Performance Art

Sue and I did our thing at Vision Gallery's artist reception tonight from 6:00 to 9:00. Just got home.

It went well: we painted our tiles and answered questions fielded by the people going through the gallery. It was a great opportunity to talk about downtown Chandler's beautification project and our part in it. (Along with Ted, Steve and Al). And we got to hand out a few business cards too.

The guys were at Al's Celebration Party where they were making pizzas in the kiln. That's how we christen a new kiln in our neighborhood. We were sorry we couldn't be there too, but Janet was kind enough to bring us a pizza from the party, so at least we didn't starve to death.

And a good time was had by all!!!

My models: my family

Sometimes I'm looking for a specific stance or pose that I can use for an idea I've had for a drawing or painting. Fortunately I have these two wonderful grandsons who indulge me by being my models.

Two great things about them: they are very cooperative, and they work for cookies. This was a composite drawing, utilizing my gorgeous grandsons and two other pictures I had saved from a Fourth of July outing in Indianapolis about five years ago. The guy in front wearing a hat is my husband.

My goal was to tell a story with this composition. I call it "The Dance of July".

It was a really fun project.

Vacation Day

I took a micro-mini vacation day yesterday and drove to Tucson to play with my youngest grandchild.

Leaving for the studio in a minute to make tile, clean tile, glaze tile, load tile into the kiln..... Do you see a pattern here.

Enjoyed my day off, and now ready to get back to work. Have a great day, all.

Vision Bowls

I just got these bowls back from Vision Gallery. Took them 3 new and brought these home. I think I must have been going through my red/black period then. The bottom one I call "Stained Glass". Looks kind of like it, doncha think? And, yes, they are for sale. Contact me at k@escobedoart.com.

Doin' a Demo

The Southwest Arts annual conference is being held at the Chandler Center for the Arts this next weekend. On Thursday, July 29th, from 6 to 9 p.m the Vision Gallery in downtown Chandler is hosting an Artist Meet and Greet as part of SWAC. Sue Berzelius and I will be there, painting on our tiles and visiting with the attendees as they come through the gallery. I'm going to bring one of my finished turtle tiles, and be painting some others as I'm talking to people.

We are working on a public art project for a downtown beautification project in Chandler that has a scheduled completion date in late fall. It has been a pretty exciting time for the five ceramic artists involved, and I've felt honored the whole time that I was even asked to participate. Also, I've been up to my eyeballs in tile! We are creating tile for 10 benches, 5 tables, and 6 art pedestals. The turtles will be on one of the tables.

I'll keep you posted here as I'm allowed to release information. I think the designs themselves are not being shown before they are installed, so it will be awhile. Pretty cool, though, huh?

Pattern Dilemma

I'm always on the lookout for patterns to give me ideas to build on. Fabrics are a great source. This happens to be the sundress I wear around the house. It's a brown on blue - one of my favorite color combinations.

So now the question becomes, do I give a similar feel to one of my bowls, or could I make a mold for a tile pattern? What about a wild, big acrylic painting, using only two colors with a huge brush and tons of paint. Or maybe a pencil subject could be wearing something with that type of pattern. Or I could paint it on a gift box. My daughter loves to give gifts in papier mache boxes that she paints. Wouldn't this look great?

I just love peaches

This first year of painting whatever I want to besides commissions has been really fun for me. I had picked a grocery bag full of peaches in my backyard one afternoon, when the light hit it just right.

And this painting was the result. It's on my website: http://www.escobedoart.com/, along with some other paintings from this last year. Take a look.

For the Birds

I worked up this bird design and placed in on a ceramic tile for a job proposal. I was also thinking how great several of these would look placed at eye level on the wall surrounding my backyard. Just gotta love new yard art. This one hasn't been fired yet, so the finished product would be a little deeper in color and shiny. You could do every one the same color combination or vary it. What do you think?

Abo Bowl

About a year ago I started researched aborigine art. I was fascinated with the dots, and wanted to incorporate them into my ceramic art. This was one of the bowls that I made incorporating the aboriginal dot patterns.