have been interrupted by long stretches of sunshine and warmth. The temperature must have hit the upper 70’s! Everyone has been sunning themselves on the sidewalks, in folding chairs and as little clothes as possible.

Clive has stretched, primed and undercoated several canvasses, and he’s arranged a studio space in a corner of the living room, looking out over the water. He's starting a portrait study this afternoon.

For the clement weather, he seems to be speaking highly of a pair of pretty trees in the convent garden. But, he’s also got some still-life objects from the beach in waiting – melted plastic, rusted metal, dead birds, the usual. 

Yesterday Richard Scott, from the Artistic Alliance, took us to visit Ballymaloe House, where our exhibition will be in November. We toured the grounds and walked the Labradors, and everything was a million shades of green, including the ponds full of swans.

I’ll be hiring Miss. Giulietta at the exorbitant rate of 50 (Euro)cents a day to help me gather pottery shards at low tide. As she worked very hard over several days to earn 62 cents being “good”, this new job and salary has got her very enthusiastic.

Working towards Ireland

It has been a busy month - starting a new series of work based on Virginia Dirt, developing sculptural forms for a class at George Mason University, volunteering for the kindergarten field day. That last on really wore me out.

I've also got a couple of shows up:

@ The Arts Center in Orange, Virginia

http://artscenterinorange.com/

The Verde River Bank

Haji porcelain with toilet paper and inclusions of Verde River clay from Clarkdale, Arizona; thrown and altered; 10.5" x 4"; glazed with Chartreuse and Cherry Blossom Shino; fired to cone 6 oxidation. $500.00

June 6th the Virginia Clay Invitational opened at the Arts Center in Orange, Virginia.

I was invited to participate by juror Bill Schran. Bill teaches ceramics on the Alexandria Campus of NOVA, and is becoming internationally known for his crystalline glaze experimentation. He's generous with these, and I have been having fun with them. You can find recipes, firing profiles, etc. at http://www.creativecreekartisans.com/. The Arts Center in Orange has a lovely gallery, and you'll likely see my work there again.

@ The Torpedo Factory, Scope Gallery

Alexandria, Virginia

New work on display at the Torpedo Factory Scope Gallery through the end of June. The Montgomery County Clay Guild was kind enough to ask me to jury their June show, and then they let me put in a few pots as well. Included is a new piece with the micaceous clay from the NOVA campus.

NEXT STOP: IRELAND

I am flying to Ireland this evening.

My husband, who is a painter (www.clivepates.com) and I are doing what is called an "artist's residency", which means that someone gives us a place to live, etc., for a month or two so that we can make some new art. We usually give a piece of work to the person/organization, and often have an exhibition of the completed work.

This summer we will be spending 8 weeks in Cobh, Ireland, here: http://www.artisticalliance.eu/artist-retreat/ 

Soon I'll be on the Irish seaside (sheltering from the wind and rain most likely!) and looking for interesting dirt.

New Work: Sculptural

Micaceous Clay

They call it, "the plumbing issue under the President's Dining Room."

I call it micaceous clay!

Mica is pretty much what happens when you put clay - a fellow alumina silicate - under a lot of pressure for a long time, taking it part-way between clay and stone. Mica forms flat, plate-like crystals which cleave into glittery, smooth flakes. This mica is probably the light muscovite form, and has formed an aggregate with a bright orange clay to make a lovely micaceous clay. 

Many Native Americans tribes in New Mexico, especially the Pueblo tribes and Apaches, have traditionally placed a high value on micaceous clay deposits. They value it for both its glittery surface and the mica's superior ability to transfer heat, which allows clay pots to be used directly on heat without cracking.

Micaceous clay is rare and highly guarded in the Southwest, but here in the state of Virginia, it is everywhere, including behind the dumpster.

New Work on Facebook

New work popping up on Facebook. Click the link below.

Virginia Rood Pates' Facebook Page