Claytalker – One at a Time One of a Kind

Written by Camille Ronay
Tuesday, 21 February 2012 20:16
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Tradition Meets Cutting Edge at the convergence of high quality art, craft, literature, music, film and food at the Lexington (Kentucky) Center, March 1-4, 2012 at Kentucky Crafted: The Market.  And Georgia Made Georgia Grown LLC is honored to be invited as an out-of-state guest organization.

Eight Georgia artists, including Claytalker Sue Burkart Chisholm, will be exhibiting and selling at The Market. Read Sue’s story, then visit her in Booth #464

Hands of Sue

 

Being a Claytalker is about rearranging the ART of storytelling so that the Clay speaks. Equipped with a magnificent rolling pin, one small kiln,100 lbs of clay, plus a road map of the South, Burk’ Art Clayworks began in 1991.

We are now in our 20th year of producing, selling, and promoting the value of working One at Time, for One of a Kind. As the 20 seasons passed, my clay defined its voice. Now my hands intertwined with the white clay have a story to tell.

Springtime and the Holidays are my favorite times of year. Both seasons influence my art.

Petals & Tools

Working with delicate glazes in a fashion similar to a watercolorist rather than a potter, Natures Collage possesses a unique quality. Fresh petals create a collage of delicate impressions in the soft clay. Mother Nature’s natural objects, Victorian laces, or other vintage heirlooms are impressed for bolder texture. Those textures enrich the clay’s story as it frames the petals.

After a bisque firing; glaze colors are blended for application. Glazing one petal at a time, each individual piece of pottery becomes a one of a kind handmade fossil for the 21st century, a perfect mix of modern and vintage designs.

Once it is too hot to garden, to cool off, I play Christmas music. And I start producing the nativity scenes for Fall deliveries. I used a collection of family heirlooms as stamps in the clay, texturing either the robes or the animal bodies. The Nativity or Manger Scene now has over 20 pieces in the set.

Finishing touches on the Nativity Scene and the robes are textures derived from a collection of antiques and other treasures that span 5 generations. Traditions old and new are reflected in the collection.

www.burkartclay.com has the complete Burk’art story…

Sue (on right) and a buyer at The Market 2011

Sue Burkart Chisholm, Burk’Art Clayworks

burkart.clay@comcast.net

Canton Georgia

770/479-3168

 

Nancy Cann’s Glass Batiks are Spectacular

Written by Camille Ronay
Tuesday, 21 February 2012 16:46
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Tradition Meets Cutting Edge at the convergence of high quality art, craft, literature, music, film and food at the Lexington (Kentucky) Center, March 1-4, 2012 at Kentucky Crafted: The Market.  And Georgia Made Georgia Grown LLC is honored to be invited as an out-of-state guest organization.

Eight Georgia artists, including Cellar Art‘s, Nancy Cann, will be exhibiting and selling at The Market. Read about her glass art in her own words, then visit her in Booth #459.

 

It’s my husband’s fault that I got started in glass fusing.  Some years ago, we were searching for something that we could do and share together. (I don’t really care for sports and he doesn’t really care much for gardening.) We were both inspired by the beautiful pictures in a “how to” book about making enameled jewelry. Actually, I was truly inspired and he had casually thumbed through the book because I’d left it in the bathroom. He commented that enameled pieces look really impressive and that he might want to learn how to make artwork like that someday. I interpreted “someday” as right now…

I called several different art schools and could not find anyone teaching a class on enameling. I did however find a two-day class on making fused glass jewelry, which is kind of similar to enameling. Both art forms use glass chips and a kiln…

After a few attempts, my husband decided that fusing glass just wasn’t for him. I, on the other hand, found glass fusing to be great fun!

When I first started in 2000 I used a small corner of my husband’s workshop in the basement and listened to an old radio that could only pick up one station (The station that plays the Delilah show). Now 10 years later, I’ve taken over most of the basement and acquired a stereo. My husband’s workshop has been reduced to his toolbox, although I have laid claim to most of the tools contained within.

In the past 10 years, I’ve gone from a handful of pieces I exhibited in a very small festival to nationwide distribution in 30+ galleries and boutiques.

I have an extensive artistic background. I have worked in the commercial art field for over ten years. I am a published photographer and I also paint in acrylics and oils.

I was searching for a way to bring fused glass and painting together, and discovered a way to paint with glass, which is very cool. I mix powdered glass with liquids, then paint that mixture onto a glass canvas. I fire the piece in my kiln to create the finished product. I call these works “Glass Batiks” because the crackling effect looks very much like a batik artwork. The textured matte feel of the glass makes you want to reach out and touch it.

My fused glass is now sold in several galleries across the country.  I am a past vice president of the Atlanta Glass Art Guild and continue to be an active member.   I’m also a breast cancer survivor (I’m past the five year survivor mark, Yippee!!!).   And just recently, I was very pleased to be  named a 2011 Niche Award Finalist.

 

Nancy Cann, Cellar Art

http://www.CellarArt.com

Nancy@CellarArt.com

Woodstock Georgia

770/924-9931

 

Spirit Sees a World of Possibilities

Written by Camille Ronay
Tuesday, 21 February 2012 01:24
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Tradition Meets Cutting Edge at the convergence of high quality art, craft, literature, music, film and food at the Lexington (Kentucky) Center, March 1-4, 2012 at Kentucky Crafted: The Market.  And Georgia Made Georgia Grown LLC is honored to be invited as an out-of-state guest organization.

Eight Georgia artists, including Spirit Lala will be exhibiting and selling at The Market. Get to know a little about her, then visit her in Booth #467.

 

Welcome to the world of Spirit Lala and her exciting array of talents, from unique custom handcrafted art jewelry to whimsical clocks to stunning contemporary paintings found in many galleries across the nation.

Just where on earth did Spirit get her ideas on Art anyway? Could it have been the inspiration of the coastal rainforests of Australia, or the balmy tropical breezes and lifestyle of the island of Guam in the Pacific and the island of Roatan in the Caribbean? Or perhaps, was it just genetic? She does come from a line of very talented and creative people.

Could it have been her education? Hardly! This amazing woman has never had a formal art lesson in her life. More than likely, it was a God given combination of all of the above. Nonetheless, from whence this talent comes, it is definitely making an impact on the world. The rich tapestry of Spirit’s life, interwoven with a highly creative and imaginative mind that has no limits, is where the art of Spirit comes from; and for that, the world is enriched.

Green Retro Floral Necklace

Spirit takes one look at something and sees it from a perspective that most cannot imagine. When a person looks at a flower they see a flower, but when Spirit looks at a flower, a world of possibilities opens up. Is it just a flower, or is it the relationship that that flower has with the rest of its surroundings, with a dash of light reflecting of its petal combined with a few visual twists thrown in between…

The evolution of her art has shown a myriad of styles and much promise. From childish drawings to extremely detailed pen and inks and slightly skewed Dali-esque visions, her talent developed from an early age.

Eventually color came into play, as well as the experimentation with other mediums, to express her art. In her later teens, she went back and forth from drawing on paper to making unusual jewelry pieces out of sculpy and plastic, and recycled junk jewelry.

Peacock Flower Earrings

In her early twenties she discovered the joy of painting on pottery. Because so many family members and friends begged her for her work, she eventually quit her full time management job and went into pursuing her art full time. That was the birth of Design Spirit Studio and the beginning of Spirit’s professional art career.

Spirit is currently living in McDonough, Georgia with her husband and three children. Her art career has given her the opportunity to not only achieve her lifelong dream of being a successful artist, but to work from home spending quality time with her husband and children.

Tropical Flower Necklace

Spirit Lala

McDonough Georgia

P: 678/432-5067   F: 770/809-5149

info@SpiritLala.com

 

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