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