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

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!

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

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

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

NowCastSA.com

NowCastSA.com just posted a video they produced about the Toad Bridge. Thanks NowCastSA!

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