1329 Pine Street

Here is a door on Pine Street that we have walked by many times going to the lot where our van is parked near UARTS. One day I saw a heavily tattooed, rather diminutive woman standing on the porch step pushing the door bell. As I walked closer I heard a rather loud BUZZZZZ from inside and she walked in. As I passed the door I looked into the window and saw what appeared to be a deep cavern with faint, yellow light bouncing off a thousand shiny facets. I continued to walk about 10 paces and stopped. I could not pass this up.

I went back and pushed the door bell until I was buzzed in and opened the door.

This is what I saw!

I know I was speechless, too! And this is only a fraction the of dozens and dozens and dozens of cases holding all kinds of jewellry and bronzes everywhere.

If you're ever in Philly...........

Horsing around in NYC

Beth has a friend, Prentice, who is in the NYC production of War Horse. Through his connections, we were able to take a day trip to NYC to see the show, which was INCREDIBLE! The show was mind-blowing the entire time and to top it all off, Prentice was the head of War Horse! Here is Beth with Prentice after the show. Prentice was extraordinarily nice and I am so thankful to him for securing a few tickets for us.

The signage outside Lincoln Center for War Horse.
Here is the giant puppet that is the main character, Joey, in the production of War Horse. There were 3 people operating the puppet and they all worked in concert to create a completely convincing illusion of a horse. Spectacular. Joey is the same size as a real horse and moves with the same nuance and sensitivity of a real horse.
Group photo after the show.
Ahhhh, how sweet. Beth and Dan. What a wonderful day.

Odds n' ends

This posting is a melange of photos I've taken the past two months. Some are images of things that struck my fancy and others are a few of the MANY great times I've had here at the International Turning Exchange residency.

Below is a photo of a small foyer of a building near 13th and Walnut. I am love with this wallpaper and couldn't resist photographing it and sharing with you all. Isn't it just fabulous?!?!

The photo below is the view we have when we look outside the windows from the turning studio at the University of the Arts. We've truly enjoyed working there. The studios are well equipped and Bobby and Tara are AWESOME! Bobby and Tara both work for U of A as studio coordinators and have been a great help and a real treat to work with. I will miss them both.
The photo below was taken on one of the two long bike rides that Beth and I took along the Schuykill River. I didn't bring a bike to Philly but Beth did and Dan generously let us borrow his bike for these rides, which were both great fun!
As you see in the photo below, we fell victim to an awful studio flood one Saturday evening. Thankfully, we were all there when it happened and worked quickly to save our artwork and help cover all of the studio equipment and machinery. It could have been a disaster!
Lastly, this photo is of Jen Zwilling, our resident scholar. Not only is she smart but she can also turn the heck out of some wood. Check out that technique; bevel all the way!!!

Familiar faces

This photo was taken at the end of the day during our open house on July 16. Behind Beth are two of our new friends that we met at Echo Lake when we first arrived. I am thankful to them all, especially Joe Seltzer, for inviting us to participate in such a rewarding event and for all of his correspondence to help facilitate our participation.

Open your eyes, yo!

The I.T.E. residency program is SOOO much more than holing oneself up in the studio making things. Instead, it's about being exposed to new things, places and people. We've been very fortunate to have been exposed to all of these things. These photos were taken at the many museums I've visited during this residency.

The photo below was taken at the National Gallery in DC. The sculptures are by Brancusi. Beautiful and elegant.

This photo was taken at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. Beth and I took the Megabus to NYC one day to go museum hopping. We went to the MOMA and the Museum of Art and Design. What a great day it was. (Beth is the bee's knees.) The sculpture is by Cy Twombly, who is my favorite artist. I LOVE his paintings.
This photo was taken at Winterthur during our amazing tour of the Dominy shop. Mr. Charles Hummel, Curator Emeritas, spent 6 generous hours with us sharing all sorts of facts and stories about Winterthur and their collection. Winterthur blew me away. It is literally an encyclopedia of decorative arts in "the flesh". Oh my god. Insane. This object is used on the spring pole lathe of the Dominy family. I took the photo because I think it's beautiful.
Here is Beth, Dan and Noah all looking heroic as they stand before the beautiful facade of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. We had a couple of visits to the PMA, where we toured the furniture conservation area, the storage vaults of the craft collection and also toured Mt. Pleasant. Each experience was very informative, interesting and enriching. Thank you: Chris Storb, Elisabeth Agro and Jen Zwilling.
One of our most recent visits was to Wharton Esherick studio/home in Paoli, PA. Here is a photo of his home, which was truly a superior work of art. Every last detail and thingamajig was made by Esherick himself. Thank you to Paul Eisenhauer for a most information and enjoyable tour.
So, as you see, we have had wonderful opportunities to see, touch, experience so many amazing works of art and collections. We have met amazing people and have reaped the rewards of their generosity and sharing nature. Our studio work is much more rich and informed by having open eyes and minds to see the history, possibility, lineage, promise, inspiration... that each of these visits presents us. We're pretty darned lucky, if you ask me.

Expanding waistlines

OK, so if Albert really wants the I.T.E. experience to be about a cultural exchange and food=culture, then I am definitely chock full of culture at this point. I'm very good at eating; I've had LOTS of practice at it. I was pretty skilled before arriving here but, by now, my eating skills are crazy mad razor sharp. Take a look below at all of the exercises in cultural exchange taking place.

Here is Beth experiencing a taste of Latin America in the form of flan. MMMM, creamy.

Here I am admiring a little Spanish cultural exchange in the form of Serrano ham. Mmm, salty. Who ever saw a meat mosaic so beautiful!?!?
Now, onto France. Can you say Monte Cristo..... Mmm, sweet and salty and, oh so, decadent.
Let's mover further East, shall we?!?! Here is Beth, Dan and Jessica enjoying a bowl of Chinese hand drawn noodles. Not only are they getting cultured, they are also honing their hand eye coordination with those chopsticks; wet noodles are slippery. Mmmm, delicious.
Lastly, we've returned to Italy. This time, we're all enjoying a piece of pie via Italy. What a big happy (and well fed) I.T.E. family we are!!!! Good eats!

In early July we visited Judith Schaechter in her studio. An amazing stained glass artist, she is one of four artists that are in "History in the Making: Renwick Craft Invitational" at the Renwick in Washington, DC until July 31st, a outstanding show.

Here's the whole group, including from left to right: Carl, Jennifer, the irrepressible yet laid back Harry (in Mom's arms), Michael, Dan, Beth, Kim, and Noah. All attentive and happy.

The ram has horns

Thanks to Beth Ireland I found the best method for creating the ram horns

In the works

I've been working on a piece for awhile now. The piece is inspired by a quick doodle I did a few years ago but never had the opportunity to see it into fruition. Thankfully, this residency has allowed me the time, space and energy to finally realize the drawing into an actual object, which is almost complete. Alongside working on the piece, it has inspired a few other pieces all working with a similar theme: a house. I won't go into the details about what it all means but I am enjoying where it's been going. Because I love pencil drawn lines, I chose to create a portion of the sculpture from heavy gauge wire so that it mimics a drawn line but in three dimensions instead of only two. Here is the wire I bought. Funny story: the wire place (Wirewicks) is near the Polish section of Philadelphia. Beth and I discovered this fact on our drive to Wirewicks. Of course, I am never one to pass up a new eating adventure so Beth and I stopped and had a tasty Polish meal at the New Wave Cafe on Allegheny on our drive back to the studio. The meal was tasty and service was delightful.

The primary wooden portion of the object is made of Poplar. Below is the stack of raw lumber that we ordered and have been using. This pile contains both Poplar and Basswood.
Here is the beginning of the wire cage/net form, which will be suspended from beneath a tall house form. I've enjoyed working with the wire and I think it will be making repeat appearances in post-I.T.E. work as well. Those are small houses that are resting in the bottom of the net.
This is a small model I made of the piece when I was trying to figure out the connection of the wire basket to the house. It is about 6"-8" tall and looks a lot like a whisk, which was unintentional.
This is the shelf (upside down), on which the house will sit and from which the wire net will hang. There are 4 high strength magnets in the bottom of the round Mahogany disk in the foreground. It will hold onto the large fender washer, which is screwed into the underside of the shelf. I even cut a dovetail for the shelf. I must admit, I haven't cut a dovetail in awhile so my skills are a bit rusty but it turned out OK although it will, ultimately, be hidden by the wall on which its hung.
As for the finished piece: you'll have to come to see our show to investigate the final results. Our show will open on Friday August 5 at the Arts Alliance in Rittenhouse Square in the heart of Philadelphia. I'll look forward to seeing you there.

Pelt for Daniel Hoffman's Ram sculpture

Poplar shavings are dyed and sewn onto fabric to create this pelt

Daniel Hoffman's Ram sculture in progress

The legs for the Ram Dan Hoffman is making

Open Studio - July 16th, 2011

Our Open Studio Day was quite a success.  It was well attended and each ITE'er put on a great demo for our guests.  Here's Kim turning a bowl with Ambrosia Maple from the Fairmount Park wood dump.

She did a great job explaining the process to the onlookers and she drew quite a crowd!

Albert presiding with a smile, as usual!

  

Michael explained his steam bending process.

 

Beth, on the importance of good sharpening skills.

 

Noah with his beautiful 4x5 camera.

 

 Carl with his Angel Wings in the foregound explained the finish on his sinks to visitors. 

 

Dan discussed his use of shavings with his pelt in the foreground and his baroque wall hanging in the background.

 

My small beginnings as a wood turner.  Several people have been supportive of my efforts, especially Beth, who has a great system for teaching, encouraging and a contagious positive excitement.

 Noah's portraits so far.

 Kim and Don Miller, furniture maker and UArts professor, chatting in the machine room.

 

View from the lathe I've been using.  Not too shabby.

 

I couldn't resist including a picture with Harry.  He loved to look at all the people and tools and hear all the sounds of the day.