So weird, so fantastic! This are the surreal, stacked ceramics of California based artist Sue DeWulf. This was the email she sent me and I thought it was a perfect description of the what and why behind her work:

“My ceramics involve casting toys from childhood, searching for vintage molds and hours of assemblage great them together. People ask me what I am thinking of them when I create the bottles, jars or sculptures. Often my creations come from my childhood memories. I would spent hours stacking and parading my toys and animals. I love to juxtapose and balance all the different shapes. (One of my favorite memories is the back page of the Highlights magazine!)”

Hours of stacking toys … sounds like a perfect day to me! Happy Monday.

Kate Bingaman-Burt is back on the podcast! Kate is a Portland based artist, illustrator, professor, entrepreneur, and now – thanks to a little fella named Hank – she’s also a mom. So, how does she do allllll of those things I just listed? That’s what we’re going to talk about in our segment titled “Kate Bingaman-Burt had a baby, and yes, she’s still an artist!”. I had a baby too, granted, that was thirteen years ago, but I still remember those early days like it was yesterday. I remember the fog, not showering for days, and feeling like I might not ever make art again. We’re talking rules, daily practice and that, YES, it’s absolutely possible to be a mother AND an artist. True story. You can listen right up there under Kate ‘n Hank, or subscribe on iTunes.

First up, what Kate’s daily “Obsessive Consumption” drawings used to feature:

Ahhhhh, I love it all. I also love that the items she’s buying / documenting NOW, are slightly different:

Haha! YES! Okay, she might not be keeping a traditional “Baby’s Firsts” book, but she’s definitely capturing everything in a super fabulous Kate Bingaman-Burt kind ‘o way! Also, that jean jacket is ridiculously cute. She posts these on Instagram now, so you can follow along over there.

Kate talked about how important having a daily drawing practice is to her, even if it’s only for 15 minutes a day. For years she has made time for this creative outlet… even one day after giving birth. Here are the hospital drawings she mentioned:

So, so special! What a way to capture Hank’s arrival into the world, and a wonderful way to keep a new mom calm (and feeling like herself in a time when it’s really easy to completely forget who you are. Yes, I’m speaking from experience!)

Next… ceramics!? Yep. Seriously, she is never not trying new stuff. Here’s what she’s been doing over in her mom’s kiln:

Oh, thank goodness… somewhere to keep my fingernails!

So, having a full teaching schedule, a daily art practice, and a baby aren’t quite enough for Kate. Enter her fantastic shop / Risograph print workshop studio, Outlet PDX:

Ooooh, I want to go to there. And look, it’s sweet little Hank giving Barbara a hug! Maybe that’ll keep her going just a little bit longer. Speaking of Barbara, she has a message about perfectionism for all of us:

Amen, Barbara, amen.

And finally, the project for this week. This was the unblocking project Kate gave me as part of her interview in my very first book, Creative Block:

Do it… and embrace every little imperfection. Barbara would want that. Thank you so much to Kate for taking time out of her very busy life to do this with me; thanks to both of this week’s fantastic sponsors – Thrive {sign up for their Mastermind group!} and Carve Out Time for Art {preorder their book!}; big mama love thanks to my very special guest at the end of the episode; and as always, huge thanks to you for listening. I’ll be back again next weekend with a new episode. ~ Danielle

Uh oh – you better go to this show because you don’t wanna upset that lil lady, do you?

Last year, Jen Tough of Jen Tough Gallery asked me to jury a show that she had titled, The Ladies Room. I said, YES!!! The Ladies Room is happening in San Francisco’s Dogpatch {1599 Tennessee St} THIS WEEKEND, and features the work of 18 female artists from around the world. The above work is just a teeny, tiny snippet of what you’ll see there, AND almost all {if not all?} of the artists will be on site wo-manning their booths so you can actually talk to them about their work, process, hopes and dreams, etc. The opening reception is on Friday, Oct 25 from 6-9pm, or stop by on Saturday, Oct 26 {11am-8pm} and Sunday, Oct 27 {11am-6pm}.

Go. Buy LOTS of art. Give the artists a high five from me. {Artists shown above in this order: Amy Stewart, Jill Stoll, Sasinun Kladpetch, Adriana Villagran, Margharita Paoletti, Monique Martin, Mary Souza, and Laura Johnston.}

Broken and, oh, so beautiful! These pieces are the work of Dutch artist Bouke de Vries. I’m going to let this little snippet from his site do the talking:

… Using his skills as a restorer (c.f. Ron Mueck’s model-maker skills), his ‘exploded’ artworks reclaim broken pots after their accidental trauma. He has called it ‘the beauty of destruction’. Instead of reconstructing them, he deconstructs them. Instead of hiding the evidence of this most dramatic episode in the life of a ceramic object, he emphasizes their new status, instilling new virtues, new values, and moving their stories forward.

Sigh. Even that was beautiful.

Ahhhhh, I absolutely love the work of Oakland based artist Anna Valdez. Clearly, it’s gorgeous online, but in person? Oh my word… ridiculously vibrant, detailed, and filled with stories. If you happen to be in New York, Anna’s latest show, titled NATURAL CURIOSITY, will be opening this Saturday October 5th at Hashimoto Contemporary Here’s a part of the gallery’s description:

“The works function both as still life and self portrait, offering vantage into Valdez’s daily practice and the objects which inform it. Venus Painting, oversized and brilliantly pink, features two of the artist’s plants against a wall covered in a swirling floral design. Framed by the houseplants is a smaller, more serene still life painting, depicting a bust of Venus in cool blue tones. This self-referential painting-within-a-painting nods at the time honored tradition of oil painters breaking the fourth wall while subtly hinting at a more modern practice of image-viewing and media consumption.

The careful consideration of each detail––each hand-mixed oil paint, every carefully composed vignette––invites the viewer into the artist’s studio and practice of close observation, begging the question: when do we allow ourselves to follow our own curiosity?”

Anna will be at the gallery for a book signing of her upcoming monograph {also titled “Natural Curiosity”}, and an artist talk in conversation with curators Chad Alligood and Nina Mdivani from 5-6pm, followed by the opening reception from 6-8pm. The show runs from October 5th through October 26th, 2019.

Gah! So fantastical, and so weird! This is the work of New Jersey based artist Shamona Stokes. I’m going to let her describe it because Shannon’s words are just as dreamy as her sculptures:

“My work is inspired by the imaginary worlds of the liminal state. These are the soft spaces before waking up from a long dream or resting within a deep meditation. In these states things can be askew, colors seem brighter, imaginary friends may say hello. Using ceramics as my primary medium, I create iconic figures: nature spirits, muses, and shadow-things who might live within these realms.”

Sigh. Beautiful. Shamona has a show in Fort Worth, Texas right this very second. “Horn of Plenty” can be seen at Fort Worth Community Arts Center until September 26, 2019.

Gasp! This is the strange and stunning work of American sculptor Christina Bothwell. She studied painting at art school, but ultimately found herself drawn to glass and clay… so she taught herself how to do it. So inspiring! Here is part of her artist statement:

“Since I was very young, I have been fascinated with the concept of the Soul… the idea that the physical body represents only a small part of our beingness. I am always interested in trying to express the that we are more than just our bodies, and my ongoing spiritual interests and pursuits have run parallel to the narrative in my pieces … I am drawn to the processes of birth, death, and renewal. What lies below the surface fascinates me and I try to capture the qualities of the “unseen” that express the sense of wonder that I feel in my daily existence. I am attracted to glass because it can do everything that other sculptural media can; in addition, it offers an inner space and transmits light.”

It certainly does! And speaking of renewal, almost exactly one year ago, Christina’s studio burned to the ground. She lost everything… not only all of her equipment and supplies, but a huge amount of the work she’d created over the past twenty years. Devastating. That said, I’m happy to report that she and her husband Robert D. Bender (also a fabulous glass artist who she often collaborates with), have picked up the pieces and are forging ahead. Again, so inspiring. ps. Don’t be distracted by sweet Gosle in the video… she’s just there to give feedback if Christina needs it.

Okay, there is nothing I don’t love about the stoneware sculpture work of Brooklyn based artist Genesis Belanger. Strange body parts, and everyday objects displayed in very unordinary ways. Honestly, she had me at hotdog-filled shoe on a cigarette stool. Happy Monday.

{Found via ART SHE SAYS}

These are not your older sister’s hand-me-downs, but they aren’t new. This ongoing series, titled “Second Hand”,  is the work of Ukrainian artist Zhanna Kadyrova. Here is the description from her site:

“… the concept of ‘second hand’, we are talking about buildings that have passed from one owner to another. Objects that formally resemble clothing are lined with original tiles from the walls of a building or enterprise. Tiled ornaments transferred identical to their placement on the walls.”

Beautiful! psst… the top most image (taken by Paolo Ferrarini for Cool Hunting), made with repurposed tiles from a Venetian hotel, is currently showing at the Venice Biennale in the Central Pavilion until November 2019.

Los Angeles based artists/designers Nikolai and Simon Haas are twins, known as The Haas Brothers. They create everything from four-legged furry furniture to oversized golden mushrooms… but it’s their alien-like ceramic pieces that have stolen my heart.

“The Haas Brothers unapologetically embrace craft, with a keen attention to materiality that is highly emphasized in the realm of design. The ceramic vases are exquisitely crafted through a process that mimics both natural accretion and 3D printing, by brushing slip over the form, layer by layer, until the vessel appears to grow clay tentacles.” – The Bass Museum, 2019

Clay tentacles … ah yes, the heart wants what the heart wants.