These shops have done so much to support and help local artists.  PLEASE GET OUT THERE AND SUPPORT THEM!  If you are not in California…call them, ask if they ship!  We feel so grateful and blessed to have these shop owners in our lives, and would really appreciate anything you can give back to them.  HAPPY HOLIDAYS!  And thank you all for helping us fulfill our dream, it has truly been an amazing year.

The 2012 PAINT and CLAY Holiday Gift Guide:

Platform: (Highland Park) http://www.theplatformexperiment.com/

General Store: (Venice Beach)  http://shop-generalstore.com/

Mohawk General Store Holiday Market:  (Silverlake)  http://www.dwell.com/articles/mohawk-general-store-holiday-market.html

Bespoke:  (Truckee)  http://www.bespoketruckee.com/

THANK YOU!

For this post I am focusing on some things I had done in graduate school, revisited this spring, and the strong links they all have to what I am doing now, and a few AMAZING coincidences that go along with both projects.  WARNING:  this is going to be a long one…..but it’s good…I promise.

Project 1: Monotypes. Monotype is a printing process in which you paint on plexiglas with ink and roll through a press on damp paper which absorbs the ink.  You only get one shot, it is immediate and can give you great layering.   I have a little history with printmaking that dates back to grad school (and undergrad too) where my first teaching assistant job was for the printmaking classes at Clemson, and I could not get enough!  The process is so different than painting. It allowed me to switch gears, learn many different new techniques/materials, all while focusing on a similar subject matter.  So, fast forward to this spring…..I received a call from Gypsey, the Clemson Library Director (who is a totally rad person) saying that in their re-organizing they found a drawer full of my prints!  These are prints from 2004, practically vintage!  I had done a collaborative marathon monotype print session (a crazy story in itself) while there and stored the work in the library.  So why did I leave them there so long that I forgot they existed?  Well, again, those of you who know me know that I often forget things in my impulses to do new things (and that is what happened).  She sent them to me and I went back into them with paint, charcoal and pastel to modernize them and the photos below are what they look like now!  The final image is a photo of one of the prints framed and installed at it’s new owner Sarah Brady’s house.

Project 2: I have always been obsessed with patterns….patterns in life, creating pattern, patterns in any form.  I have also been a texture junkie since I was little.  I used to choose library books based on the way the pages would feel (my mom can confirm this).  So naturally, I have experimented with different textile design before with screen-printing and dying but neither process satisfied my fascination with pattern itself. So….fast forward to now, BATIK!  Roger and I thought this would be a perfect medium for me (thanks Rog).  And here is where the second coincidence comes into play.  My aunt Kathryn who is one of my creative inspirations and my namesake, randomly (the universe knows it is not random) sent me a book by Richard M. Proctor called Principles of Pattern Design.  She knows I love pattern and is often encouraging me in new ways, oh, and she had no idea I was thinking about doing batik.  As I opened the book, I FREAKED OUT!!  Most of the examples inside are…none other than….BATIK!  I mean, even Roger was freaking out.  This was too perfect.  I had to do it.  So, below are the photos from my first attempt at batik, which will be stitched together into one tapestry and will act as a tablecloth for an upcoming event I put together.

Moments like these make me realize that I AM doing the right thing.  I mean, even talking about it now, I can hardly describe how satisfying it is to have people in my life who support the creative life (and are creatives themselves).  Thank you Gypsey and Aunt Kathryn, this post is dedicated to YOU!

Not too long ago we were contacted by our friend Heather River who opened a shop in Truckee called Bespoke.  As an artist herself, she makes amazing pieces with textile, and practically every other material she can get her hands on.  Most recently she is focusing on baby goods.   We always knew she would have a great shop, and after so much hard work she fulfilled her dream on the river in Truckee.  She has such great taste and Truckee needed her eye to help curate a wonderful space….which she has DEFINITELY done!  With the help of her family, Brian (super talented musician) and little Orland (cutest child in the world), she is living the dream, and we are sooooo happy for them.  Here are a few shots of her shop.  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go and check it out while on your Tahoe vacation, the shop is right on the river, and I know it will be nothing but a positive experience for anyone who walks in.

When we lived in Tahoe Heather was one of those people we instantly clicked with.  She dreams big, and has the talent to match, and we are very grateful to have stayed in touch with her family.  She was the first person who really made it possible for me to get my paintings onto fabric.  I always wanted to do it.  Heather made it happen.  We collaborated, and Heather made some great wrist cuffs and skirts with a few of my paintings turned textile.  They were sooo cool!  Unfortunately that was before “instagram” and “facebook” and documenting everything and anything under the sun, so there are no photos of the finished pieces.  But one of my friends still wears his cuff to this day….

Shelter Half came about thanks to a great duo of women (Susan and Carrie) who introduced Roger’s work to them.  Originally meant to be a “pop-up shop” it has proven to be a great experiment, and hopefully will stay open indefinitely.  It is probably the coolest shop/space I have ever seen.  They have such great, well-made pieces by many different designers/artists.  Stormy Monday rocks just about everything they get their hands on (not to mention their logo is genius).   Roger’s  work really sings in the space, as though it has found it’s home.  This can be hard to find sometimes in such a big city.  Also, the energy in that space is just magnetic, and the woman, Virginie who runs it is a ray of sunshine!

Thanks Heather and Virginie for believing in and supporting art!

Side note…..Roger showed up in the L.A. Times  (click to read) recently!!!  They did a piece on different styles of planters, and included Roger’s hanging planters, photographed at Platform in L.A.

Once again, our friends at Platform have included us in a new venture they have been exploring (with much success I might add).  Platform has entered the world of home-staging in Los Angeles.  Not your average home-staging however, they offer a very unique aesthetic viewpoint, spotlighting all local artists/crafts people, and offer all of their items for sale.  The most recent home is located in the Silverlake neighborhood, where beautiful mid-century homes are found in lush surroundings.  This particular abode included a pool and an incredible view of the reservoir (the closest thing to a lake in Los Angeles).

Both Roger and my work are featured throughout the home.  This particular venture was very exciting because there are not many other options for a 6′x 6′ painting to go (in our house) after a show!  I have always thought it would be a great pairing for artists and designers to team up to do home-staging…..and like this city tends to do….it happened!  That is one of the things about Los Angeles that continues to amaze me, you have the possibility to really make anything happen here.  It is sooooooo exciting and a testament to some of the wonderful people we have met here in the city.  Below are photos of our work in the home.  We would like to thank Sarah and Alex for their continued support of local Los Angeles artists!

As much as this blog is about news, I always want it to be about the process it takes to get to that point.  So, in staying true to my vision…..I have included a few “progress” shots the large painting (in particular) has gone through in the year it took me to complete it.  It is fun to take photos after each studio session, because I am basically a schizophrenic  painter and each day I see something completely new I can do to a piece, sometimes good, sometimes making it worse.  In showing you this, I hope to introduce a new way of seeing the work.  That there is sooo much that goes into each painting and most of it, you may not even see in the end!

The first board I ever painted was done in Clemson, South Carolina, right on the ocean right??  NOT.  Roger and I met in Clemson during graduate school, and I knew nothing about surfing, but I did grow up on a lake and knew a lot about an unspoken love for being around water.  Roger had just moved there from a 10 year stint in Santa Cruz, an area that actually IS  known for it’s proximity to the ocean.  So, what happens when you take a Midwestern girl who grew up on a lake, and a surfing California boy and throw them into the South?  Well, (naturally) they find the ocean.  We would drive 4 hours to Charleston on the weekends just to be near the water.  Roger’s long-board had been through the ringer, so we came up with the grand idea to paint the backside.  Below is the result.  This board is still in existence, although with many years under it’s resin, has been since repaired several times, so the painting is a bit beat up now.

The next board was painted somewhere in between our adventures in Portland, OR, and Incline Village, NV.  Again, we gravitated towards the ocean, and believe me when I tell you, NOTHING compares to the beauty of the Pacific Northwest Coastline.  These were some frigid waters, but the majestic nature of the cliffs and the hikes to actually get to the water were something else.  After Portland it was off to Lake Tahoe where we were fortunate enough to live 5 minutes from the lake.  Although Lake Tahoe does not provide much in the way of waves, it did fulfill our longing for the aquatic, and snowy mountains in the winter.  Not much surfing was done on these waters, but we spent many a sunny day on our friend’s sailboat, or rock jumping (no, not the extreme version…our version…literally jumping from rock to rock to find the highest one to jump off of).  And this water sparkles, I mean, there are literally gold flecks floating around in the crystal clear blue water.  MAGIC I TELL YOU!

Still with me??  I really want to share these moments, because as I was digging up the photos I was laughing so hard, and thinking, “man, life is short” and so much happens that we sometimes forget those moments.  These boards are projects, but also symbolize moments in a story.  Hopefully they will help you understand a bit more about Paint + Clay!

Upon returning to New York Richard immediately put in an order for more work.   Richard Ostell’s shop is a new project which will feature handcrafted design items, as well as vintage pieces. Roger enthusiastically locked himself in the studio (during which time he only comes out for dinner…) and last week sent out the new body of work including a variety of bowls (17 in total) and bud vases (8 total).  It is inspiring to see people who support emerging artists, and Roger working so hard to share his work with others, come together.  He is very excited to be part of Richard’s new project, and we hope to make a trip East to see the shop in the near future.  In the meantime, here are some photos of the collection to be featured in October!  (The website is still under construction, but you can get a taste of what is to come just by looking at the home page at……www.richardostell.com.  See more of Roger’s work at www.rogerleeceramics.com).

These photos were taken at our first showing together in L.A, aptly named…..PAINT and CLAY.  The work was showcased at Platform on York Ave. in Highland Park.  The wonderful owners of this shop are friends and supporters of local artisans.  They are a creative couple themselves, and started the shop out of a love of art and design, we are very grateful for their support and smiling faces!  The work is an exploration of the materials paint and clay.  The ceramics were thrown by Roger and then painted using underglazes by Kat.  The walls featured paintings/prints by Kat.  Hope you enjoy!

Related Links:

www.kathutter.com

www.rogerleeceramics.com

www.theplatformexperiment.com