I’m In!
I wanted to, officially, share some exciting news: I am in the ArtPrize International Art Competition! If you have been following the progress of the Jeremiah Tree, then you have had a sneak peek of my piece for ArtPrize. I am so excited to be apart of this competition and experience. ArtPrize takes place in Grand Rapids, Michigan from September 19 through October 7. It sounds like it is going to be a pretty sweet event. There are about 1500 artists (give or take a few) that are competing and showing their work all over the city of Grand Rapids. Different venues are hosting artist’s work that will be exhibited for those two weeks. I believe there are about 195 different venues. The venues range from libraries, stores, galleries and banks, to restaurants, bars and parks.
Any artist could apply/submit their work into ArtPrize. I had heard about it almost a year ago and knew I wanted to definitely try to go for it this year. I had to create an artist profile on the ArtPrize website, complete with images of the work I planned to submit, send in my entry free, and then try to connect with a venue. As I said, anyone can enter and pay the fee, but not everyone will actually get to participate in the actual ArtPrize event. If a venue is not interested in your work and no connection is made, then you will not be in the exhibit and competition. So, you really are at the mercy of the venue’s interests. I submitted my Jeremiah Tree to about eleven different venues that appealed to me and had to anxiously await their responses. I was turned down by several, was given a “possibly” by one, and then and offer to host from another! It has been an exciting process so far.
I am happy to share that the Monroe Community Church will be hosting my Jeremiah Tree for the ArtPrize exhibit and competition this year! I am nearing completion on my installation piece and I think it is coming together nicely. I must have it completed and ready to install on the 15th of September. So, it looks like we will be doing some traveling this fall.
The awards are “people’s choice”, so voting actually takes place during those two weeks, to place the top ten artists. There is also a juried selection for “best in show” as well as best 2D, 3D, mixed media…etc. I am psyched to be apart of it this year. I will be posting more images as my tree nears completion and as the time draws nearer. I hope I win something. That would be so amazing!
Jeremiah Tree – Forming the Trunk
The Jeremiah Tree is well underway. So far, I have made 50 leaves, 3 plates for the river, and 2 pieces for the tree trunk. When I started creating the trunk, I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to go about it. I knew I would at least start by throwing a large cylinder on the wheel and then cut it in half. After that, I just decided to go for it. Trial and error.
Yes, this is off center, but since I was cutting it and warping it, I didn’t feel the need to make it perfect. Once I cut my cylinder in half using a wire cutter, I then began to warp and mold the halves into a tree-like structure. I really like the shape I formed and I hope it will continue to take on a more natural look as I continue to build this piece. The next step after the initial shaping of the trunk, was to score the surface and add more clay to create a bark texture. I did this by working small lumps of clay until they were thin “sheets” of clay and then fold and wrinkle them onto the surface. I also cut out a piece at the base of this trunk for the sake of changing the shape when I start creating and adding the roots.
Once the whole surface was covered with the “bark” I then rubbed on slop clay to cover the seams where the clay scraps were attached. I applied this somewhat liberally and allowed the texture of it to remain so it would add to the appearance of bark. It was a lot of fun to work on this piece and I didn’t have to be too careful when adding on the clay bark. I think that helps it to look more naturalistic. Yesterday I made the second piece to the trunk. I am hoping to start on the roots soon and throw the next cylinder for the tree trunk today. I have about 200 more leaves to make, so I am staying busy!
Jeremiah Tree Project – The Beginnings
I am currently diving into my first real installation piece. This fall I am hoping to be a part of an international art competition that takes place in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Entries open to the public this April, so I am hoping to complete my piece by then and submit it. I am really excited for this opportunity. This competition is through a non-profit organization called Art Prize. It is open to all mediums and subjects. I am hoping to keep updating my progress on this project as I go. Doing that will keep me motivated and will add a bit of healthy pressure to keep on my work. In the past I have made several attempts to enter pieces in to art competitions, but things kept getting in the way, like my kiln breaking down for instance. I am determined to finish this piece and enter it.
So, what is this installation I am making? Well, it is going to be a sculptural tree. I am wanting to move beyond the ordinary thrown pots and create something really different for myself. This is the kind of project I would have been encouraged to explore when I was an art student. Now that I am working for myself, I have fallen away from those challenges and explorations and I desperately want to dive into those again. An installation piece is pretty self-explanatory. It is the act of installing or setting something up. This piece will be non-functional and made to be hung on a wall. I am hoping for my tree to be somewhere in the ballpark of 3’x5′ to 5’x7′. It will definitely be the largest piece I have ever made. For those of you who are visual, like myself, here is the sketch of my tree.
I hope that gives you a fairly good idea at what I am aiming for. The trunk of the tree will be thrown on the wheel in several parts and then altered to form a natural look. The roots will be hand-sculpted and attached to the base of the trunk. Branches will be made by both throwing and hand-building. The leaves are hand-cut from rolled-out slabs of clay. I am creating at least five different styles of leaves to allow for a “full” look to the tree. These leaves will be glazed in copper green and rutile crystalline glazes. The trunk and roots will be left as raw clay with red iron oxide stains. All of those circles you see around the roots of the tree represent water. I want it to appear that the tree has grown on the bank of a river where its roots can extend into the waters. The river will be made by various sizes of thrown plates and will be glazed in my cobalt and navy crystalline glazes with hints of greens here and there as well. The dark “lumps” in my sketch are going to be river rocks. Those will also be thrown on the wheel. I am hoping to piece this whole installation together using wire and wood. I have started with the leaves and have made 25 of them so far.
Scraps of clay wedged and then rolled out to cut leaves
You may be wondering how I came up with creating a tree and why I named it the “Jeremiah” tree. Well, Andrew and I have been pushed and stretched in our faith this year. We have a lot of decisions to make in the next few months about work, where to live, a baby on the way, and just overall busyness of life. We have really been feeling like things right now are out of our hands and we just have to wait for answers. In my Bible study I came across this verse from Jeremiah 17:7-8; “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit”. Instead of worrying and stressing over the things we cannot control, we are just going to put our trust in the Lord. I know he has a specific plan for us and I don’t want to be weakened with worry. That is the personal meaning behind my Jeremiah Tree project. I want it to always be a reminder to me as I work. I hope this gives you more of a vision for what I am doing. I have a lot to work on and am feeling very inspired to keep working at it. I can tell this piece is going to take a lot of trial and error since I have never done anything quite like this before. I hope you will be excited to share in my progress and help keep me motivated. I will be sure to keep you regularly updated on this work. You are my audience, so please push me!
Hand-Crafted Pottery by Arryn 