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.

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!!!!

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.  

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

PechaKucha San Antonio

About a month and a half ago I was invited to give a lecture for PechaKucha night hosted by the AIA here in San Antonio. It was a lot of fun, and brought in a packed house of design related folks. The format for PechaKucha is 20 slides 20 seconds per slide, for a total presentation time of 6:40 sec. This was actually harder to prepare for than I expected. (I had not realized how much I depended on visuals to get me through a presentation!) Anyway, the PK folks have posted the video on-line here is the link:

Public Art Commission Progress

Greetings, thanks for your patience with my posts! I have been busy with a few gallery shows, a Cookie Jar Show at Lilly's Cookies, and today I am spending the day recovering from another great showing at the Fiesta Arts Fair on the grounds of the Southwest School of Art and Craft.

Last week Sara Boyd (my awesome, better than could ever hope for assistant) and I started really diving into the public art project for the Mulberry Bridge going into Brackenridge park. Here are some pics of the progress. This week we should finish up the vertical pieces and begin the sixteen, 2x6' panels that will go on both the inside and outside of the bridge.

By building supports we are able to accomplish 2 things: 1: build two panels per table, and 2: the slope makes it easier to envision what it will look like when it is installed vertically on the guardrails. 

When building murals, traditionally artists have stapled burlap onto sloped walls to make sure the clay stays on the board. I have tried that, but don't like how hard it is to remove the cut tiles from the burlap. When pulling the clay off the support when leatherhard  it is almost impossible not to bend the tile, (which could lead to warping in the drying and firing). For that reason, I tried something new this year, beads of silicone on the board, then a generous rubbing of vegetable oil. It worked great!!! When the slabs of wet clay were pressed onto the board the silicone created little ridges that "grabbed" the clay and prevented it from sliding off. When the time came to remove it, they just pulled right off, no problem (due to the releasing qualities of the oil). The oil will burn off in the bisque. 

5 down, 4 to go!
Will post again with the progress at the end of the week, promise!
Diana