Animal House Pottery has cooked up something for us to enjoy...

If you know anything about my work, then you know, I love combining mediums. Sure, wood is my first love. 

But I've been working with clay since the early 90s, when I experimented with tile making, to incorporate it into the furnuiture that I build.  I still have a ceramic studio, and one of my current projects us making tile for the backsplash in my kitchen. (Add that to my list!)

So when I found out that Animal House Pottery was going to be exhibiting some of the students ceramic work, I headed down to City Hall to see the show.

There's no doubt City Hall is impressive. It’s easy to park, there’s a deck right across the street. 

As you walk up to the building, you see larger than life sculptures of Oscar and Carolyn Goodman, our former mayors. Say what you want about them, but I think they accomplished a lot during their reign.

Security in the lobby is pretty tight, but as you walk in the doors, you can see the show displayed in the lobby. Once I told the security guard I was attending the show, she gave me a voucher for free parking, and I stepped through the metal detector to see the work.

I know… a metal detector! It's hard to believe we've gotten to this point, but considering not too long ago, we had a mass murder here, where 100 people died... it (sadly) makes sense.

The ceramic show wasn't extremely big – by my count - there were only 14 pieces. But there were quite a few that I absolutely adored. 

Hopefully, I am attributing the artwork to the correct artist - my iPhone was acting up, after a new update, so many of the photos that I took were out of sequence. (Thanks, Apple!)

A piece that I absolutely loved was made by Nicholas Denson, a figurative abstract sculpture that had me staring at it for quite a while. 

I took several photos, but really couldn't capture the essence of this piece. But it was stunning.

Owner of the pottery – Anthony – had (I think) one of the most impressive pieces. It was a large vessel, much larger than anything else in the show. 

If you've ever thrown clay on the wheel, you know how difficult it is to accomplish something this big. That in itself was very impressive. But Anthony's piece was lovely in its own right –the shape, the markings, the texture - everything about it was gorgeous.

I very much enjoyed the details in Marianna Romero Martinez' piece - Resilient Nature. 

She combined a wooden plaque with a ceramic sculpture of a heart - embellished with flowers and color. I later learned she's been working on a whole series of similar pieces - imagine how interesting it would be to see an exhibition of all of them togeher!

JuliaEstelle’s “Margiela” was another one of those that had me thinking about it as I drove home. A single large scale tentacle of (I'm assuming) an octopus was rich in detail, and deep in surface decoration and color. 

Again – hard to take photos of pieces like these, but her work was great.

Another piece I very much enjoyed was Robert Hoier’s constant pots – a saggar fired plant vessel. 

To be honest, when I first looked at it, it didn't seem like anything special. But I found myself returning to the pedestal where it was displayed, viewing it from all angles. 

The color and texture of it was magnificent.

My favorite? Cathy Calabio’s Jupiter Vessel(s) were the ones that I'm most enjoyed. 

They were sculptural in ways that challenged you to look at them from every angle possible. The glaze on these are right up my alley, and they were simply (technically) outstanding. 

 I spent a good long time examining them from near and far. 

Bravo Cathy! 

There were several whimsical pieces, including this one by Mariana Romero Martinez, and this trio of ducks by Ashley Hughes. They were clever and fun and I enjoyed their playfulness.

As I've gotten older, I've learned to appreciate whimsy in artwork. With practice, anyone can make technically good pieces. But combine that with some thought and incorporate it into the work, and it takes to piece to a whole new level. 

 Finally - I really liked the texture and luster of this vessel, and I'm guessing that it was raku-fired. 

You don't see that spectrum of color on reduction or oxidation fired pieces. But honestly - raku is a crap shoot.  Sometimes you'll get amazing colors, but often, you'll get sooty, damaged work. Raku is a whole different ballgame, so this piece is a victory.

Again - if I mis-labeled any of these photos, attributing the work to the wrong artist - I apologize. Apple really needs to get their act together with its phone updates.

The show ends in late July, and I highly recommend stopping and seeing this interesting collection! (Don't forget to ask for a voucher for parking!)