Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Upcoming and Current Events

As always there are some great things going on at the Art Center. Open Show is still up for another week or so, go check it out. This year was tougher than ever and realistically the judge could have made 3 quality shows from the work submitted. This is your last chance to view this Open Show so come on down before it is gone.

Moving forward the next big event coming up is the 19th annual Gallery of Holiday Shops. This will be taking place in the gallery and at the Art Center on November 8th from 9-4. There will be over 30 different artists and artisans selling there wares as well as a bake sale. Proceeds will benefit both the artists and the Art Center. 

 

 Remember the Art Center is a non-profit and this is a great way to support the center and the artists. With the holiday season fast approaching this is also a great way to jump start some shopping and to buy handmade local goods from your local community. So come out, buy local, and buy small business!

After the Holiday Shops close the final installment of the Art of the Cretch will be going up in the gallery. The Art of the Crèche III showcases more than 50 nativity sets from many international artists. It is a fascinating group of nativities assembled by an avid local collector. Many of the crèche were purchased from the artists themselves or their local representatives during travels, so many of the stories about their acquisition are also interesting. If you have any out of town visitors coming in for the holidays, this is a great no cost bit of entertainment, although the Art Center will gladly accept donations if you feel so inclined.

Since I can't seem to go to the art center without seeing something cool and different, this is my something awesome for this month. These two large coil pots were created by Lejean Hardin and raku fired last week. Always something awesome to see at the Art Center. Love the shapes, texture, and colors on these pieces. 




If you see something cool going on at the art center snap a pic (with permission of course) and email it to Oak Ridge Art Center at OakRidgeArtCenter@comcast.net. Attention it "For the Blog" so it gets to me, and tell me what you saw. This goes for anybody including instructors, and depending on timing and amount of submissions I'd be glad to post them on a regular basis, because I know there are others seeing some really neat stuff that I miss.

Finally I'd like to point out an ongoing set of afternoon one day workshops that take place at the art center. Hugh Bailey has been teaching some awesome pottery workshops on Wednesday afternoons that more people should be aware of. Each one is a different theme such as dogs, farm animals, or angels. Hugh throws the basic shapes on his wheel before the class and then gives a demonstration on how to put together and manipulate the pieces to make the different creatures. You then get to make your own and the art center bisque fires it for you. At a later date there is a glaze day for all the workshops where you are able to glaze your final pieces and the art center will fire them for you free of charge. These workshops are very affordable, only $30 for members and slightly higher for non-members, and the glaze session is free to anyone that took a workshop. Because the shapes are thrown before the class these workshops are open to all skill levels and even if you have never touched clay before you will be able to do this. Although this session of workshops are winding down the next session will begin Feb. 4th with Elephants. The workshops run Wednesday afternoons 1:30 to 4:30pm so mark your calendars!

Monday, August 25, 2014


One of the things I like best about the Oak Ridge Art center is that no matter when you are there you always find people doing something different, or something new that you have never seen. This month I want to highlight some interesting things that I was fortunate enough to stumble upon this month. I'd like to start with an interesting pot and concept I witnessed in Bill Capshaw's Thursday night pottery class. Rick Strohschein was rakuing a pot with a crackle glaze, and as a twist pieces of stained glass. The glass liquified and ran down the pot making an attractive contrast to the overall appearance. I love the idea of a multimedia glaze. He named the pot Waterfall for the way the liquified glass ran like water into the pot.



At the same time Larry Gabbard was finishing some Sager fired pieces which are stunningly beautiful in my humble opinion.


All the while there was throwing, hand building, glazing, and trimming going on. It really was a productive class with a myriad of things happening. That is my point there are always things going on at this Art Center in every discipline. This class is not unique that sense, but indicative of the various goings on in all areas of the Art Center.

Then there are the workshops. There are always interesting workshops going on at the Art Center. This past month there was an amazing workshop teaching human portraits in clay from Nashville sculptor Alan Lequire. Fifteen students learned how to make a life-size bust of a live model on one weekend with a well known prestigious sculptor without leaving Oak Ridge.


 Our very own Bill Capshaw also gave a workshop on throwing multiples and stacking that produced a myriad of mugs, goblets, and pots but more importantly elevated the skills of all those that took it.

There is always something to do or see at the Oak Ridge Art Center no matter what inspires you, or what you skill level may be. Coming soon is one of the biggest shows and events of the calendar year, Hot Pots/Cool Art which coincides with the opening for the juried 2014 Open Show. Open Show 2014 is the 46th in the series! It features artists from throughout the region, and it will be showing from September 12th through Nov. 2nd. There will be an opening reception on Friday, September 12th from 7 to 9 PM. A gallery talk will precede the opening at 6:30 PM and end with the Award Presentation at 7 PM. The Hot Pots/Cool Art (public raku firing FUNdraiser) preview will coincide with the opening, so there will be plenty to view and do. For those unfamiliar with the annual fundraiser it gives the public a chance to purchase a hand built or hand thrown piece of pottery that has been bisqued, glaze it themselves and watch it be raku fired before their eyes. Participants get to create their own masterpiece and take home this piece of the fun. For those that may be not as adventurous, there is a silent auction of various handmade pieces of all sorts. Another fan favorite is the brown bag surprise, where people can pick and original small piece of finished ceramic sight unseen for $5-$10. And last but not least is a raffle for a gorgeous set of punch bowl and goblets created by master potter Bill Capshaw.  As always everyone is welcome, so tell your friends and neighbors!

I would just like to mention for all our readers that are on Facebook, I urge you to check out the Art Centers page and "Like" it. The Facebook page is updated frequently with classes, shows, and opportunities.
https://www.facebook.com/OakRidgeArtCenter

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

New Beginnings

I hope this is the first of many monthly updates for our blog. If there is anything you would like to see in it we would love to hear it, let us know.

With classes in full swing there are some wonderful goings on at the Art Center these days. For all those that like to dabble in pottery or are interested in just getting a feel for clay there are still a few Weekday Pottery Workshops with Hugh Bailey left. These are one session workshops that focus are a single theme or technique. They are inexpensive, low commitment, and a whole lot of fun. Just $30 for members and $35 for nonmembers, it is a real bargain. They run on Wednesdays from 1:30 to 4:30, and we have 2 sessions left; July 16th Creepy Crawlers (Frogs, insects, etc) and July 23rd Slab Structures/houses. If you have taken any of the 6 workshops that were offered this session the glaze date for all of them is July 30th.

I'd like to stress to all of you that the Oak Ridge Art Center is not just for Oak Ridgers. We welcome all of you from wherever you are to come experience our gallery, enter our open show, or take a class with one of our fine instructors. We feature free ongoing exhibits in our gallery year round and love visitors. Membership is not limited to Oak Ridge residents either, and it does have benefits from reduced class prices to greater exhibition opportunities and beyond. We love our members no matter their zip code.

This Saturday the 12th of July marks the opening reception for the newest show entitled "Tickle Me Pink". It is a great chance to see our member's witty and whimsical side. There will be a gallery talk on Saturday at 6:30pm along with the reception and refreshments. This is open to all so come on out and show our artists some love and support. If you can't make it to the reception, the show will run until August 10th.

Do we have any super sleuths out there? Do you like solving mysteries? Are any of you finding yourself with extra free time and are computer savvy? We have got a project for you. The Art Center has numerous pieces of art that we don't know much about. We would love some volunteer researchers to try and find out more on some of our pieces. This is an ongoing project and you can spend as much time as you would like looking into any of our unknown art. Any help you can provide would be appreciated. Just call or email the Art Center to find out more.



This is one of the Mystery Pieces we have hanging right now in the permanent collection. We believe it is by a T. D. Mather, an American Artist, and it is a Color Lithograph from 1965. The signature looks like JMathers, JMathies, Louthers, JWithers, Smithers... and '65. If you recognize or are familiar with this artist or this print please let us know. We have been researching but have yet to find any information.