Launching Pad: ready to fire!

Last January I embarked on a wild journey, delving into worlds I've never seen and certain subjects I never thought I'd study. Come December, my Arts Management (read: business and nonprofit management for the arts) Masters Program at George Mason University will come to an end and I will officially be a master. The practicality of this program has spurred in me a great sense of responsibility with the material I've learned. This is a launching pad. This is gathering with the intent to produce.

This semester, my last one, I am a management intern at Art at the Center, a small community art studio. I have the privilege of working with the founder and director, Kathryn Coneway, who built this wonderful community space. She wants to grow, offer adult classes, tweak her marketing, and build a stronger foundation. It is such a pleasure to really have something to offer and to see how my studies play out practically as I work.

Besides interning at this studio, I get to teach! I am teaching drawing to teens and adults. I taught K-8 art and art history for about 4 years but that was a few years back. I am excited to step back into that role and teach people how to see. Just like an instrument, drawing and seeing can be taught and must be practiced.

The biggest change of the semester is after graduation... At the end of December I am getting married! While that is a wild story of its own, it has implications that play out in a big way on my next steps. After the graduation and wedding in December I will move to the West Indies to join my beau as he conquers medical school on an island in the middle of the ocean.

WHAT?!

Thats right. Other than being in love and getting to spend my life with a kind and incredibly supportive guy, I am so excited for the artistic opportunities presented here. The island is small and wild and full of beautiful natural inspiration. Making artwork down there is definite. I've started to make connections with other makers down there and possibly galleries and a museum. We'll see what actually pans out. [If you know anyone on Dominica, message me!]

I am hoping that this means I will get the opportunity to be able to share, once again, the journey of an artist and making art much more accessible to you.

While making has been limited, I have had the chance to make a few things recently. Here are some of my recent pieces...

Old etching instructional book pages and a charcoal drawing of a cairn.

Some porcelain vases. 

A large commissioned piece made from the client's extra wedding invitations. Its a topographical map of where they got married! 

Details of that same piece. 

Another shot. 

A large commissioned piece for a wine wall. 

Porcelain tiles, wood base, and wire hanger. "Wine is sure proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy,"

A timeline for my fiancé's newsletter. The places a tools of the last few years of his life and the next steps. He filled this in with information. It looked so cool!

A Delightful Puzzle

Grad school started up again this week. The (mostly) lovely whirlwind of paper, words, people, and ideas are swirling once again. This semester is my most exciting yet. I am incredibly blessed to have a number of things that are coordinating like a puzzle coming together.

First Puzzle Piece: I am taking care of a little house while the owners are away. It is closer to school. It is closer to my internship. It is in the midst of a delightfully artsy and tight knit community. I can walk to a locally owned coffee shop and see incredible architecture each time I walk, drive, or run around the neighborhood. I have space for creating and thinking and sharing. 

A 1920's Bungalow

Second Puzzle Piece: I am so stoked to have gotten an internship at Red Dirt Studios. My program at school requires internships and this is beyond what I thought possible. Many of the internships are in offices for organizations and it just wasn't quite right. But get this. I am at a ceramic arts collaborative! What?! I will be learning their daily grind, how they sustain their practice, installation techniques, management of a space like that (under Margaret Boozer), and meeting loads of artists. On my first day we talked about community art issues, welded some large scale frames for plaster pieces, planed ceramic cheese boards, and went campaigning for getting artists involved in their local community. 

Margaret Boozer and Elle Brande

Third Puzzle Piece: I've always dreamt of starting some sort of studio space or retreat idea for artists. This semester I have a unique opportunity to start something of the sort with no venue cost. Two of my colleagues from my program jumped on board and we've got The Empty House Studio. I am doing it for credit at school and my professor who is overseeing the project is just perfect. She is challenging me and pushing me to get the most out of this temporary experience. I am taking a class called Gallery Management (actually with that same professor) which will give me an even better understanding of the nitty gritty behind a venture like this. 

Click the picture and go to the Mission and Vision tab. 

Fourth Puzzle Piece: My own creativity hasn't quit. Its a funny thing, this artistic impulse. It won't go away. And learning to train and hone and use it 'correctly' has proven quite a task. A number of people, all congregating currently, are the perfect sounding boards and collaborators. I've set goals for studio time, projects, and collaborations. I've missed this community around creation ... and I know that the lack of community cause me to burn out in the past. I will foster this and revel in it while I have it. 

www.sarahcoffin.blogspot.com

If you are on Facebook, you can follow along by "liking" The Empty House Studio community and Sarah Coffin Pottery. 

I am so excited to share the process with you all. 

Thanks for reading. 

Change your mindset. Be grateful for something each day. 

Use your hands.

"It is a tragedy of the first magnitude that millions of people have ceased to use their hands as hands. Nature has bestowed upon us this great gift which is our hands. If the craze for machinery methods continues, it is highly likely that a time will come when we shall be so incapacitated and weak that we shall begin to curse ourselves for having forgotten the use of the living machines given to us by God."


Mahathma Ghandi 

Nothingness is useful...

We throw clay to shape a pot,

But the utility of the clay pot is a function 
of the nothingness inside it.

- Tao Te Ching
(pot by me!)

Fall Show

www.jennifercoffin.com

http://www.jamsbymags.com

“He’s a Good Fellow, and ’t will all be well.”

LIX

“Listen again. One Evening at the Close

Of Ramazan, ere the better Moon arose,

In that old Potter’s Shop I stood alone

With the clay Population round in Rows.

LX

And, strange to tell, among that Earthen Lot

Some could articulate, while others not:

And suddenly one more impatient cried—

“Who *is* the Potter, pray, and who the Pot?”

LXI

Then said another—“Surely not in vain

“My Substance from the common Earth was ta’en,

“That He who subtly wrought me into Shape

“Should stamp me back to common Earth again.”

LXII

Another said—“Why, ne’er a peevish Boy,

“Would break the Bowl from which he drank in Joy;

“Shall He that *made* the Vessel in pure Love

“And Fancy, in an after Rage destroy!”

LXIII

None answer’d this; but after Silence spake

A Vessel of a more ungainly Make:

“They sneer at me for learning all awry;

“What! did the Hand then of the Potter shake?”

LXIV

Said one—“Folk of a surly Tapster tell

“And daub his Visage with the Smoke of Hell;

“They talk of some strict Testing of us—Pish!

“He’s a Good Fellow, and ’t will all be well.”

Omar Khayyam, tr. Edward Fitzgerald: “The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam” (1905)

found here

A Christmas Surprise

This afternoon, amid wrapping and last minute gift creations, there was a knock at the door. It was the postman. I wish that he would always knock and not just leave it in the box. I loved answering the door and watch him shuffle through packages and letters, handing me ours with a smile and "Merry Christmas!"

In that bundle there was a package for me, wrapped in a familiar brown paper with a familiar U-S-A written across the front. I got a package from Spain! 

Seth, my wonderful British potter, mentor, and friend, dashed off a letter and package for me just in time for Christmas! I can't believe its been two year since I've seen him, since I lived and studied in that little stone Masia on top of a mountain, next to a dry white stoned river bed. 

He wrote on thin beautiful paper with that handwriting I know and love, telling of studio cleanings and friendly visits. He found an old pot of mine that I left behind. I left many pots behind since they all had to fit in my suitcases. A little syrup pitcher was stuffed in the package, with crawling glaze and Seth-esque blue lettering. Suddenly I had memories of sitting on my motorcycle-like wheel seat, bent over with brush in hand and cobalt oxide stain glopped in an old bowl, carefully lettering within Seth's rules. 

Oh how I miss him and his studio and that house and that bumpy road and my mountain! Merry Christmas, Seth! Merry Christmas readers! 

Pictures from my time in Spain:

Exciting happenings from my time in Spain My Surroundings in Spain

The Pottery in Spain

Photos of Everything I've Made!

Please note:

I have reorganized and replaced photographs.You can now view all of my creations conveniently using the links on the right-hand column that is always present on the blog. Look under "Sarah Coffin Artwork Photo Albums." The ReStyle albums contain, in order, photos of the projects from start to finish... the original salvaged goods to the finished product.

I will alert you to any updates.

This is the best I can do until I have my own website! Thanks and enjoy!

As always, if you see anything you love, please don't hesitate to ask. Everything is for sale. If it hasn't been sold, it can be yours! Just email me at sjcoffin@gmail.com!

Happy December and dropping temperatures!
Sarah

Pointy Finger Print courtesy of YeeHaw.etsy.com. Print of the letterpress hand available for $25 plus shipping. 

Paintings and Pots... oh my!

I blogged about an idea last year to throw pots from paintings, recreating the ceramics found in so many paintings. The idea, marinating for some time now, inspires me to draw quite a bit. Here is a painting with a great pot. If only I had the time to throw. This would be a good one to begin... the grey and blue... I think I need a salt or soda kiln. Oh the possibilities!

Well, wasn't I mistaken! After some quality time with the afore mentioned Bernard Leach book I've realized that the drawings and verse and prose are all his own! What a prolific artist. No wonder they say he is "the greatest artist-potter-writer of our time" and "perhaps one of the greatest men of our time."

While I don't agree with his Baha'i beliefs, I think it fascinating to find someone who has beliefs beyond himself and is willing to expound on that and live by it. Believe something and live by it?! What a novel idea...

A New Book

I just found a new book by Bernard Leach (that famous potter I mention frequently). You can see the cover to the left. I wasn't quite sure what I was ordering when I presses "buy" online but the cover was enough to make me want it. Bernard Leach was very influenced by Eastern thought, both in his artwork and in his worldview. It is interesting to see how this played out in his philosophies and drawings as he brought them back and modified them to his western life style.

From what I can tell, the book is not his drawings but a collection of drawings that he either owned or enjoyed. The verse I am not sure about yet. Books are so wonderful. Full of mystery and promise. All you have to do is open the cover.

Here I go!

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I just uploaded a short video of the pump action trimming wheel that I used while in Spain.

Enjoy!

MET

At the MET: Contemplations on the Moonjar. Looks too gorgeous not to share! If you go, please tell me!

Silence is Golden

"Silence is golden..." I think that quote came about because those who work (making the "gold") all the time are never heard from! My silence has been the product of long hard days full of starched shirts, hot plates, aching feet, hungry people, and beautiful annual flowers coming in by the truck load. Spring has brought a different sort of rain this year and work is flooding my days, whether at my garden center or at my restaurant or in my studio.

Because my passion and focus (art/pottery) is not a clear cut job to apply for and work in solely, I find that I often forget that I do have a passion. What do I mean? Well, as I rush to the kitchen on my first rounds, dropping off dirty dishes, entering the order in the computer, and picking up another server's drink order, I know that serving is not my passion. I'd like to have one job, a job where I can be paid to do what I know, want to learn and am passionate about.

My best friend is a chef. She is enthusiastic and beginning to focus in a particular direction with her culinary talents. She just got a job at an incredible restaurant with the ideals she holds and the passion she exudes. Good food, exceptional food cannot be replaced by microwave boxed meals. Because real cooking, fresh cooking, is still somewhat practiced in homes across America, people can recognize a good meal. People seek out a good meal, share in it, are willing to pay for it, and enjoy it. They have experienced it once and want more, hence the typical longing for "mom's cooking" or a "fine home cooked meal." What they've experienced is real substance, prepared by human hands.

Unfortunately, artistry and craftsmanship of America is lost amongst the mass manufactured. While fresh home cooking has dwindled in the 15 second meal in a box (hopefully being revived by movements like "Slow Food" or Farm to Table"), art education is dwindling even more. And I don't just mean education in the formal sense. Education, especially in something like art and craft, can come from experiencing them.

Bernard Leach writes about this in "The Potter's Challenge". While he, of course, is speaking of pottery primarily, this can be applied to a much broader picture of art and craft - cooking, textiles, painting, photography, etc.

"One has to live with fine pots in order to appreciate their character, for they are intimate expressions of peoples and their cultures. Human virtues such as nobility, generosity, breadth, simplicity, sincerity, and charity -- virtues common to both man and pot -- are there to be discovered in shape, texture, color, and pattern."

It is in the familiarity with these hand made pieces, in knowing the maker, getting comfortable with the various aspects of the meal, of the picture, of the pot, that we really do learn.

[images: 'Cafe des Amie' sketch and 'Chef' sketch by Sarah Coffin]

Posts from a Spanish Diary: #8 Sketches

My time in Spain produced far fewer drawings than I imagined. I think I was a little overwhelmed by the already romantic, picturesque surroundings and intimidated by the rustic beauty of every scene. I did draw pots quite a bit and sketched here and there. I thought it might be fun to share a few of each plus some notes. Enjoy!

A mug by Seth Cardew and a pitcher by Michael Cardew. Drawn in the kitchen after using both for breakfast.


Seth's music room. Listening to Seth play piano, trumpet, or clarinet was one of my favorite aspects of my time there. He would play while I cooked dinner and I almost wanted to continuing cooking just to hear him play a little longer. He learned songs that were familiar to me and introduced me to some gorgeous pieces I didn't know.


Seth always looked so comfortable at the piano and sat at the grand piano with sculptures, pots, and books surrounding him. The side door was usually open, letting the warm, dry Spanish air swirl around the loose paper and music sheets.



Learning Seth's rules for lettering..


Dr. Vogel, Seth's sculpture professor, created this huge reclining nude. Seth proudly displayed it right next to his grand piano.


Wooden spoons in a Cardew pitcher.

Learning Seth's rules for bowls.

TONIGHT!

Are you free tonight?! The Kiln Club of Washington D.C. invited me to come speak! I will be presenting on Spain, Seth Cardew, and my experience during my three month stay. I am so thrilled to present and share some of the pottery wisdom I gleaned and some of the wonderful cultural experiences.

Lee Arts Center
5722 Lee Highway Arlington, VA 22207
7pm TONIGHT
March 17th, 2010

International pottery

A friend of mine is in the Peace Corps, living in Burkina Faso. A little bit ago she got the chance to go make pottery with a local potter there. The process is beautiful! Take a look: adventures à go-go

Love it, Carolyn!

A Potter's Plights?

There are plights with every job. Some are obvious: construction workers' backs, a waitress' irritating customers who send everything back or their feet, a computer programmer's wrists, or a plein-air painter's eyes (cataracts!). And some are not so obvious. I find it fascinating to understand those aspects of other people's jobs, the things that we wouldn't think to empathize with.

A potter, other than the usual "I'm an artist" plights, have some odd afflictions.

1. My middle finger, ring finger, and pinkie on my right hand are constantly scraping the wheel head. Because of that, my finger nails on those fingers are worn down on the right hand corners making for an odd feeling, odd looking set of nails. No fussing about broken nails here!

2. The muscle between my thumb and forefinger is awesome. Ok, really its just that I can flex it and its hard. Yes, rather like what I wish my biceps were, my thumb muscle IS. What IS that muscle called?!

3. Many older potters suffer from Silicosis, a disease from the silica in clay and glazes. They did not realize the dangers (or have OSHA regulations!) back in the day, and breathed in things that we mask well now (or should). Basically you suffocate slowly from the silica partials that attach to your lung walls. A famous potter, Warren Mackenzie, is suffering from this now.

4. Potters often have arthritis in their hands, wrists, or elbows.

5. I often have hands and nails stained from the materials with which I work and have to struggle to clean them or some how cover them for my serving job which does NOT allow for hands like that!

What are some of the interesting plights in YOUR job?!

[Lucie Rie's hands shown in picture above]

Extra, Extra!! Plates hot off the press...

Here they are, as promised! Recent lunch/side plates, fresh from the kiln. Black clay, black glaze, carved with my own interpretation of Norwegian designs, and done in wax resist to let the raw clay show through.

Plates

I have also been throwing plates. Of all forms, plates present the easiest looking shape with the hardest actual construction. Plates are difficult to get flat enough without a collapse, are difficult to dry, take up a lot of space, and cannot be stacked in the glaze firing. A graceful, well made plate, I think, is the sure sign of a seasoned, confident potter. It is a form that exhibits elegance only with practice. There is a crucial moment in a plate's creation that only an innate sense of the clay and the form can attain the subtle yet confident changes of direction.I made a number of small side plates and included carving around the band. That way, the food can sit in the middle with a beautiful hemming in of the contents. I've glazed these and we just opened the kiln last night so completed pictures are on their way!