To Be (digital) or Not To Be (digital)
A digital image of my film camera. Irony.
Digital or Film? I say both. People that know me would tell you that I use every format of camera in my inventory. What's the point of having them if you don't use them? Some lend themselves better to certain types of photography over others. When photographing my ceramics, it's digital all the way. Landscape photographs I use a mix of digital and film...which is why my camera backpack weighs 50 pounds. For portraits it is a mix as well depending on the end use of the work. So what's in Steve's inventory now? We'll go by format size...Rollicord 6x6 from the 1930s, Argoflex 6x6 ($20 at the pawn shop!), Mamiya 645 (my workhorse for work I intend to make 16x20 or larger), Canon AE-1 Program 35mm (for many years my primary camera), assorted older Canon cameras fully manual F or A series...mostly doorstops now, Olympus digital SLR, and a small HP digital camera. I am saving to get a more modern Canon SLR digital and some lenses for it. The biggest attraction would be the lighter weight system with fewer lenses. That is if I could bear to leave the others at home. In the end, no matter what camera is used it is a tool to capture an image. My design training as an architect has a direct influence on my composition of photos. One thing to note is that I am very old school when it comes to my photography when I am using the digital camera. The most I do to edit an image is to crop it. I will never add effects or adjust colors to try to increase the drama of a shot. What you see is what you get. Sometimes I will intentionally monkey with a shot, but the effects will be so obvious and intentional you know it has become more like a painting, like turning all the color to one hue, say orange. I put the emphasis on the shot's quality when I take it...that's the standard you set when you are shooting film and don't have the instant gratification of seeing the image on the small screen. Digital or Film? I say both and vive la différence!
Photography
"Tour de Horse"
I have been creating photographic images since the summer before my Senior year in High School in Lubbock Texas. It all started with a good friend asking that I take some photos of her. I was talking to this friend a few years ago and she said that one of the photos resulting from that effort was her Dad's favorite photo of her and had a place on his desk for many years until his death. It meant alot for me to hear that my earliest effort had the effect I still strive to achieve. Photography should connect with a viewer on an emotional level and not simply be a device for mere documentation. I always try to make my photography express more than just what your eye can see. It should make you feel something. It should make you recall a time or place in your own experience.
I was looking through my catalogue recently and thinking how lucky I have been to be able to visit so many places and capture great images and memories. It was great thinking about the many memories of traveling to places with my family or friends, getting up at ridiculous hours to capture sunrises or staying outside to capture an image in below freezing temperatures where one by one my camera batteries were succumbing to the cold. Or when my family finally realized many of our vacations were suspiciously close to places I wanted to photograph. At the end of the day it is truly worth it, to be able to look back at these images and think of where I've been, and where I might go in the future.
I was looking through my catalogue recently and thinking how lucky I have been to be able to visit so many places and capture great images and memories. It was great thinking about the many memories of traveling to places with my family or friends, getting up at ridiculous hours to capture sunrises or staying outside to capture an image in below freezing temperatures where one by one my camera batteries were succumbing to the cold. Or when my family finally realized many of our vacations were suspiciously close to places I wanted to photograph. At the end of the day it is truly worth it, to be able to look back at these images and think of where I've been, and where I might go in the future.
Patricia Kitchens Bunyard 1937-2023
Many of you know my Mom is who got me into clay and has always been a creative influence in my life.
It was a year ago today on March 18, 2022, that we got the news that my Mom had cancer and we dropped everything to go help my folks in their time of need. A few days later we got the news that it was Stage 4 pancreatic cancer and that it already spread to her bones and organs. She probably had between 3-6 months to live. Mom decided not to pursue treatment and to make the best of her remaining time. Afterall she was 84 and had enjoyed a good life with her husband of 64 years and was ready for God to take her home. This was the start of a 10-month journey for my folks that included downsizing into assisted living, navigating my Dad’s own health challenges, and coping with the changes her body went through with the cancer. My wife and I were very fortunate to both have jobs that allowed us to work remote and spend a lot of time in Texas caring for both Mom and Dad. We had a lot of quality time together and we laughed and cried in equal parts.
My Mom was an extremely talented individual who had worked in textiles, embroidery, photography, painting, music and of course clay when she went back to school in her late 30s. It was at that time in her life when she was at Texas Tech getting her degree that she took some pottery classes with Vern Funk and was immediately captivated. As the youngest kid, I was taken in tow when she had to go to campus and often accompanied her to the pottery studio. My Dad, an amazing guy in his own right, got her set up with a wheel, kiln and plenty of clay at home. Alas, she had an allergy to the clay dust and could not continue doing pottery. All of her equipment went into storage and eventually she felt like I had reached an age of responsibility (like thirty three) she gifted me the wheel, kiln, her library and her tools. I took my beginning wheel class at Phoenix Center for the Arts and the rest is history. Mom got my first six finished pieces as a offering of thanks. This started twenty years of her selecting pieces from my work for her collection. She would get a twinkle in her eye every time she got something, bringing both of us a lot of happiness. I far exceeded her clay skills, but in reality she had been moonlighting as a potter for the time she was working in clay. Her greatest talent lay with the sewing machine doing embroidery. She was like an orchestral conductor waving her baton around creating a wide array of projects.
Mom passed away in the early morning the first week of January 2023 after exceeding the time they thought she had getting to celebrate her 65th wedding anniversary and her own 85th birthday. She never lost her sparkle and desire to shake things up even into her final days. Dad and I were talking about her gifts the other day and how her spirit lives on with us in the shirts she had embroidered for him and how I think of her whenever I sit at my potter wheel. She lives on in the creativity she gave me as my Mom and the encouragement she always gave for all my artistic pursuits. I am grateful I inherited her ability to see things through her own unique lens.
I love you Mom and I miss you. But I know you are in heaven and that I’ll see you in everything I make at the wheel or see in a viewfinder, and that brings me tremendous comfort.
It was a year ago today on March 18, 2022, that we got the news that my Mom had cancer and we dropped everything to go help my folks in their time of need. A few days later we got the news that it was Stage 4 pancreatic cancer and that it already spread to her bones and organs. She probably had between 3-6 months to live. Mom decided not to pursue treatment and to make the best of her remaining time. Afterall she was 84 and had enjoyed a good life with her husband of 64 years and was ready for God to take her home. This was the start of a 10-month journey for my folks that included downsizing into assisted living, navigating my Dad’s own health challenges, and coping with the changes her body went through with the cancer. My wife and I were very fortunate to both have jobs that allowed us to work remote and spend a lot of time in Texas caring for both Mom and Dad. We had a lot of quality time together and we laughed and cried in equal parts.
My Mom was an extremely talented individual who had worked in textiles, embroidery, photography, painting, music and of course clay when she went back to school in her late 30s. It was at that time in her life when she was at Texas Tech getting her degree that she took some pottery classes with Vern Funk and was immediately captivated. As the youngest kid, I was taken in tow when she had to go to campus and often accompanied her to the pottery studio. My Dad, an amazing guy in his own right, got her set up with a wheel, kiln and plenty of clay at home. Alas, she had an allergy to the clay dust and could not continue doing pottery. All of her equipment went into storage and eventually she felt like I had reached an age of responsibility (like thirty three) she gifted me the wheel, kiln, her library and her tools. I took my beginning wheel class at Phoenix Center for the Arts and the rest is history. Mom got my first six finished pieces as a offering of thanks. This started twenty years of her selecting pieces from my work for her collection. She would get a twinkle in her eye every time she got something, bringing both of us a lot of happiness. I far exceeded her clay skills, but in reality she had been moonlighting as a potter for the time she was working in clay. Her greatest talent lay with the sewing machine doing embroidery. She was like an orchestral conductor waving her baton around creating a wide array of projects.
Mom passed away in the early morning the first week of January 2023 after exceeding the time they thought she had getting to celebrate her 65th wedding anniversary and her own 85th birthday. She never lost her sparkle and desire to shake things up even into her final days. Dad and I were talking about her gifts the other day and how her spirit lives on with us in the shirts she had embroidered for him and how I think of her whenever I sit at my potter wheel. She lives on in the creativity she gave me as my Mom and the encouragement she always gave for all my artistic pursuits. I am grateful I inherited her ability to see things through her own unique lens.
I love you Mom and I miss you. But I know you are in heaven and that I’ll see you in everything I make at the wheel or see in a viewfinder, and that brings me tremendous comfort.
Koi Dreams of Flying: Working title for new series.
The latest in commission work - Sushi Sake Octopus
From time to time I get asked if I make work on commission. I do take a number of commission projects every year. My very first commission was a dragon on a vase for a coworker who enjoyed my dragon drawings. I still use a photo of that piece on my business card. These days, sake sets are my most popular request. Some are ideas from my customer, such as the Texas sized Sake set and others are a little looser such as "I need a vessel of a certain size that fits in the cup holder of my truck and I'd like a dragon on it". I've has requests for a certain glaze to match something that was previously purchased from me to expand a collection. That is where understanding your work and maintaining good records of glazing and firing is critical. If I make something really nice, I want to be able to re-create it so I make more! One commission sake set required about a year of glaze testing to find a suitable green glaze (the images for the illustrated sake set were the easy part). I even accepted a commission from a pooch who wanted a water dish shaped to minimize getting his tags in the water. Sometimes, a commission leads to a whole new line of work. My patron who requested the Texas sized sake set contacted me and told me she wanted to do something nice for her favorite sushi chef. I suggested a sake set because sushi and sake are a natural pairing. She liked the idea and suggested I surprise her with the glazing palette. I decided it would be fun to do an illustrated piece featuring a blue fin tuna; whole on one side and chopped up on the other. Then the cups could each feature a chunk of the fish and they'd stack to form the fish. She loved the idea and the Sushi Sake line was born. I like to joke that the cup stacking is a built in sobriety check...if you can't stack the cups to make the fish correctly, it is time to call for a ride. The commission almost fell through because her chef was fired, but I liked the idea so much, I decided to go ahead and make it. My patron liked the finished piece so much she took it anyway. Her chef got rehired, but I am pretty sure he did not get the Blue Fin. Since then, I have made many illustrated sake sets featuring fish used in sushi and they always sell within a few days of coming out of the kiln. Bluefin Tuna, Yellowfin Tuna, Albacore Tuna, Octopus, Squid, Swordfish, and even an Eel. Right now I am doing two of them, both as Octopus, for two different customers who saw one of my postcards that featured a Sushi Sake Octopus. I like doing commission work in general but I only accept it when I know I can deliver the goods. So if you need a sake set with a fish on it I am your huckleberry.
Getting Back Into The Groove!
Our world has been impacted heavily with the worldwide pandemic. From the life and death situation to the livelihood situation many have faced a setbacks we've never anticipated. How do we bounce back? For me personally, it is getting back into a groove of producing work and grinding it out. These changing times have brought me some new opportunities I'd never imagined such as teaching kids to make work on the wheel. I have another workshop starting in September at the Shemer Art Center here in Phoenix. Getting a good kiln firing is what makes me feel like I am starting to get into the groove again. I just finished a kiln run a few days ago and it was pretty gratifying. It was not all butterflies and rainbows yet (see my instagram feed if you doubt me), but it is getting better. Recalling all the fine nuances will take a little time, but I am excited to be able to do it. I'll be doing my first sale in a year at Septemberfest in Midland Texas, and I am looking forward to seeing my West Texas friends there. So get out there and find what gets your groove going again and do it! And if you are in Midland Texas on September 10 and 11th, I can tell you that buying a piece of my pottery will get both of our grooves going! ***Midland update: Not only did Midland Texas turn out and get me in the groove, they gave me a major shove forward! Thanks for an amazing sale Midland and the Museum of the Southwest! On to Huffines Art Trails in Richardson Texas on October 16 and 17! ***
Teaching Your Children Well
Pandemic. Usually things suck completely during a pandemic, but sometimes there is a little glimmer of awesome. All of my shows this fall have been cancelled and I have not had much time in the studio because it has been closed. And then an opportunity dropped into my lap. I once heard a very interesting speaker who said that life is about recognizing opportunities and acting on them. I have cooperated with the Shemer Art Center here in Phoenix on a number of occasions including doing demos and fundraisers for them. When they called me and asked if I was interested in doing a three Saturday workshop to teach Teens how to make pottery on the wheel, I was surprised. Since my schedule had been cleared I jumped at the opportunity with both feet. I have wanted to do some teaching, but up to now, had not had a chance to experience it. I have to tell you these kids are great. They are fearless and very engaged. Today was the second Saturday and not only did they recall everything from last week, they jumped right in and each got two pieces thrown that they will be able to keep. Our goal is have a few bisqued pieces at the end of our session. We did some trimming today as well as using some of my stamps on their new work. I love their excitement and creativity. It has been as much a learning experience for me as them. Every class I think of something new or different to try out so they can learn more. These teens really make me consider how to describe even the most basic of things. I believe it adds a dimension to my growth as an artist. Shemer is happy too. The response has been so good they have already asked me to do another session and even another workshop on bisque firing early next year. The big question is what am I going to learn from THEM next week?
One of the most recent of the illustrated pieces I have completed, this 7" tall vase shows a dragon contemplating life and dragon-ness in the wilderness on his personal island. This piece is in porcelain and reduction fired to 2350 degrees in a Geil kiln. I did the original design in my sketchbook during the Septemberfest 2019 event at the Museum of the Southwest in Midland Texas following a run on illustrated pieces in which I sold nine (!) illustrated pieces. The good people of Midland bought almost all of my illustrated work. I got cracking and fired 11 illustrated pieces in my last firing to get caught up.
Altered Landscapes Project - Buckskin Gulch
The La Salle Mountains from Arches National Park. This image was captured with my medium format Maymia 645 on transparency film. I am going to use this image to get some initial prints on metal. I will let you know how the experiment turns out!
National Arboretum Sandstone Columns
These are sandstone Corinthian columns originally installed at the US Capitol building in 1826. They were removed to make way for an expansion of that building in the late 1950s. They ended up at the National Arboretum and were erected here in 1990 set in a field like an ancient Greek Temple Ruin. It is really a bit mesmerizing. Of course, as an Architect I am drawn to stuff like this and had to take copious photos of them. Thankfully, you only have to see a few of them.....
Wet Pinion Pines
In between the hot action of the hummingbirds, I was drawn to one of the piñon pines next to the deck. I love these trees both for their fragrance and their shapely forms (and the occasional crop of delicious nuts!). The rain had coated all of the pine needles with drops of water, and if you know anything about me, it is that I love water! I hope you enjoy viewing these as much I enjoyed experiencing them in person!
In between the hot action of the hummingbirds, I was drawn to one of the piñon pines next to the deck. I love these trees both for their fragrance and their shapely forms (and the occasional crop of delicious nuts!). The rain had coated all of the pine needles with drops of water, and if you know anything about me, it is that I love water! I hope you enjoy viewing these as much I enjoyed experiencing them in person!
Work of the Month:
"Three Sides to Every Story" Sake set
This sake set was inspired by my desire to alter a tokkuri (flask) in order to create a path for glaze to move down the form. I made three evenly spaced indentions on the tokkuri, and threw the o-chokos (cups) and distorted them into triangular shapes. This was a bit tricky because I needed these cups to remain consistent from cup to cup and still be able to trim the foot ring. The o-chokos feel great in my hand (due to the limitations of the internet, you'll have to take my word for it!) I had been admiring the inside of some recent tumblers that I used a satin white glaze on the inside and decided I wanted to use it in contrast to a great copper red called Pete's Cranberry Red. The red would bleed into the white. I emphasized the grooves in the tokkuri by waxing a corresponding visual groove in the copper red glaze on the o-chokos. I was blown away by the end result. The copper red reduced like a champ and moved just enough to be pleasing to my eye. That's my side of the story at least....
"Three Sides to Every Story" Sake set
This sake set was inspired by my desire to alter a tokkuri (flask) in order to create a path for glaze to move down the form. I made three evenly spaced indentions on the tokkuri, and threw the o-chokos (cups) and distorted them into triangular shapes. This was a bit tricky because I needed these cups to remain consistent from cup to cup and still be able to trim the foot ring. The o-chokos feel great in my hand (due to the limitations of the internet, you'll have to take my word for it!) I had been admiring the inside of some recent tumblers that I used a satin white glaze on the inside and decided I wanted to use it in contrast to a great copper red called Pete's Cranberry Red. The red would bleed into the white. I emphasized the grooves in the tokkuri by waxing a corresponding visual groove in the copper red glaze on the o-chokos. I was blown away by the end result. The copper red reduced like a champ and moved just enough to be pleasing to my eye. That's my side of the story at least....
Local Pottery Suffers Savage Attack by Gravity
In two separate incidents this month, Gravity has been implicated in brutal attacks on the pottery of Stephen Bunyard. The pottery in question had all been acting in a safe manner resting completely on solid surfaces minding their own business when the attacks occurred. Gravity was known to have been in the area, but reasonable precautions had been taken. The first attack came on Sunday August 5th at Christy Cove Park. The pottery was there at the request of Stephen Bunyard, who was conducting a promotional photo shoot for his new shade canopy and booth setup. Investigators say that Gravity perpetrated this heinous crime with Wind as an accomplice. When authorities tried to question Wind, it was found that he had blown out of town. This added to the preponderance of evidence against him. The two broken pieces of pottery have been identified as “And Cauldron Bubble” and “Twice as Nice” were both porcelain with Red Shino waxed with Woo Blue highlights with generous applications of mesquite wood ash. Both were born in 2017 and were blessed with fine carbon trapping. “And Cauldron Bubble” was about to get engaged to Claudia Bravo and “Twice as Nice” has recently been re-fired. Both pieces were well loved and will be missed.
In a separate, but related incident, Gravity again struck, this time in the normally safe confines of the residence of Stephen Bunyard. Gravity had been lurking in the front hallway where a group of tall vases had been patiently waiting for their photography appointments. A passing photo soft box moved the tall vase known as “The Tall Vase” and Gravity seized the opportunity to force “The Tall Vase” to plunge to his doom onto the porcelain tile entry flooring. “The Tall Vase’s” companion, “Not Quite as Tall of a Vase” was knocked over, but was not pushed over the brink by Gravity, avoiding sharing the fate of “Tall Vase”. “Not Quite as Tall of a Vase” has made a full recovery. An unnamed porcelain floor tile suffered a minor chip and is expected to remain in place. Gravity seems to show no remorse and has in fact remained at the scene of these horrific incidents. Repeated attempts to train Gravity not to attack in certain situations have proved fruitless. For failure to protect his pottery from attacks by Gravity, Stephen Bunyard has voluntarily placed himself on Pottery Probation. Pottery Probation requires greater supervision around pottery as well as using two hands when touching pottery. Pottery Probation has successfully rehabilitated another member of the Bunyard household whose identity is protected because her records are sealed as part of the non-disclosure agreement arising from the whole Carrot Peeler vs Clay Faceting Tool incident. Gravity remains at large.
In a separate, but related incident, Gravity again struck, this time in the normally safe confines of the residence of Stephen Bunyard. Gravity had been lurking in the front hallway where a group of tall vases had been patiently waiting for their photography appointments. A passing photo soft box moved the tall vase known as “The Tall Vase” and Gravity seized the opportunity to force “The Tall Vase” to plunge to his doom onto the porcelain tile entry flooring. “The Tall Vase’s” companion, “Not Quite as Tall of a Vase” was knocked over, but was not pushed over the brink by Gravity, avoiding sharing the fate of “Tall Vase”. “Not Quite as Tall of a Vase” has made a full recovery. An unnamed porcelain floor tile suffered a minor chip and is expected to remain in place. Gravity seems to show no remorse and has in fact remained at the scene of these horrific incidents. Repeated attempts to train Gravity not to attack in certain situations have proved fruitless. For failure to protect his pottery from attacks by Gravity, Stephen Bunyard has voluntarily placed himself on Pottery Probation. Pottery Probation requires greater supervision around pottery as well as using two hands when touching pottery. Pottery Probation has successfully rehabilitated another member of the Bunyard household whose identity is protected because her records are sealed as part of the non-disclosure agreement arising from the whole Carrot Peeler vs Clay Faceting Tool incident. Gravity remains at large.
Scratching Dragon: 9.5" tall porcelain vase with Red Iron Oxide slip illustration. Reduction fired to Cone 10. Original illustration applied with thin red iron oxide slip in the same manner as a watercolor at bisque stage. $190 plus shipping.
So I was doing it wrong…
Modern technology is simply amazing. We have never been quite as plugged in as we are in our modern age. Technology has crept into every facet of our lives. Even pottery…there are enough videos and online resources available to boggle your mind, not to mention images to inspire and excite us as artists and craftspeople. I have been in this wave of technology folks, using my website and Facebook page to promote my work as a potter. For the most part it has been good, and I work hard to create new content on a regular basis. In the past couple of years, I have been using Instagram on a periodic basis at the urging of then Curator of the Ceramics Research Center, Garth Johnson. He encouraged all the CRC Studio Tour artists to embrace Instagram because of the visual nature of the program and promote the Tour and our work. This seemed like a smart thing to do, and I am a hip guy. I downloaded the program and sought advice from my youngest kid who was a teenager at the time. No good. ” Dad, the kids have all moved on to snap chat, and I am not into that stuff anyway.” Great, I am on Instagram and I am already old fashioned. So, I just winged it with the information I knew. The hashtag for the event and a hashtag for me. Seemed easy enough. I looked for hashtags of events I was a part of and started including them on my posts. A few years into this adventure I had amassed a following of 123 devotees. I thought I was doing it right…but how do these other folks get thousands of followers? It took me two years to get to 123! Since I am on the plus side of 50 now, I may not have enough time to crack into those big numbers unless I live well into my hundreds. This year at the CRC studio tour, I had a younger friend from Phoenix Center for the Arts visit for my demo and afterwards we were chatting, and she dropped a bombshell on me. “I love the pictures you post of your work on Instagram” she told me “the work is beautiful, and you capture the image well and say entertaining things.” I nodded liking the direction this was headed. “But you are doing your hashtags all wrong.” U-turn! I was like “Really?” in a sad small voice. In that moment I grasped that an opportunity had presented itself to me. An Instagram life coach had appeared magically before me. “Guide me!” I said. She explained that I should be using the hash tags as search terms that would put my work in front of people who are interested in aspects of the things I posted. A lightbulb appeared over my head #lightbulb #electricity #idea #epiphany. I was being way too narrow in my hash tagging. I got busy. I used some suggestions from Instagram Life Coach Kelly (ILCK) and modified a few posts and started developing a list of hashtags specific to my work like Sake sets and my Illustrated pieces. ILCK was right! In the three weeks since the studio tour my following has grown by 30% #ohyeahbaby . This was fun! I was posting away having a good time. Then I saw ILCK again. She praised me for my improved hash tagging but told me I was doing it wrong again. WHAT?! This time it was posting too much #overenthusiasm. This social media stuff is hard! I have tapered off to every other day with an eventual goal of 3 times a week. #doingitmorerighteveryday. Thanks ILCK, you really made a difference. #gratitude #whatamidoingwrongnow?
Modern technology is simply amazing. We have never been quite as plugged in as we are in our modern age. Technology has crept into every facet of our lives. Even pottery…there are enough videos and online resources available to boggle your mind, not to mention images to inspire and excite us as artists and craftspeople. I have been in this wave of technology folks, using my website and Facebook page to promote my work as a potter. For the most part it has been good, and I work hard to create new content on a regular basis. In the past couple of years, I have been using Instagram on a periodic basis at the urging of then Curator of the Ceramics Research Center, Garth Johnson. He encouraged all the CRC Studio Tour artists to embrace Instagram because of the visual nature of the program and promote the Tour and our work. This seemed like a smart thing to do, and I am a hip guy. I downloaded the program and sought advice from my youngest kid who was a teenager at the time. No good. ” Dad, the kids have all moved on to snap chat, and I am not into that stuff anyway.” Great, I am on Instagram and I am already old fashioned. So, I just winged it with the information I knew. The hashtag for the event and a hashtag for me. Seemed easy enough. I looked for hashtags of events I was a part of and started including them on my posts. A few years into this adventure I had amassed a following of 123 devotees. I thought I was doing it right…but how do these other folks get thousands of followers? It took me two years to get to 123! Since I am on the plus side of 50 now, I may not have enough time to crack into those big numbers unless I live well into my hundreds. This year at the CRC studio tour, I had a younger friend from Phoenix Center for the Arts visit for my demo and afterwards we were chatting, and she dropped a bombshell on me. “I love the pictures you post of your work on Instagram” she told me “the work is beautiful, and you capture the image well and say entertaining things.” I nodded liking the direction this was headed. “But you are doing your hashtags all wrong.” U-turn! I was like “Really?” in a sad small voice. In that moment I grasped that an opportunity had presented itself to me. An Instagram life coach had appeared magically before me. “Guide me!” I said. She explained that I should be using the hash tags as search terms that would put my work in front of people who are interested in aspects of the things I posted. A lightbulb appeared over my head #lightbulb #electricity #idea #epiphany. I was being way too narrow in my hash tagging. I got busy. I used some suggestions from Instagram Life Coach Kelly (ILCK) and modified a few posts and started developing a list of hashtags specific to my work like Sake sets and my Illustrated pieces. ILCK was right! In the three weeks since the studio tour my following has grown by 30% #ohyeahbaby . This was fun! I was posting away having a good time. Then I saw ILCK again. She praised me for my improved hash tagging but told me I was doing it wrong again. WHAT?! This time it was posting too much #overenthusiasm. This social media stuff is hard! I have tapered off to every other day with an eventual goal of 3 times a week. #doingitmorerighteveryday. Thanks ILCK, you really made a difference. #gratitude #whatamidoingwrongnow?
2018 is almost in the Books!
2018 proved to be a very eventful year for personal and artistic reasons. We had our last event at the old Treehouse Studio and the first event at the 14th Street Studio. There is definitely some emotion in seeing the Treehouse tree removed. We had many fun memories there, but we’ll be making new memories at the 14th Street Studio. In fact, since it all fits inside, there is no moving of tables and having to reset things. My wife was shocked when I rolled up to the house after the sale and it was only 15 minutes after the sale ended for the night. We only had to turn off the lights and shut the door.
I did two big art festivals in Texas, one in Midland and the other in Richardson. In spite of biblically proportioned rain, Midland was a success. One thing about my home state, the people are matchless in their hospitality and kindness. In spite of the rain and hiccups, everyone was really nice and something happened to me that has NEVER happened. My booth won 3rd prize. I was quite pleased and very surprised. I look forward to returning to the next Septemberfest in 2019, where I’ll be gunning for second place! The Huffines Art Walk in Richardson was amazing as well. I spent my first 9 years in Richardson and Plano. My friends, many of whom I have not seen in person since 1977, showed up and supported my work. It means so much to me that so many folks showed up. Simply amazing. High School and College pal Deb Lowe and her husband Wes fed me and talked my ears off. And getting to spend some time with my original and dearest friend Samantha Cather was a treat as well. Then there is Samantha’s right hand guy, Hank the Yorkie, possibly a better salesman than me! Texas is always good to me and I will be back.
I did two events at the Japanese Friendship Garden in Phoenix; The Haru in the Spring and the Bonsai and Pottery event in the Fall. It is my favorite pottery office. I have had so much influence from Japanese culture, demonstrating and selling my work in the garden is very enjoyable.
December featured two more sales, the first was the inaugural Miracle on 14th Street. This sale, while the first in this space marks the 9th year that Char Applen and Mike Sampson have hosted a Christmas sale together. Our special guest stars this year were Dene and Jon Higuchi and Scott Lanham. I ended the year at the Phoenix Festival of the Arts which was made even more enjoyable by the return of my favorite food truck Cousins Maine Lobsters and my favorite Lobster bisque.
2019 will see a few new festivals. The Willow Historic Neighborhood has a historic home show and street fair in February and I am looking for more opportunities in New Mexico and Texas. This is also the year for glaze exploration. I’ve already extruded a boatload of test tiles! I wish everyone a terrific holiday season and look forward to 2019!
2018 proved to be a very eventful year for personal and artistic reasons. We had our last event at the old Treehouse Studio and the first event at the 14th Street Studio. There is definitely some emotion in seeing the Treehouse tree removed. We had many fun memories there, but we’ll be making new memories at the 14th Street Studio. In fact, since it all fits inside, there is no moving of tables and having to reset things. My wife was shocked when I rolled up to the house after the sale and it was only 15 minutes after the sale ended for the night. We only had to turn off the lights and shut the door.
I did two big art festivals in Texas, one in Midland and the other in Richardson. In spite of biblically proportioned rain, Midland was a success. One thing about my home state, the people are matchless in their hospitality and kindness. In spite of the rain and hiccups, everyone was really nice and something happened to me that has NEVER happened. My booth won 3rd prize. I was quite pleased and very surprised. I look forward to returning to the next Septemberfest in 2019, where I’ll be gunning for second place! The Huffines Art Walk in Richardson was amazing as well. I spent my first 9 years in Richardson and Plano. My friends, many of whom I have not seen in person since 1977, showed up and supported my work. It means so much to me that so many folks showed up. Simply amazing. High School and College pal Deb Lowe and her husband Wes fed me and talked my ears off. And getting to spend some time with my original and dearest friend Samantha Cather was a treat as well. Then there is Samantha’s right hand guy, Hank the Yorkie, possibly a better salesman than me! Texas is always good to me and I will be back.
I did two events at the Japanese Friendship Garden in Phoenix; The Haru in the Spring and the Bonsai and Pottery event in the Fall. It is my favorite pottery office. I have had so much influence from Japanese culture, demonstrating and selling my work in the garden is very enjoyable.
December featured two more sales, the first was the inaugural Miracle on 14th Street. This sale, while the first in this space marks the 9th year that Char Applen and Mike Sampson have hosted a Christmas sale together. Our special guest stars this year were Dene and Jon Higuchi and Scott Lanham. I ended the year at the Phoenix Festival of the Arts which was made even more enjoyable by the return of my favorite food truck Cousins Maine Lobsters and my favorite Lobster bisque.
2019 will see a few new festivals. The Willow Historic Neighborhood has a historic home show and street fair in February and I am looking for more opportunities in New Mexico and Texas. This is also the year for glaze exploration. I’ve already extruded a boatload of test tiles! I wish everyone a terrific holiday season and look forward to 2019!
Whiskey Decanter, Tumblers and Shot Glasses
This porcelain whiskey decanter is the result of a movement among my customers to repurpose my kusamono for bonsai as shot glasses. So, never wanting to limit my customer's creativity, I have created purpose made organic whiskey decanters, tumblers, and shot glasses. The forms were extruded using various dies to make the shot glasses, the tumblers, and the body of the decanter. Once all had been textured and had bases put on them, I dropped them on a table to make them belly out and to create these very organic forms. Each decanter, shot glass and tumbler are individually unique. The set is unified through the glaze application. The top and bottom of the decanter are hand built with slabs and the spout is thrown off the hump on the pottery wheel. I chose porcelain for the fineness of the clay and because it makes such a great canvas on which to glaze. I used a White Satin glaze on the inside of the pieces and Red Shino and Woo Blue with a generous application of mesquite wood ash on the outside. It is all reduction fired to Cone 10 in a Geil kiln. I am thrilled with the results here and look forward to making more like it if they sell well this fall.
This porcelain whiskey decanter is the result of a movement among my customers to repurpose my kusamono for bonsai as shot glasses. So, never wanting to limit my customer's creativity, I have created purpose made organic whiskey decanters, tumblers, and shot glasses. The forms were extruded using various dies to make the shot glasses, the tumblers, and the body of the decanter. Once all had been textured and had bases put on them, I dropped them on a table to make them belly out and to create these very organic forms. Each decanter, shot glass and tumbler are individually unique. The set is unified through the glaze application. The top and bottom of the decanter are hand built with slabs and the spout is thrown off the hump on the pottery wheel. I chose porcelain for the fineness of the clay and because it makes such a great canvas on which to glaze. I used a White Satin glaze on the inside of the pieces and Red Shino and Woo Blue with a generous application of mesquite wood ash on the outside. It is all reduction fired to Cone 10 in a Geil kiln. I am thrilled with the results here and look forward to making more like it if they sell well this fall.
This is that stuff that you liked so much, you came back to see it again!
Some of the most fun I have doing pottery is meeting people when I am doing sales and shows. This recent bowl has been particularly interesting to the younger set. I was at the Phoenix Festival of the Arts in early December, when a young man of 8 or 9 years approached my booth and started looking intently at this piece. He was very into it and started tracing his finger around the spiral (much to the horror of his parents!) I very seriously told him that this was my hypnotizing pottery and that he should keep tracing the spiral. I spoke in my best hypnotist voice telling him he was getting very sleepy and very relaxed. He kept going like a good kid until I started saying that he felt like cleaning up his room and doing the dishes. Alas, the spell was broken and he looked at me very suspiciously and said "Wait a minute.." and dashed away. His parents and I had a good laugh and his Dad started tracing the spiral. "You are getting very sleepy" I said. He nodded. "You want to buy this piece of pottery..." I said. He eyed me suspiciously and I shugged and said it was worth a try.
The Tale of the Kitchen Aid Clay Tool
Some work is notable for the excellence of form or the particular shade of color achieved in the firing, and sometimes these fine qualities are surpassed by a good story. This tall faceted bottle started on my wheel in the usual way. It is a two part vessel, a demo I do fairly regularly, where the base cylinder is thrown and set aside and a subsequent cylinder is thrown, opened down to the bat below. The second cylinder is flipped over and joined to the first via a tongue and groove joint. The bat is cut off and I make pulls through the whole form, making a single homogeneous piece. I finished it off to be a bottle and then decided to alter it a little. I did not really like the first indention I made from top to bottom and tried three more to balance things out. I was still not super excited about the result, so I set it aside covered up to dry for a while waiting to trim the foot. In the meantime, I had been thinking it would be fun to do something faceted and I decided this tall bottle would be a good candidate. In my usual fashion, I started shopping in the kitchen for a suitable tool to use for faceting. It is common knowledge that the kitchen and bathroom are good places to search for clay tools disguised as everyday household objects. And wouldn't you know it, I found a clay faceting tool that also peels carrots! Off it went to the studio. It worked incredibly well. I had to sort of take it apart slightly for the best result, but golly it worked well. I took it home and put it away, no one the wiser. This is where things get a little sideways...fast forward a bit to Thanksgiving. My wife is preparing the veggies for our meal when she grabs a clay faceting tool and attempts to peel a carrot with it. "Attempts" is the key word here. The problem was that the faceter had not fully completed its' transformation back to a household kitchen tool. The blade had fallen off. This may have gone unnoticed, but my eagle eyed spouse saw what she claims was some clay on the handle (I am sure I washed it off!). I was confronted with the evidence and found guilty of misappropriation of household appliances in the first degree and sentenced to buying my own damn carrot peeler (clay faceting tool!). My second mistake was posting this interaction on Facebook. Apparently it is generally held that re-purposing kitchen implements without permission is not right. My only defense is that my creative nature makes me see clay tools in almost everything. My wife does appreciate how well this piece turned out and has encouraged me to make more like it. She even took me to Target to the clay tool aisle, and that Ladies and Gents is how I came to own an impressive faceting tool made by Kitchen Aid.
I was doing the dishes this evening and discovered that Pampered Chef has a line of clay tools...who would have guessed?
Some work is notable for the excellence of form or the particular shade of color achieved in the firing, and sometimes these fine qualities are surpassed by a good story. This tall faceted bottle started on my wheel in the usual way. It is a two part vessel, a demo I do fairly regularly, where the base cylinder is thrown and set aside and a subsequent cylinder is thrown, opened down to the bat below. The second cylinder is flipped over and joined to the first via a tongue and groove joint. The bat is cut off and I make pulls through the whole form, making a single homogeneous piece. I finished it off to be a bottle and then decided to alter it a little. I did not really like the first indention I made from top to bottom and tried three more to balance things out. I was still not super excited about the result, so I set it aside covered up to dry for a while waiting to trim the foot. In the meantime, I had been thinking it would be fun to do something faceted and I decided this tall bottle would be a good candidate. In my usual fashion, I started shopping in the kitchen for a suitable tool to use for faceting. It is common knowledge that the kitchen and bathroom are good places to search for clay tools disguised as everyday household objects. And wouldn't you know it, I found a clay faceting tool that also peels carrots! Off it went to the studio. It worked incredibly well. I had to sort of take it apart slightly for the best result, but golly it worked well. I took it home and put it away, no one the wiser. This is where things get a little sideways...fast forward a bit to Thanksgiving. My wife is preparing the veggies for our meal when she grabs a clay faceting tool and attempts to peel a carrot with it. "Attempts" is the key word here. The problem was that the faceter had not fully completed its' transformation back to a household kitchen tool. The blade had fallen off. This may have gone unnoticed, but my eagle eyed spouse saw what she claims was some clay on the handle (I am sure I washed it off!). I was confronted with the evidence and found guilty of misappropriation of household appliances in the first degree and sentenced to buying my own damn carrot peeler (clay faceting tool!). My second mistake was posting this interaction on Facebook. Apparently it is generally held that re-purposing kitchen implements without permission is not right. My only defense is that my creative nature makes me see clay tools in almost everything. My wife does appreciate how well this piece turned out and has encouraged me to make more like it. She even took me to Target to the clay tool aisle, and that Ladies and Gents is how I came to own an impressive faceting tool made by Kitchen Aid.
I was doing the dishes this evening and discovered that Pampered Chef has a line of clay tools...who would have guessed?
Leopard Spot Shino pieces from a Geil Kiln workshop with Tom Coleman.
I recently have glazed a number of pieces with Shino Glazes after being inspired by Jon Higuchi and the results have been really exciting. This big bottle is a bit over 12" tall and has a couple of decorative details that lend themselves to emphasizing the movement of glazes over the Shino base glaze. I've also used mesquite wood ash generously to encourage movement and visual texture. Some of the other forms from this glaze firing include lugs and other decorative features and are pictured below.
Work of the Month
"Dragon in the Garden"
This porcelain vessel has been decorated with a garden scene and a dragon. This evolution in my dragon pieces has largely been driven by my study of Japanese gardens and the art of Bonsai. This year I am working on a large commission for Phoenix Bonsai Society and will be participating in the Bonsai and Raku event at the Japanese Friendship Garden of Phoenix November 12th. I have been making decorative tea bowls for a while, but have moved into some larger pieces so I can do some more complex scenes. The garden elements you will find in this piece are a boundary wall, water feature, stone lantern, up right viewing rocks, and of course manicured trees. I am very happy with the way this piece turned out.
"Dragon in the Garden"
This porcelain vessel has been decorated with a garden scene and a dragon. This evolution in my dragon pieces has largely been driven by my study of Japanese gardens and the art of Bonsai. This year I am working on a large commission for Phoenix Bonsai Society and will be participating in the Bonsai and Raku event at the Japanese Friendship Garden of Phoenix November 12th. I have been making decorative tea bowls for a while, but have moved into some larger pieces so I can do some more complex scenes. The garden elements you will find in this piece are a boundary wall, water feature, stone lantern, up right viewing rocks, and of course manicured trees. I am very happy with the way this piece turned out.
Pottery News!
I have been selected by the Phoenix Bonsai Society to create commemorative bonsai pots for 2016-2017 year. Phoenix Bonsai Society is over 50 years old and is looking to begin creating commemorative pots every year. I have been fascinated for many years by bonsai and this is a natural partnership between ceramics and pottery. As many of you know, I am Vice President of Arizona Clay Society and this is the beginnings of our two clubs seeking to bring our membership together. We will also be offering sales opportunities to AZ Clay members. Our first effort is on 9-17-15 when Mike Fritz of Phoenix Bonsai Society joins our general membership meeting to talk about design aspects of bonsai pots as well as some related arts, such as kusimono. Be on the lookout for images of my test bonsai pots!
I have been selected by the Phoenix Bonsai Society to create commemorative bonsai pots for 2016-2017 year. Phoenix Bonsai Society is over 50 years old and is looking to begin creating commemorative pots every year. I have been fascinated for many years by bonsai and this is a natural partnership between ceramics and pottery. As many of you know, I am Vice President of Arizona Clay Society and this is the beginnings of our two clubs seeking to bring our membership together. We will also be offering sales opportunities to AZ Clay members. Our first effort is on 9-17-15 when Mike Fritz of Phoenix Bonsai Society joins our general membership meeting to talk about design aspects of bonsai pots as well as some related arts, such as kusimono. Be on the lookout for images of my test bonsai pots!
Work of the Month
"The Super Shino Vase"
When this piece came out of the kiln it exceeded all of my expectations. The belly bottle form makes you want to put your hands around it. I have enjoyed making the belly forms over the past few years. On this particular piece, I had recently attended a Tom Coleman workshop at Geil Kilns and been inspired to add porcelain slip decorative surfaces to provide texture and color change. The strong orange color is where I put wax over the red shino glaze before putting it into the kiln. The piece also has a generous use of mesquite wood ash. But what really knocked my socks off on this one is the tremendous carbon trapping on the surface. There is no substitute for fuel fired reduction firings. The free carbon in the kiln environment that gets into the surface of the glaze is killer!
***Update 11-11-15 The Super Shino Vase went to a new home at my sale at the Lubbock Women's Club this past Friday. I had a great conversation with the buyer about glazing and shino glazes. I know it went to a great home!. ****
"The Super Shino Vase"
When this piece came out of the kiln it exceeded all of my expectations. The belly bottle form makes you want to put your hands around it. I have enjoyed making the belly forms over the past few years. On this particular piece, I had recently attended a Tom Coleman workshop at Geil Kilns and been inspired to add porcelain slip decorative surfaces to provide texture and color change. The strong orange color is where I put wax over the red shino glaze before putting it into the kiln. The piece also has a generous use of mesquite wood ash. But what really knocked my socks off on this one is the tremendous carbon trapping on the surface. There is no substitute for fuel fired reduction firings. The free carbon in the kiln environment that gets into the surface of the glaze is killer!
***Update 11-11-15 The Super Shino Vase went to a new home at my sale at the Lubbock Women's Club this past Friday. I had a great conversation with the buyer about glazing and shino glazes. I know it went to a great home!. ****
Stephen Bunyard Elected President
of Arizona Clay Association
Change is never easy but often necessary. In January, I accepted the nomination to be President of Arizona Clay Association, and I was subsequently elected. Thank you to everyone who has encouraged me to take on this task and help propel Arizona Clay forward. I am looking forward to the challenges we face and will work hard to keep our organization relevant.
Before I look to the future, I must look back a little. Lee Carroll has served our organization as President for most of my involvement with Arizona Clay. We owe her a big thank you for holding the post when no one else was ready to do so and beginning our period of renewal. She will remain involved with AZ Clay, spearheading our Empty Bowls efforts. She has worked hard to keep the group going and I have deeply appreciated her efforts as well as guidance to me as I learned the ropes as Vice President.
Sheetal Shaw did a fantastic job over the past year as our newsletter editor. She has completed her time in this role and we are currently looking for a newsletter editor. The role will be to collect content and publish 10 newsletters a year. Our role as members will be to contribute. This newsletter is a great outlet to get the word out for events and publicize our clay activities. If you have an interest, please email me.
I also want to thank Gretchen Boyer for helping get our programming calendar filled for meetings. It takes some effort to track down speakers and locations for meetings. She has worked hard for our organization, so please take a moment to thank her for her efforts next time you see her.
Thanks to Ann Rice for assuming the role as treasurer for AZ Clay. This is an important position within our group and I look forward to working with her.
I will be looking for a Vice President to assist me for exhibitions and sales and workshops. If you are interested, please let me know. It has been fun being in this role.
So, you are probably wondering, what are some of my visions for our future? First, I want to update our website so we can accept payments online for membership, workshops and exhibitions. I have been thinking about adding a family membership option for AZ clay members that have spouses working in clay, so they do not have to pay double for membership. I want to continue working for partnerships with other arts organizations like Phoenix Bonsai Society, Phoenix Art Museum, and the Japanese Friendship Garden. I want to leverage our non-profit status to pursue grants to bring in nationally known clay artists for workshops. I also want to grow our membership.
I also want to hear from our members about what they are seeking from their membership. I want to hear from you with ideas, I want to increase our members’ interaction with each other to share ideas, techniques and experiences. I want to increase our participation in the arts scene in Arizona. There are challenges of geography and time, but if we work together we can do many things. So you can kind of see my theme here. Member participation.
I am very optimistic about the future of Arizona Clay and I hope you will join me to make these visions come true. I am going to work hard to improve our communication and this is the first step. Please email me at s_bunyard@cox.net or call me at 602-909-5200 if you ever want to share ideas for AZ Clay. I’d love to hear from you!
Thanks!
Steve Bunyard, President Arizona Clay Association
Before I look to the future, I must look back a little. Lee Carroll has served our organization as President for most of my involvement with Arizona Clay. We owe her a big thank you for holding the post when no one else was ready to do so and beginning our period of renewal. She will remain involved with AZ Clay, spearheading our Empty Bowls efforts. She has worked hard to keep the group going and I have deeply appreciated her efforts as well as guidance to me as I learned the ropes as Vice President.
Sheetal Shaw did a fantastic job over the past year as our newsletter editor. She has completed her time in this role and we are currently looking for a newsletter editor. The role will be to collect content and publish 10 newsletters a year. Our role as members will be to contribute. This newsletter is a great outlet to get the word out for events and publicize our clay activities. If you have an interest, please email me.
I also want to thank Gretchen Boyer for helping get our programming calendar filled for meetings. It takes some effort to track down speakers and locations for meetings. She has worked hard for our organization, so please take a moment to thank her for her efforts next time you see her.
Thanks to Ann Rice for assuming the role as treasurer for AZ Clay. This is an important position within our group and I look forward to working with her.
I will be looking for a Vice President to assist me for exhibitions and sales and workshops. If you are interested, please let me know. It has been fun being in this role.
So, you are probably wondering, what are some of my visions for our future? First, I want to update our website so we can accept payments online for membership, workshops and exhibitions. I have been thinking about adding a family membership option for AZ clay members that have spouses working in clay, so they do not have to pay double for membership. I want to continue working for partnerships with other arts organizations like Phoenix Bonsai Society, Phoenix Art Museum, and the Japanese Friendship Garden. I want to leverage our non-profit status to pursue grants to bring in nationally known clay artists for workshops. I also want to grow our membership.
I also want to hear from our members about what they are seeking from their membership. I want to hear from you with ideas, I want to increase our members’ interaction with each other to share ideas, techniques and experiences. I want to increase our participation in the arts scene in Arizona. There are challenges of geography and time, but if we work together we can do many things. So you can kind of see my theme here. Member participation.
I am very optimistic about the future of Arizona Clay and I hope you will join me to make these visions come true. I am going to work hard to improve our communication and this is the first step. Please email me at s_bunyard@cox.net or call me at 602-909-5200 if you ever want to share ideas for AZ Clay. I’d love to hear from you!
Thanks!
Steve Bunyard, President Arizona Clay Association
Who would believe that after 37 years a teacher I had for a partial year in Lubbock Texas would remember my name. I had a repeat customer (Thank you very much! Again!) at the Lubbock Women's Club Sale in early November who told me that she had a friend who knew me. I was guessing some high school acquaintance or someone who knew me in college, but when she said Mrs. Bloxom my 6th grade teacher, I was blown away. Mrs Bloxom was my teacher for about half the year, but she went out on maternity leave I think after Christmas. I asked a teacher friend of mine if it was a good sign or a bad sign that she recalled me. Melissa told me that it was the quiet ones that were hard to recall. I was definitely not quiet. I like to think of myself as memorable and hopefully if Mrs. Bloxom reads this, she remembers me for all the right reasons and smiles. I had a lot of good times growing up and have great memories of my experiences in that time period and the friends I made and friends I still have from that time. The kid in the red shirt to the left of me has been my friend since 5th grade, Mr. Darrin Campbell. Mrs. Bloxom, if you can believe it, he has grandchildren! It was really a treat to hear that you recalled me fondly!
Welcoming The 21st Century Into My Life
OK, so most people who know me, are aware of the fact that I love my film cameras. They've been with me to many amazing places and suffered in not so ideal conditions with me as well. We share a bond. I have been getting by with a hand me down Olympus for years, but the time has finally come to join the rest of my photography pals in the 21st Century. I had a text from a good friend to photograph her daughter for Senior Pictures and she has a friend needing the same thing. I was on the web looking at the camera rentals from my local camera place, and I realized with two projects close together and what I had already put away for a digital SLR, I was over one third of the way to a new camera. So, it just happened to almost be my birthday, and I talked it over with my wife and decided to go for it. A new Canon D70 and a pair of lenses arrived at my house on my actual birthday. I must say it is freaking awesome! The technology has advanced so far even beyond the last DSLR I rented that it is mind blowing. My camera backpack just got lighter by at least 20 pounds. I am pretty sentimental and did conduct a small ceremony for my venerable Canon AE-1 Program. It was a real workhorse and I admit to a tear in my eye when I was transferring the neck strap to the new camera. I thanked it for the years of faithful service and all the great images it captured for me. My Mamiya 645 was thanked as well. The medium format will still travel with me on expeditions, but he will be back in his old travel case. I will still carry my Rollicord 6x6 in my backpack...I am not ready to completely cut the cord (Especially if you read everything on my website)! I have been using the D70 to photograph my son's marching band and have enjoyed the flexibility and low light capabilities offered by this camera. I will post some photos soon and am looking forward to my first trip with the D70. Change is good, and all the lessons I learned with my film camera will continue to pay dividends as I work more in the digital age. And in case any of you are wondering what will happen to my AE-1 Program, don't worry, he will have a spot on the shelf with all my other classics...he's earned it.
OK, so most people who know me, are aware of the fact that I love my film cameras. They've been with me to many amazing places and suffered in not so ideal conditions with me as well. We share a bond. I have been getting by with a hand me down Olympus for years, but the time has finally come to join the rest of my photography pals in the 21st Century. I had a text from a good friend to photograph her daughter for Senior Pictures and she has a friend needing the same thing. I was on the web looking at the camera rentals from my local camera place, and I realized with two projects close together and what I had already put away for a digital SLR, I was over one third of the way to a new camera. So, it just happened to almost be my birthday, and I talked it over with my wife and decided to go for it. A new Canon D70 and a pair of lenses arrived at my house on my actual birthday. I must say it is freaking awesome! The technology has advanced so far even beyond the last DSLR I rented that it is mind blowing. My camera backpack just got lighter by at least 20 pounds. I am pretty sentimental and did conduct a small ceremony for my venerable Canon AE-1 Program. It was a real workhorse and I admit to a tear in my eye when I was transferring the neck strap to the new camera. I thanked it for the years of faithful service and all the great images it captured for me. My Mamiya 645 was thanked as well. The medium format will still travel with me on expeditions, but he will be back in his old travel case. I will still carry my Rollicord 6x6 in my backpack...I am not ready to completely cut the cord (Especially if you read everything on my website)! I have been using the D70 to photograph my son's marching band and have enjoyed the flexibility and low light capabilities offered by this camera. I will post some photos soon and am looking forward to my first trip with the D70. Change is good, and all the lessons I learned with my film camera will continue to pay dividends as I work more in the digital age. And in case any of you are wondering what will happen to my AE-1 Program, don't worry, he will have a spot on the shelf with all my other classics...he's earned it.
Work of the Month:
“Arglwydd y Dŵr Dwfn”
(Lord of the Deep Water)
His name means Lord of the Deep in the Welsh Language. This Sculpture was months in the making. He really began as a sketch in my sketch book of a sea monster emerging from a form. As I refined the sketch, I determined that having the sea monster plunging through the base form and emerging from the top would give me an opportunity to emphasize movement in this sculpture. I began with an extruded form as the base and hand built the body of the sea monster, attaching the parts to the base as they were completed. The process took a few weeks with the bits and pieces tightly wrapped between work sessions. I tried not to get too excited until after He survived the bisque process. He came through with flying colors and I breathed a sigh of relief. I had a tried and true approach for the "water" portions of this sculpture, but I really took my time considering how exactly to glaze him. In the end, I masked and sprayed the glazes onto the pieces. Three glazes make up the water portion of the vase. The body of the sea monster ended up being four glazes used in a couple of combinations to achieve an organic look of a creature that spends its' time underwater, has scars, and not a few barnacles. The glaze firing was done in a reduction atmosphere to Cone 10 in a Geil Kiln. If you are keeping score, the clay body is Laguna B-Mix. I was ecstatic when he emerged from the kiln...there is always that element of chance in the firing that something could not work out. My fears were unfounded and I was very pleased with the result. I achieved the natural look for the creature I was seeking. I have already made the sketch for the next sculpture and am looking forward to applying the lessons I learned on this one.
“Arglwydd y Dŵr Dwfn”
(Lord of the Deep Water)
His name means Lord of the Deep in the Welsh Language. This Sculpture was months in the making. He really began as a sketch in my sketch book of a sea monster emerging from a form. As I refined the sketch, I determined that having the sea monster plunging through the base form and emerging from the top would give me an opportunity to emphasize movement in this sculpture. I began with an extruded form as the base and hand built the body of the sea monster, attaching the parts to the base as they were completed. The process took a few weeks with the bits and pieces tightly wrapped between work sessions. I tried not to get too excited until after He survived the bisque process. He came through with flying colors and I breathed a sigh of relief. I had a tried and true approach for the "water" portions of this sculpture, but I really took my time considering how exactly to glaze him. In the end, I masked and sprayed the glazes onto the pieces. Three glazes make up the water portion of the vase. The body of the sea monster ended up being four glazes used in a couple of combinations to achieve an organic look of a creature that spends its' time underwater, has scars, and not a few barnacles. The glaze firing was done in a reduction atmosphere to Cone 10 in a Geil Kiln. If you are keeping score, the clay body is Laguna B-Mix. I was ecstatic when he emerged from the kiln...there is always that element of chance in the firing that something could not work out. My fears were unfounded and I was very pleased with the result. I achieved the natural look for the creature I was seeking. I have already made the sketch for the next sculpture and am looking forward to applying the lessons I learned on this one.
Welcome 2015!
Here it is, another new year. I was reflecting on 2014 over this holiday and I have to say it was a great year for my work. I believe I advanced my work this past year. I also travelled a little bit to do some sales in my hometown of Lubbock Texas. I raised $767 for United Way throwing pots and having folks bid on them live. A couple of really good workshops with two potters I really admire, Tom Coleman and Jon Higuchi energized me. I completed the first of my large extruded sculptures “Arglwydd y Dŵr Dwfn” (Lord of the Deep Water) an excellent Sea Monster and bisqued the next two mermaid pieces. The 2014 CRC Studio Tour, Christmas at the Treehouse, and the 3rd Annual Phoenix Festival of the Arts were a blast this year. I also experienced some crappy things, like a shelf blowing over at a show and losing five dragon pieces and three other pieces, not to mention the glass shelf. The not funny then, but funny now thing at that show was the oversized jenga game being played behind our booth and every time it fell, I twitched because it sounded just like my shelf going down…jenga…thanks. It was a good year for my work (both in quality and sales) and I am looking forward to jumping into 2015 with both feet. I am going right to my studio tonight to throw porcelain pieces to take to a workshop with Tom Coleman and Paul Geil in a few weeks…might as well get it started right! Peace and Love to you all for 2015, see you soon!
Here it is, another new year. I was reflecting on 2014 over this holiday and I have to say it was a great year for my work. I believe I advanced my work this past year. I also travelled a little bit to do some sales in my hometown of Lubbock Texas. I raised $767 for United Way throwing pots and having folks bid on them live. A couple of really good workshops with two potters I really admire, Tom Coleman and Jon Higuchi energized me. I completed the first of my large extruded sculptures “Arglwydd y Dŵr Dwfn” (Lord of the Deep Water) an excellent Sea Monster and bisqued the next two mermaid pieces. The 2014 CRC Studio Tour, Christmas at the Treehouse, and the 3rd Annual Phoenix Festival of the Arts were a blast this year. I also experienced some crappy things, like a shelf blowing over at a show and losing five dragon pieces and three other pieces, not to mention the glass shelf. The not funny then, but funny now thing at that show was the oversized jenga game being played behind our booth and every time it fell, I twitched because it sounded just like my shelf going down…jenga…thanks. It was a good year for my work (both in quality and sales) and I am looking forward to jumping into 2015 with both feet. I am going right to my studio tonight to throw porcelain pieces to take to a workshop with Tom Coleman and Paul Geil in a few weeks…might as well get it started right! Peace and Love to you all for 2015, see you soon!
Work of the Month: Stephen Raises Money for United Way
Giving back is so incredibly important to me. I participated in the City of Phoenix Community Fund Drive (CSFD) 2014 Hands and Hearts Faire. The City Of Phoenix is raising $1,000,000 for United Way Charities through CSFD. I volunteered to bring in my pottery wheel and throw pieces live for event goers to bid on in a silent auction. The Event lasted four hours and in that time, I threw 17 pieces ranging from three pounds of clay to 11 pounds. I made a variety of forms, some with alteration or texture, and stamped designs on the vessel walls. The silent auction ended with a grand total of $767 raised for United Way Charities. The winners of the auctions have the choice of four of my favorite glaze combinations and will receive the finished work in about a month. The live demonstration of pottery made on the wheel was very successful and enjoyed by both the potter and the crowd. I work in Street Transportation Department as an Architect for Vertical Project Management Section. My coworkers were suggesting that my day job is just something to keep me busy between making pots or taking pictures...they may be right!
Giving back is so incredibly important to me. I participated in the City of Phoenix Community Fund Drive (CSFD) 2014 Hands and Hearts Faire. The City Of Phoenix is raising $1,000,000 for United Way Charities through CSFD. I volunteered to bring in my pottery wheel and throw pieces live for event goers to bid on in a silent auction. The Event lasted four hours and in that time, I threw 17 pieces ranging from three pounds of clay to 11 pounds. I made a variety of forms, some with alteration or texture, and stamped designs on the vessel walls. The silent auction ended with a grand total of $767 raised for United Way Charities. The winners of the auctions have the choice of four of my favorite glaze combinations and will receive the finished work in about a month. The live demonstration of pottery made on the wheel was very successful and enjoyed by both the potter and the crowd. I work in Street Transportation Department as an Architect for Vertical Project Management Section. My coworkers were suggesting that my day job is just something to keep me busy between making pots or taking pictures...they may be right!
Tom Coleman and Geil Kilns:
I recently attended a workshop in Huntington Beach California by Tom Coleman and Geil Kilns for Leopard Spot Shino. I can sum up this workshop in three words: Energy and Enthusiasm. This workshop was billed as achieving Leopard spots with Shino Glazes, but it went way beyond a simple glaze workshop. Tom Coleman and Paul Geil are like two accomplished musicians riffing off one another. Tom the consummate artist creates memorable forms matched with knowledge of glazing that is off the chart. Paul has created a line of kilns he relentlessly refines, fires, and seeks to understand. The workshop was located at Geil's Huntington Beach factory and the group attending was very diverse. We had local attendees, others from as far away as Gloucester MA, people new to ceramics, people who were buying kilns to establish new businesses, seasoned veterans, high school ceramics instructors fighting to get better facilities and equipment, a few die hards that are on their 5th or 6th workshop, and of course yours truly.
The workshop opened with Tom and Paul explaining their history with the Leopard spot Shino, the key role played by the Geil Kiln, and the evolution of the glaze precipitated by subtle changes in the glaze materials. We glazed our bisque ware we and loaded the kiln. We learned about methods of stacking the work to promote the effects we were seeking and how to maximize the benefits of the Geil downdraft kiln. The Geil kiln used was a fiber lined model. Paul discussed the operation of the kiln, our firing schedule and showcased his most versatility controlled kiln. Paul fired this kiln in manual mode to replicate the level of control that the majority of the attendees had at their home studios. Paul's energy and enthusiasm for kiln design and operation was infectious. After the kiln was started, Tom demonstrated techniques in throwing with his Coleman Porcelain and a new porcelain that will be on the market in a few short months. The new clay body was developed to aid Elaine Coleman's process of carving work. Tom also commented that it made fantastic slip, and demonstrated his slip decoration techniques. Tom's demo included his trimming techniques and now even I am energized and enthused about trimming. And then there were the stories. Tom had anecdotes about the many prominent potters he's been acquainted with over the years including a great impression of Robin Hopper's Aussie accent. Tom talks and works at the same time and the topics are wide ranging from his early days in pottery to his current efforts. He could probably sell out a workshop just sitting around telling stories. So the magic hour came to open the kiln and see the results of our efforts. There were some dramatic successes and some failures. The great thing was that we were able to discuss the results of the load and it offered me some firsthand understanding of some types of glaze defects and the causes. The firing was successful and the leopard spots abounded. Overall I was very satisfied with this workshop and I'd recommend a Coleman or Geil workshop on any topic. Tom and Paul are both very personable and answered all the questions with which we pelted them. Tom had a great supporting cast of potters that assisted the group in many ways. The facility was great and my fellow attendees were very interesting including the Gloucester Girls and my carpool buddy Sigrid from San Francisco. Most importantly of all, I left the workshop energized and enthused, exactly as it should be! |
Koi Dreams of Flying : Work of the Month
Just when you think that ceramics has a stranglehold on my creative attention...
Photography demonstrates it still has something to prove to me. This all started because a good friend from my University days commissioned an image for her Father on Father's Day. The image she selected is a personal favorite of mine from a place called Buckskin Gulch in the Utah-Arizona border area. I was formatting the image for printing and started having some fun by radically changing the brightness, gamma and contrast settings on the image and getting some trippy results. When I print black and white images in a wet darkroom, I always love to throw on the #5 filter to punch up the contrast on images for more visual impact. This process has a similar effect. So I got off into the weeds searching through all the images of the sandstone slot canyon finding ones that would give similar results, and I found enough to create a new series of really interesting abstracted photographs. So what does this have to do with Koi fish? Nothing actually, but at the same time I was off in the weeds, I noticed that my smart phone picture storage was full and I needed to clear out some photos. One large batch of photos was from the Huntington Library and Gardens in Pasadena California. I went there specifically to visit their world class Japanese Garden. It did not disappoint and I took lots of pictures. So I pull all of these images off my device and naturally can't help but to crop one or two for use on my facebook page. One thing led to another and I am applying the same technique to these images and discover that the reflections of the surroundings took on an otherworldly quality when made negative and contrast and brightness manipulated. The end result is a Japanese Woodblockesque Image. The images of the slot canyon are very abstract and wonderful in their own right, but these images from the Garden are surreal in a Maxwell Parrish meets Hokusai way. The way the creative thread makes its' way from something as simple as printing an image through one intermediate project to another is what I love about being creative. It is like free association or stream of consciousness art. I love to go where the creativity leads me. The image I have selected for the work of the month is my personal favorite of the group I have made so far. The detailed reflections of the adjacent trees upside down to the viewer is balanced by the grass framing the bottom of the image. The colors lend to the other worldly quality of the image. Finally, the Koi, gracefully hangs in each image. If Koi dream, of what would they dream? Flying through the surreal world of the image, Nishikigoi may dream only of the world above the surface.
Stephen Bunyard Artist featured at Tri-Arc
Currently my work is on display at Tri-Arc, a local Architectural Firm. I was guest artist for First Friday in May and enjoyed a good crowd, seeing many people I did not know I had in Common with Tri-Arc. My work will be there for display during business hours through July 2014. Tri-Arc is located at 99 E. Virginia here in Phoenix Arizona.
Currently my work is on display at Tri-Arc, a local Architectural Firm. I was guest artist for First Friday in May and enjoyed a good crowd, seeing many people I did not know I had in Common with Tri-Arc. My work will be there for display during business hours through July 2014. Tri-Arc is located at 99 E. Virginia here in Phoenix Arizona.
Stephen Bunyard is June Featured Artist
for Arizona Art Alliance.
I was honored to be named AAA's Artist of the month. See their newsletter at the following link:
http://www.azartalliance.com/newsletters/June-2014%20Newsletter.pdf
for Arizona Art Alliance.
I was honored to be named AAA's Artist of the month. See their newsletter at the following link:
http://www.azartalliance.com/newsletters/June-2014%20Newsletter.pdf
Work of the Month
Porcelain Forms glazed in Leopard Spot Shino
Leopard Spot Shino
Work of the Month this month is the result of the workshop I attended in January at the Geil Kiln Factory. If you look in the Ceramics tab of my website, I written a brief review of the workshop. I had a great time. There was a bit more of extra drama for me personally because the bottle on the above left was the piece that was visible via the top peephole. So as we were checking on various stages of the firing we were judging the load by my piece. First, the Soda Ash was bubbling out too fast and we had to drop the kiln temperature. The spots won't form if the Soda melts too soon...the alternative was the dreaded green vomit glaze if we did not get it right. The whole time on the way up to Cone 10... looks good... looks like it might go green... maybe there is a chance it come out ok... how do you really feel about green glazes... ultimately the whole group were joining in... a bunch of prospective parents waiting for the kiln to cool and reveal the wondrous result of the firing. Ultimately, my spots were about average, but some of my new friends like Marty Morgan of Gloucester MA (one of the famous Gloucester Girls* I fell in with during the workshop) had spectacular results. The carbon trapping on these pieces is very good and I am pleased with the results. But these pieces represent something more to me... they represent the joy of meeting with fellow artists, learning new techniques, forming new friendships, and growing in an art form that I love very much.
*Gloucester Girls: A name I just made up for them because that's just what I do! Since there were Three of them, I felt they needed a collective name. Their true identities are Marty Morgan, Nina Goodick, and Jenny Rangan.
Check out Marty's Website at http://www.martymorganpots.com/
All three can be found at
http://capeannceramicsfestival.com/
And all can be found on Facebook if you care to look!
Work of the Month
The Galaxy Platter
This is an oldie, but a goodie. It was my first work to really get a lot of attention in ceramics shows. The Galaxy part of the name comes from the glaze combination I used on this platter. It reminded me of the images of deep space captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. The three glazes are Black Pearl as a base, Pete's Cranberry Red at the center and on the "spiral wings", and finally Hunter Green on the rim. These glazes were spray applied. I angled the applicator when I sprayed the Hunter Green to take advantage of the texture on the rim from "chatter" created during the throwing process. This platter is made from Laguna Clay "B Mix" reduction fired to Cone 10. It is approximately 18" in diameter. It is among my personal favorites and I have never offered this piece for sale. This piece was recently in the Laveen Festival of Fine Arts and took second place in the Ceramics Division.
This is a "knock down" platter, a process learned from Don Ridley (currently head of the Phoenix Center for the Arts Ceramics Program). It involves throwing a tall cylinder and then opening it wide with a long throwing stick other implement. I will be demonstrating this technique during the 2014 CRC Studio Tour on February 22 and 23rd at The Treehouse Studio. Watch my coming events page for more details on the Studio Tour.
The Galaxy Platter
This is an oldie, but a goodie. It was my first work to really get a lot of attention in ceramics shows. The Galaxy part of the name comes from the glaze combination I used on this platter. It reminded me of the images of deep space captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. The three glazes are Black Pearl as a base, Pete's Cranberry Red at the center and on the "spiral wings", and finally Hunter Green on the rim. These glazes were spray applied. I angled the applicator when I sprayed the Hunter Green to take advantage of the texture on the rim from "chatter" created during the throwing process. This platter is made from Laguna Clay "B Mix" reduction fired to Cone 10. It is approximately 18" in diameter. It is among my personal favorites and I have never offered this piece for sale. This piece was recently in the Laveen Festival of Fine Arts and took second place in the Ceramics Division.
This is a "knock down" platter, a process learned from Don Ridley (currently head of the Phoenix Center for the Arts Ceramics Program). It involves throwing a tall cylinder and then opening it wide with a long throwing stick other implement. I will be demonstrating this technique during the 2014 CRC Studio Tour on February 22 and 23rd at The Treehouse Studio. Watch my coming events page for more details on the Studio Tour.