Pictures of the Sky, Mississippi 2011

My Roommate, James Ward

This is the work of my roommate, James Ward. I helped him take photos of his work for the ELF Fair at the Carrborro Arts Center. Check out the work there, and buy some! It's beautiful stuff.

Hello There, Internet

The new shop

The Manor

New Yard Art

Local clay turned into a casting body (really exciting!)

New work!

Well... It's been a while since I have updated my blog, for which I am sorry. I have moved myself, my stuff, and my kilns from Penland, NC to Orange County NC (between Hillsborough and Chapel Hill). It has been an adventure, but I think things are finally coming together. I fired my first bisque/ cone 10 cycle in a new gas kiln with mixed results. The house is an old cabin which has been added on to over the years. The water comes out of a spring fed pond, and in addition to drying up all the time, it is totally unsuitable for using in glazes or clay body mixtures. I have been buying distilled water from the grocery store and we set up a rainwater catchment system. I have plans for making a still to get pure water, but there are only so many hours in the day... Any ways, I hope to update this more often and show some of the interesting problems and solutions that occur when trying to set up a production studio in this sort of environment. Stay tuned, and as always, thanks for reading!

If you have any ideas about water purification, d.i.y. power generation, or generally being off the grid, email me: mark@markwarrenstudio.com

New Cups, eHow.com, etc

New cups. Slipcast, Cone 10

I love this faux marble trippy background.

In case you wondered, I use the following recipe for this translucent body:

Grolleg: 41%

G200 feldspar: 41%

SiO2 (200 mesh): 18%

and for a batch of 50 pounds, 75grams Sodium Silicate

Thats it, super easy and really pretty.

credit where credit is due- Tom Spleth came up with recipe, and I'm never kidding when I say that he has taught me everything I know about ceramics.

Also, check out eHow.com's article on identifying slip cast work, in which I am the "expert" consulted. Its good information, and I'm not (too) nitpicky, so I would say it is mostly correct. The author of the article was supercool, and it was really fun to get interviewed.

New Work, July 2011

Slipcast, Cone 10

Fired in my sweet new electric kiln. This is the first batch.

Mushroom Pieces

Not really planned, but a funny thing happens when I combine a bowl and a vase of the new series.

Kegs of Acid Music Video

Josh Carrigan and I made this video while I was in Philadelphia a few months ago. The footage is from my house in Mississippi, Josh's trip to Florida, and New Years Eve 2011, taken by Josh. We had no idea how to use iMovie, and this was the result.

The soundtrack is from a sound collage we made for the first Kegs of Acid tour, under the guru leadership of Chris Burke.

Beast

by Hannah Barefoot

Woody Cells of Conifer

Woody Cells of Conifer. From bibliodyssey.

Vespoe

Also, check out Vespoe.com, its a great website, AND check out my shop on there.

Model Citizens show at the Chelsea Art Museum

Future Retrieval

Rob Southcott

Organelle Design

My display.

It was an awesome experience and I met lots of awesome people. I don't have images, but please check out Leah Piepgras' work (it's amazing AND off putting, AND compelling, AND her and her husband Colin rock) , Rebecca Marshal with Paper No. 9 and Dave with Jack Profane, my neighbors. Check out the Model Citizens Website for links to reviews about the show.

AND I got my model spaceships featured on PSFK. AWESOME!

The Moon by David Berman

Photos of the moon in Mississippi, 2011

A web of sewer, pipe, and wire connects each house to the others.

In 206 a dog sleeps by the stove where a small gas leak causes him to have visions; 

visions that are rooted in nothing but gas. 

Next door, a man who has decided to buy a car part by part excitedly 

unpacks a wheel and an ashtray. 

He arranges them every which way. It’s really beginning to take shape. 

Out the garage window he sees a group of ugly children enter the forest. 

Their mouths look like coin slots. 

A neighbor plays keyboards in a local cover band.

 Preparing for an engagement at the high school prom, 

they pack their equipment in silence. 

Last night they played the Police Academy Ball and all the officers slow-danced

 with target range silhouettes. 

This year the theme for the prom is the Tetragrammaton. 

A yellow Corsair sails through the disco parking lot and swaying palms presage the

 lot of young libertines. 

Inside the car a young lady wears a 

corsage of bullet-sized rodents.

Her date, the handsome cornerback, stretches his talons over the molded steering wheel. 

They park and walk into the lush starlit gardens behind the disco just as the band is striking up. 

Their keen eyes and ears twitch. The other couples look beautiful tonight. They stroll around

 listening to the brilliant conversation. The passionate speeches.

Clouds drift across the silverware. There is red larkspur, blue gum, and ivy. A boy kneels before his date. 

And the moon, I forgot to mention the moon.

-David Berman, 1999