Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Articopia! and Texas Meets Mexico Clay this Saurday, Dec. 10, 2010

Anyone can shop at a department store, or outlet, or online, but it is the intrepid believers in the special gift … the one-of-a-kind gift … the gift that is remembered for many years after … who flock to the Southwest School of Art for Art.i.copia!
From 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10, the Southwest School of Art’s Gallery Shop will overflow with an Art.i.copia of unusual and tempting gifts. Shoppers will find artful, contemporary objects, enjoy holiday refreshments and not worry about parking (which is free and plentiful).
This popular, long-running event will also feature collections by a selected group of high-end local artists working in jewelry, printmaking, photography, fibers, metal, and ceramics. This years’ guest artists are Diana KerseyLorena AnguloJane BishopJennifer DatchukMary FischerPriscilla MartinezKari StringerLaura QuinonesRobin Renee Hix, and Dale Jenssen.
Come for the art, stay for lunch! The Wheelie Gourmet Food Truck will be on site! Eat dessert first withAl's Gourmet Nuts and Ms. Chocolatier!
It’s the season for giving – and purchasing holiday gifts at Art.i.copia helps support the many community programs of the non-profit Southwest School of Art.
I would love to see you at this charming event! Specifically for Art.i.copia, I have once again created a limited number of ceramic jewelry containers to compliment the many fine jewelry pieces that are available.  And while you are in the area, don't forget to stop by Bazar Sabado at the San Antonio Museum of Art.

But wait, there is more!

What a wonderful way to wrap up the year!  After enjoying a great day selling my pottery at Articopia, I will travel to Boerne, TX to attend the opening of this exhibition of wonderfully inventive and fine crafted ceramics in Boerne, Texas.

Here is what Amy and Bob Niederhauser, owners of COSAS Gallery, have to say about the show:

"COSAS Gallery welcomes the work of three great Texas clay folk artists who have been greatly influenced by the work of some of our favorite Mexican artists.  Diana Kersey and Billy Ray Mangham will both be with us along with their outstanding work; and Carl Block’s fabulous Face Jugs will also be featured.  Join us and see some of the similarities and talk to them about their personal experiences with Mexico.  There will be amazing pieces to select from; just in time for your holiday shopping.  Also, we just received our new shipment from Mexico including some amazing pieces from the Day of the Dead competition in Patzcuaro.  Don’t miss this fantastic event. "
Texas Meets Mexico Clay
Saturday, Dec. 10
4-8PM

COSAS Gallery
1109 S. Main St.
Boerne, TX 78006
(830) 249-1500

 8x10 articopia for web 

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Show this weekend-Event this Friday

Diana will be having a few items on sale at the Hecho a Mano annual hand made art sale hosted by the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Organization. This annual event features local artists. It is a fun event and supports the works of many local artists. Here is a description imported from their website- I was unable to download their flyer into this blog.
Guadalupe Gallery
GCAC EVENTS
gcacevents@gmail.com
2011 continues its 25-year tradition as San Antonio's
premiere fine arts and crafts market with a new look
that unites both traditional and contemporary arts and 
crafts! This year's event includes a chance to bid on 
and win a number of beautiful holiday wreaths 
decorated by one of the many talented local San Antonio
artists, a style show, free food and drinks, and an
amazing DJ! Guadalupe Gallery. 6 - 9 p.m. $10 per person.
A link to the flyer is posted here

Hope to see you there - Christina



Post Thanksgiving News

November 28, 2011
Greetings! Hope all had a pleasant break from the routine via our American tradition of stuffing the turkey, and our faces!  We certainly enjoyed the feasting.  We had three days of Thanksgiving feasts via friends and family invitations- what a blessing for us!

Now for the latest news: I have two news-y things to report. First of all, I have already outgrown my current location and have been offered a new and strategically important location in the downtown area -112 Broadway- 1/2 block from the Alamo! The new place is directly across from the famous hattery- Paris Hatters. We will now be able to share my creations with tourists as well as provide an equally accessible location for my faithful, local customers. The new space has valet parking for my clients! We will not have a grand opening this year but will  be operational before Christmas for those who desire to purchase Kersey creations.

 In anticipation of the big move to my new location of 112 Broadway this December, I succeeded in luring away from the corporate world an astute and personally committed business person: Christina Palafox, who also happens to be my life partner (working on our 14th year).  She will be functioning as my business manager: assisting me with all of the tedious but important business duties that take me away from my creative tasks. She recently achieved her MSN from Walden University in leadership and management. Her skills and experience will be an invaluable asset to my company.

Already she has proven herself! I was able to make all of the pots and clay projects I had set as a goal before Christmas, while she took care of the mailing, packaging, business letters, errands and accounting projects that was on my  “to do”  list. As for her comments on this new adventure of her life, while she says the pay is not as great as her previous job of quality manager for a hospice, she finds the work very rewarding and is able to sleep better at night.  She states that at the end of the day there is a sense of accomplishment.  Plus she likes the dress code here so much better (see pic).


We (Sara and me) hope we can keep her working for us for a while. So if you get a new voice on the phone, it's probably Christina answering for me so I can keep mud off the cell phone! Please feel free to inform her of your needs and she will relay the information to me. 

Friday, November 4, 2011

Uptown Art Stroll this weekend!

Just a quick note, the 11th Annual Uptown Art Stroll is this weekend!
Saturday, 10-5, Sunday 12-5 (don't forget, daylight savings is over this weekend)
All the info and downloadable maps can be found here. This year we have portapotties and pedicabs to ferry you around the hood! We are upscale now!



Have a good one!
Diana

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

The Mill Race Bridge is finished, Go see it!

I had the final walk through with the city this morning and am happy to report that the bridge is finished! I am very pleased with the results. The colors we chose (turquoise, orange, yellow, amber glaze) looked a little well, I will go ahead and say it, UGLY under the florescent lights of the studio, but I felt that it would work in the outdoor environment. Happily, I was right. The color palette is integrating itself just fine with the environment.

If you missed it, "The Source" a Texas Public Radio program that focuses on local news interviewed me about the bridge and public art. It aired last week and should be available on their website sometime this week. I feel so lucky to have received such extensive coverage for the two bridges!










Thursday, September 29, 2011

Making Progress on the Millrace Bridge

It has been a busy week, I have been up and out the door before dawn in order to start installing the Millrace bridge panels when it is cooler (who'd have thought we would still be in the upper 90's at the end of September?)  





The install has been going very smoothly, thanks to some great assistance from a couple of volunteers and up and coming ceramic artists in their own right: Daniel Armstrong, and Sarah Rohlack
In addition to my assistant, Sara Boyd, who has helped out on the project from the very beginning. Even Linda Perez, of L&M Beef stopped by for a morning of grouting!

I am hoping to be finished up by the middle of next week! If you want to check out the work, stop by Monday or Tuesday 7-noon and say hi! The bridge is one block West of Broadway, the entrance to Brackenridge Golf Course.

Diana

Monday, September 19, 2011

Let the installation begin!

After a month of delays, it is looking like I can start the Millrace bridge installation this Thursday! I am ready! Seems like someone has been looking out for me, even though I am anxious to finish this project, it will be easier and much more comfortable to install at this time then during the originally scheduled mid-August time frame. I think the 100 degree (+) days are over and will not be missed around here.

I have been able to put this break to good use making pottery. It has been a blast to get back on the wheel, and after working on the bridges for most of the spring and summer, making a pot, no matter how large, seems downright EASY!

We have big plans around here at the studio, making work for some of my favorite Fall sales:
The Texas Clay Festival is October 22-23, 2011
The Uptown Art Stroll is November 5-6
and the SSA's Art-I-copia! is December 10th

In addition, I have been invited to have an exhibition of new work at COSAS, in Boerne with Billy Ray Mangham from Eye of the Dog and some great clay artists from Mexico. Including artists from one of my favorite spots in the world: Patamaban, where they make amazing Pineapple pots.


That show will open on December 10th.

And finally, I have set a goal to have the retail area of my studio up and running by December 1st, with regular hours and everything! I am really excited to see how that evolves over the next year, and I am sure my awesome clients will appreciate not having to dig through boxes of pots that are packed up for the next show in order to make a purchase!

Keep that wheel a turning!
Diana

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Preparing to Install the next Bridge: Millrace

Hey folks, hope your summer is going well. Sara and I finished up the building and glazing of the Millrace bridge and have been busy making pots for the Fall season. It has been great to feel ahead of schedule for once! I attended a construction meeting last week and dropped off my foam forms for Hill Country Bridge to use during the construction of the guardrail on the Millrace bridge. It is looking like the installation will take place in about a week or so. This week I plan to stop by the construction site daily to check in, gather up supplies and get everything in order as I am aiming for a painless install. I am hoping the 100 plus degree heat will start to decline soon, because thinset mortars, assistants, and I all have difficulty working in such heat!

I am adding some pics of the finished tile, it is currently all resting away in tons of bubble wrap.




This last pic is of Sara applying the amber glaze (it is dark grey/black in the image because the glaze has about 4% black iron oxide as the colorant) to the unfired clay. For this bridge we were able to once fire the tile by applying underglaze and glaze to the bone dry tile and firing the tile slowly. This method saved a lot of labor and the glaze actually looks better once fired that it does when applied to bisque!


Thanks!
Diana

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Millrace progress--getting close!

Greetings! We are nearly finished with the build portion of the Millrace Bridge! The exterior is complete and packed away, waiting for the contractors to finish the guardrails. I anticipate they will be ready for us by mid-August, which is just a wonderful time of year to install tile outdoors! Can't wait! I wonder, can you put a bit of dry ice under a construction helmet?

This week I am working on finishing up the interior panels. All the vertical panels are complete and the last of them are firing off today in the kilns. 4 of the 8 horizontal panels are finished, just need to let them dry, apply the colorants and glaze, and glaze fire (we are once firing these panels, which is saving time, and energy).  Below are some images from the narrative panels which go in the center of the horizontal panels:


All the panels are about 12x18". They look pretty good now, but I anticipate they will really look good under the translucent amber glaze.
Thanks!
Diana

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Express News article / Documentary / Kickstarter

A SWEET article about the Mulberry bridge was published in the San Antonio Express News yesterday! A lot of pictures and most of them "above the fold" (wink). My appreciation to Steve Bennett for writing such a thorough article and for making a good case for public art to be included in our city's infrastructure. San Antonio's city council will be voting on a "percent for art" proposal in the coming months. If you live in San Antonio, I encourage you to contact your council person and let them know that our city deserves more art in public places!

One amazing thing that has been/still is happening during this entire public art making process is that my friend James Sanders, of Standard Definition  has been filming just about the entire process start to finish with plans of creating a full length documentary about the process.


James is a very experienced filmmaker and has the heart of an artist. Sara and I have enjoyed working with him, his work ethic and dedication to this project have been truly inspiring. James has formed a wonderful team of people to help make this film happen. Catherine Lee is serving as the producer. Her writing and grant writing abilities leave me awestruck and envious! She is maintaining our recently launched Kickstarter campaign, writing grants to help fund the project, and maintaining the project's tumbler blog.

Finally, I want to tell you about Kickstarter. We need your help! We chose to use Kickstarter as a funding platform for a number of reasons. The following is from their FAQ's:


Kickstarter is the largest funding platform for creative projects in the world. Every month, tens of thousands of amazing people pledge millions of dollars to projects from the worlds of musicfilmarttechnologydesignfoodpublishing and other creative fields.
A new form of commerce and patronage. This is not about investment or lending. Project creators keep 100% ownership and control over their work. Instead, they offer products and experiences that are unique to each project.
All or nothing funding. On Kickstarter, a project must reach its funding goal before time runs out or no money changes hands. Why? It protects everyone involved. Creators aren’t expected to develop their project without necessary funds, and it allows anyone to test concepts without risk.
Each and every project is the independent creation of someone like you. Projects are big and small, serious and whimsical, traditional and experimental. They’re inspiring, entertaining and unbelievably diverse. We hope you agree... Welcome to Kickstarter!


 I really love this concept, and I particularly like that a pledge not only gets you a warm and fuzzy feeling for helping to fund an art project you believe in, you also get some really great promotional items like postcards, posters, DVD of the film, Art Tiles (made by yours truly), or handcrafted mugs. Besides funding for the film, Kickstarter provides us a platform to build partnerships with other enthusiastic folks. So when you have a moment, please check out our links, make a pledge, or just pass on the word! Facebook "likes", forwarded emails, etc will exponentially help us reach the goal of getting this film produced.

Keep that wheel a turning!
Diana

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Progress on the Millrace Bridge

Sara and I have been hard at work making the outside panels of the Millrace Bridge. The bridge is the gateway to Historic Brackenridge Golf Course. This time I am going with a warm color palette, and art deco inspired designs (the course was built in the 1920's). The theme of this artwork is "The History of Brackenridge Golf Course." And actually, it is quite interesting! Did you know that the sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, who created Mount Rushmore, had his studio on the grounds of the golf course for 12 years? Another interesting fact is that the course was designed by one of the first golf architects in the United States, A.W. Tillinghast. People come from all over just to play on a Tillinghast course. Last fact, before I start sounding like Cliff Clavin: Brackenridge was the first public course in Texas, all the rest were private. OK, OK, I'll stop for now, you will just have to go see the bridge when it is finished! Pics of the process below, click to enlarge.


"Inspiration is for amateurs, the rest of us just show up." --Chuck Close

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Images of Completed Mulberry Bridge

Hi Folks, I wanted to post some good images of the Mulberry Bridge (The Life Cycle of the Gulf Coast Toad), in case you have not yet seen it in person! Sara and I have begun working on the next bridge, this one is about a mile south on Mill Race and is the gateway to the historic Brackenridge Golf Course. So, no more talk of toads from me for a while, on to golfers!


Will post again soon with images of our progress. Thanks again for everyone's support and kind words about Mulberry, I am so happy about the end results!

Sincerely,
Diana

Thursday, June 2, 2011

The Life Cycle of the Golf Coast Toad Bridge





It's finally done!!! We have been working hard to finish the installation of all the tile panels at the Mulberry Bridge.  Everyone we have worked with has been amazing.  We like to thank Public Art San Antonio, and especially Tommy Gregory and Claudia Zarazua for keeping everyone on track and in communication with each other.  We'd like to thank Hill Country Bridge,  EZ-Bell Construction  for their hard work and incredible craftsmanship.  But most of all thank you to all of the people who have stopped to talk to us and brought us water while we have been installing, emailing kind words, and chatting with us on Facebook during this process.  Knowing that it will be appreciated by the people who live and work in the area is the most rewarding thing in the world. Most of all we'd like to thank the people of San Antonio, we cannot think of a better place to live and work...now if it would just rain a little, all would be perfect!
Diana and Sara

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Mulberry Bridge

So much has happened since our last post. We finished making and installing the exterior panels on the Mulberry Bridge. The bridge is now open to traffic!

Christina Palafox helping with installation
We'd like to thank the nice weather and the amazing help of friends and family.  Couldn't have done it without you all.  

Margaret Palafox construction site supervisor for  Diana Kersey Ceramics

We have finished building all of the interior panels as well.  So Diana and I are back in the studio glaze firing this week. We will be back on the bridge in hardhats installing the interior panels by the end of the month.   I can hardly wait for pedestrians and drivers to be able be able to experience the magic up close.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Interior panels for the Catalpa-Pershing Bridge

We are getting close to finishing the building of the Bridge! All eight of the vertical panels that have the large bas-reliefs of the Gulf Coast Toad are either glaze fired or bisqued and ready for the final firing. Twelve of the sixteen horizontal panels have been made and bisque fired. And today, I finished the last touches on four of the eight interior panels, now all we have left next week is to make the final four, which will look very similar to the images posted below.

The project is looking great, and we hope to begin installation mid-week. The guys at Hill Country Bridge and EZ-bel Construction, in addition the city staff, have all been outstanding and willing to accommodate my concerns and scheduling needs. What a great group of professionals! I am so proud to be a part of this project!
Male toad singing/courting the female


Toad eggs that have been fertilized
Tadpoles maturing into froglet

Mature gulf coast toad
I must admit, I am getting a wee bit tired of thinking about toads! It is good to start seeing signs of completion for this project. I am very pleased with the results from the firings so far, the kiln gods everyone made for the studio opening have been doing their job! Next post should contain some finished and installed work. Yippiee!

Diana

Catalpa-Pershing Bridge Progress

First piece out of the glaze kiln!!


I bet you are wondering how the tile panels for the bridge are coming along.  The answer is: GREAT! We have finished building the eight vertical panels and the first ones are out of the glaze firing.  The colors are more rich and vibrant than we could have hoped for, and boy do they sparkle in the sun!













Forms with foam inserts for tile panels



Meanwhile, the constructions of the bridge itself is coming right along. San Antonians will be happy to know that the Mulberry is scheduled to be open to traffic,  with bridge construction finished by first week in April. (disclaimer: neither Diana Kersey  nor her assistant are responsible for any of the current or future traffic situations in San Antonio)







Exterior of bridge with scaffolding! 
We have built twelve out of sixteen of the horizontal panels.  Only four more to go.  We are now focusing on processing all of the exterior panels though the glazing and firing process.  The artisan construction workers at Hill Country Bridge, Inc.http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hill-Country-Bridge-Inc are leaving the exterior scaffolding up for us.  We don't have to install hanging off the side of the bridge with rock climbing harnesses!!!!


Saturday, April 30, 2011

Making Sprigs for the Catalpa Pershing Bridge

Original frog eggs for molds


 Sprig molds have been used to decorate clay objects for thousands of years.  In that tradition, we have made several plaster molds to aid in the decorating of the tile panels for the bridge.  The process starts by forming a object out of wet clay or plasticine.


Original Gulf Coast Toad for mold


















Froglet and sprig mold









We then cast plaster molds of these objects.  Once the plaster is dry the original object is removed leaving a void in the shape of the original object.  





Friday, April 29, 2011

Flower Back Splash

Custom Back Splash

The most amazing thing about the new studio is that we now have the space to work on more than one large project at a time.  With pieces for the bridge laid out and drying, we spent a fun afternoon working on a back splash.  This back splash will be installed in a historic home being remodeled in King William. The client asked for an wave of flowers.  This is the first time Diana has used this technique of pulling and pushing her fingers through wet clay in conjunction with adding clay with sprig molds to build up a dynamic surface.   The results are awesome, and the client is very excited.  These are pictures of the unglazed work.  Installation pictures to come...

Sara Boyd
The Fearless Assistant