Archive for January, 2009

More Fanciful Teapots

Rebecca Mazur (aka Zimmerman), Untitled Teapot, 2001, 9″h x 7″w x 7″d
I asked Rebecca how she came by the powerful graphics in her work.  When she told me that she had taught elementary school art for ten years, that explained a good deal about the allure of her bold colors and the humor inherent in [...]

Move Over Nutcracker

Rebecca Mazur (aka Zimmerman), Sandbag Teapot, 1998, 9″h x 8″w x 5″d
Has there lived a child in the last fifty years who hasn’t found pleasure singing and acting out the lyrics to “I’m a little teapot, short and stout/ Here is my handle, here is my spout”? Maybe that explains why we find artists of [...]

DIOS

Jody Bishel, Dios 1999, 8″ high
In the late 1990’s Jody Bishel created a series of vessels based on botanical imagery.  Jody recently sent me this image of her favorite vessel. She called this piece DIOS after watching the Japanese anime series Shojo Kakume Utena.
Jody explained her title this way:
“The character of Dios was the ideal [...]

Before NINE

Ford/Forlano, Pebble Galaxy, 2002
wall piece with removable pin, diameter 13″
bronze, sterling, silver, glass, coral, shell, magnets
The cover of Metalsmith’s Winter 2003 Issue shows a detail of Ford/Forlano’s piece, Pebble Gallery.  That work, which was a precursor to the NINE series, had already incorporated the concept of a removable pin hidden within a wall sculpture.  Like [...]

New Year Update

This week we celebrated the first anniversary for Polymer Art Archive and I’ve been thinking about what we might call the “most pressing needs” for a New Year’s update to this website. Number one on my list for 2009 was a Bibliography page, recommendations of specific books that may be of interest to committed readers. [...]