Category Archives: Juried Shows

Women of Appalachia art exhibit 2015

This years Women of Appalachia Show has again gathered some very fine artwork made by women who live and work in the many counties of Appalachia.  I’m proud to be apart of this traveling exhibit and I hope you can get to see the show and go to one of the poetry and short story performances.

These are the sculptures that I have in the show.  There is a link to the website with more information at the end of this post.

OFF COURSE glass, clay, stone,shell

OFF COURSE
glass, clay, stone,shell

Below are three of my Fish from the Silica Based Life Form series

DSC_5039

McDonough 2a DSC_3421

http://www.womenofappalachia.com/

You can see this amazing show now at the Parkersburg Art Center, in the Multicultural Gallery in Baker Center, Athens Ohio from Jan 12 through April 30 2016 and at the Pump House Center for the Arts in Chillicothe from May 5 to ?

There is also a written word aspect to this show and three more readings will be held in December, March and May.  These are real women telling their own stories and sharing their poetry.

migrating fish

My Silica Based Life Form Fish have really been getting around.  This one just came home from the Zanesville Museum of Art’s 70th Ohio Exhibition.

DSC_3218

 

The Fish below just landed at the Dairy Barn in Athens Ohio and will travel to Athens West Virginia and Athens Georgia over the next year as part of the Athens Voices Show  Upcoming Exhibitions | Dairy Barn

Silica Based Life Form Fish

Silica Based Life Form
Fish

Five more of my slumped glass sculptures will be moving from Parkersburg West Virginia to Athens Ohio as part of the Women of Appalachia Show

Women of Appalachia | Their Stories & Their Art Exhibition

In the Eye of the Storm

In the Eye of the Storm

Silica Based Life Form Flower

Silica Based Life Form
Flower

DSC_3203 DSC_5105

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DSC_5098

 

 

 

 

 

There’s an opening at the Dairy Barn January 16, 2015 from 5-7 pm and a reception for the Women of Appalachia Exhibit at the Multicultural Center in Athens Ohio March 13, 2015.

All of these sculptures are for sale if you live close enough we can negotiate the shipping charges.

 

 

Women of Appalachia

Scarred Woman

Scarred Woman

This work was recently juried into the fifth Women of Appalachia Art Exhibit on display in the Multicultural Center Art Gallery, Baker Center, Ohio University.  The exhibit runs through December 10  Then I believe it moves on to Chillicothe, OH.

There will be two events with spoken word and musical work performed on Nov 1 and Nov 7 details at  www.womenofappalachia.com

“Scarred Woman” above epitomizes the Appalachian woman who has been through the fire and may be marked by life but not broken.  The resilience and creativity that my friends and neighbors bring to every day life is truly inspiring. DSC_0008_4

Paw Paw Green Man Sun

Paw Paw Green Man Sun

Paw Paw Green Man is also in the show hanging beside his sister.

The process for making my green men and women are basic hand building techniques.  I start with a large lump of clay and form a shallow oval bowl shape about the size of a face.  This is pretty thick and the sides are 2-3 inches tall.  When the clay is ready, and this is crucial, it’s time to start pushing, pressing, shaving and adding clay to form a face.  The clay needs to be pretty pliable for the first roughing in but not so soft as to collapse.

I use some photos of faces and my own face to get the proportions and I usually go large as the clay shrinks in the fire.  I only need to do eyes, nose and mouth because the edges of the face are covered with leaves.

It takes a few days of a few hours each to finish the face.  The clay is kept in a plastic bag so it will dry slowly.  This allows for finer finishing at the end.

The leaves are cut from slabs of clay, using real leaves.  A large Green Man can take up to 36 leaves.

The assembly has to be done on the kiln shelf as the bone dry piece is very fragile.  After the piece is completely dry it is bisque fired, if it survives I either spray on stains for a soft finish or dip into glaze for a shiny finish.  It is then fired again to a much higher temperature.

DSC_0559