Back to Routines at the Homestead

Pomegrenade
Ceramic, encaustic, acrylic. metal, wood
Shanna Wheelock, 2011
(photograph by Leslie Bowman)

The American Craft magazine article about my work should be on newstands soon!
(August/September 2011 issue)
to preview the article go to:
"Remote Revival"

Playing around with encaustics the past couple days, I decided to make another pomegranate.
The smooth texture and color is luscious!

This sci-fi looking contraption by John McMurray is a vent!

Honey Pot
(not yet trimmed or fired, fresh off the wheel!)

Big bowl drying on a bat affixed to the wheel.
It's a workout for my arms to center such a big lump of clay.

Bello LOVES garden time.

Bello guarding the bean pole beans.

Bouli playing inside the factory sculpture.
I had been wondering why all the furniture was tipped-over on floors one and three.
Now I know.

It's a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Lubec. The sun is shining, birds singing, sky blue, temps warm. I rose early the past two days and accomplished throwing tasks well before noon, and that left me with time to play with wax and do a few "chores" for the shop. It feels good to have a somewhat uninterrupted week ahead to get things done. Production has been a bit behind this summer for various reasons: bees, globe sculpture, travel, but overall, summer has been productive and pleasurable. I am going to put a request in to the weather goddess for an extension - maybe an extra month or two of summer if that could be arranged? Please and thank you.

The shop is looking a bit sparse of late, but that translates as good because it means that I have had good sales. I've been throwing lots of new work but the drying time is slow: up to three weeks. I finally managed a bisque fire on Thursday and am at this moment firing a second load. I plan to glaze mid week and am looking forward to restocking shelves next weekend. Inspired by the bees, I have begun to make honey pots. The final shape is an unknown until they are trimmed, but so far, I like them. The little lids are adorable!

The past few days entailed a routine of early waking (about 4:oo or 5:00 a.m.), pottery production in "the cave", then time tending to the shop, office details, and encaustic painting. We've enjoyed the company of friends from Cape Breton and Blue Hill. Also, John McMurray, our Lubec Arts Alive sculpture expert who also is quite the engineer, stopped by with a cool new sci-fi looking contraption that will act as a vent for the pottery studio. Air quality will be much better for our lungs! Thanks, John!

All else is going well on the homefront. Bouli is growing and becoming quite demanding. Yes, she seems to rule the roost here. Bello is making slow progress toward reclaiming his space on the feline totem pole but prefers to send most of his time with the beanpoles in the garden. Compared to last summer, the garden looks fantastic! I hear other folks in more southernly areas brag about their bounty of fresh tomatoes and squash, but we have only had a few peas, three cherry tomatoes, swiss chard, and herbs to pluck. Lubec climate is a bit cooler and this is probably why things are behind. I am hoping we can harvest plenty for canning and dehydrating before snow hits!!!! All else fails, we always have the apple trees.

I have a full schedule planned for this week - appointments, shop, production, and supply ordering. I can't believe that it is already August. The Machias Wild Blueberry Festival is in three weeks and I am going to try my hand at vending once again. It's been years. The time leading up to the festival will be nonstop busy in the studio, as well as the time following. Soon I will be back to teaching and taking classes at Heartwood. Each month through November has pottery events slated. Reality is sinking in...I best finish-up this blog and get to work!

Holiday Sale

Shelves full of newly-fired pottery ready for opening day of the sale.
Cobscook Pottery & Fiber Arts
Annual Holiday Sale
November 12-14, 2010

Small bowls that cradle nicely in the hand.
$20

Mead Mug
(Works well for hot cocoa or coffee too!)
$32

Sake Set
$65

Lidded Jar
$115

Large pasta bowl.
$45

Yes. It is that time of year again. The turkey hasn't even made it out of the oven but we are already thinking jingle bells and decorated trees. This weekend is the annual Holiday Sale at Cobscook Pottery and Fiber Arts, and even though it has been warm, clear skies and not a stitch of snow, the sounds of Ella singing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" can be heard from the shop.

It's always an enjoyable weekend for me. I get to visit with lots of local friends and show off the season's new wares. It is also tradition for my sister, who is the designer of the fabulous "Indigo Iris" jewelry, to visit for the weekend. In between customers, we've been able to hang out and do "catch-up" on our lives. I have also been able to fit in a bit of encaustic painting here and there. That's definitely a bonus!

Last night we celebrated work-done-well with an evening out at the Water Street Tavern and Inn. It felt good to just relax and breathe a bit, and prepare for the final day of sale, which is today. We'll still be open by chance or appointment until December 23rd, but if you are able to catch the sale in-person today, you'll get to partake of the tasty homemade cookies and cocoa! Not to mention, we are raffling off two $25 gift certificates! One was drawn last night and the happy winner is returning today for some shopping fun "on-the-house".

I need to prep, so this is a quick blog entry. I do have a poem to share, though. It was an honor to receive this worded gift by email from phenomenal writer and amazing woman Pam Brown, who is currently in California compliments of a fellowship to work on a new book. It is such an honor to make an appearance in one of her poems, especially alongside pomegranates. Thanks, Pam!
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Pomegrenade

for Shanna

Under the glamorous San Gabriels

rosy with randy sun,

this parking lot is lousy with pomegranates.

They look at me with Alhambra in their hearts –

I wish I could give Shanna a ticket to Spain.

I can't steal one, there are too many --

like this one, small though perfect

or that one, split, past its prime

or those gnawed-out black mouths

such mocking fruit

bobbing in the hot wind looking like

hand grenades something red

hot blood straining to split

the world

eros tyrannos you come

on all four legs (Sappho said)

to eat greedily and with

tearful thighs . . .

ignore them get in the Subaru

swan up the foothills

in the sheer joy of wasteful

pterodactyl

delusions

Grenade
2010, Shanna Wheelock
Clay, metal, acrylic, wood
35" x 45"

A detail of the sculpture

Close-up of the pomegranate

The initial sketch for the pomegranate

Five poms sculpted (extras in the case of a kiln disaster...good to be prepared!)

Initial sketch for the grenade

Planning for the grenade project began in December of 2009. I remember spending an entire day in the studio sketching and writing the proposal. I still have the paper with my hen-scratch scrawl and a list of about twenty things that I could visualize as a possible long-term project.

I am a student in what Heartwood College of Art refers to as their "Pioneer Pod". We are a small group of artists working toward our MFA in the state's first low-residency program of its kind. The program is a good fit for me. I am able to work independently in my own studio under the guidance of a mentor and an advisor. We gather once a semester for a "weekend intensive" and move along at the rate of two classes each term. Though it is an immense amount of work, I am able to schedule it around my full-time teaching job without interruption. As an arts educator, this is a perfect program as it complements what I do in the classroom perfectly.

So, I spent that winter day in December in the studio racking my brain for an idea that I would be willing to commit myself to for five month's time. I am not sure exactly how the image came to me, but I began to research grenades. As soon as I read the Wikipedia entry, I was solid in my idea.

"The French military term grenade probably comes from the shape of the pomegranate fruit, which is also called grenade in French."

Wikipedia

Much of my work in the past has emphasized symbols and objects associated with women-centered mythology. The idea that the term grenade was a direct translation intrigued me. I decided to juxtapose the two objects: The pomegranate with it's warm magenta color and ancient fertility symbolism against the drab cool color of the grenade which represents the loss of life.

I researched the grenade online as well as read a US military issued book on grenades. An inert M67 grenade was purchased and used as the model for each of the hand-sculpted objects. The process was long, often tedious, and came with lots of challenges that I did not foresee. Ultimately, I feel that I became a better artist for having to endure the many obstacles. Perhaps, this experience could be understood as my "artistic rites of passage".

My philosophy associated with the piece runs much deeper than I am stating here, but for now, I will allow the image to ruminate within each viewer, permitting interpretation.

Life is still moving at a fast clip and the past few weeks are a blur. It is a good feeling to have the final evaluation complete, as well as my two major projects. I'll plan to post pics of my second MFA creation next week , the "Transformation Tapestry".

As a side note - it was way cool to see myself and my words in glossy magazine color. If you have access to a news-stand that carries "Artscope" (termed "New England's Culture Magazine") you can find me on page 12, in the column "Roundtable", May/June 2010 issue.

Things Don't Always Go as Planned

Sketchbook entry, 01.22.10

First day working with clay in basement studio, 01.23.10

Story Loom warped and ready for weaving.

Have you ever noticed how no matter how much you plan something, work out the details in your mind, sketch it down on paper, that things never....NEVER....go as planned. Not precisely, anyway.

Sometimes the veering off-course brings about disaster, but sometimes (hopefully most times) it brings about new insight and interesting new directions.

Enthusiastically, I am a student again. I love to learn and had been waiting for an opportunity to present itself for me to return to school. When Heartwood College of Art came up with a low-residency MFA program that was feasible for me to do while still keeping my full-time teaching job, I jumped on-board. The official start-date of classes was January 18th. My mind has been working overtime for the past month mentally mapping out project ideas and physically pushing myself to the point of exhaustion to get the two studio spaces primed for production.

How this new program works is this:

The student artist moves at a pace of two "classes" per semester. A mentor/advisor is assigned who oversees the student. Before this current semester began, I submitted two "class" proposals. There were some basic guiding parameters which needed to be followed, but within those parameters, there was still plenty of room for my own interpretation and ideas. Other than self-directed work, we have weekend intensives on campus where we participate in critiques and workshops.

I designed two well-thought-out proposals. I knew the clay I would use, the way I would warp my loom, the surface treatments, the final presentation.

However, from day one working in the studio, things started to not go as smoothly as I imagined in my mind.

It threw me off for a bit. I had this set plan and finished product that I had sketched. I knew what I wanted. But...it wasn't going to happen.

Thankfully, I put the perfectionist in me to the side, and decided to try another route. Once I did that, I was on a roll, back on schedule, albeit with some re-designing.

(note: I had begun this blog entry only to be interrupted by unforeseen circumstances....what follows is the rest of my blog entry, written two and half hours later than when I originally started this morning. I am making a great case for the title of this blog entry!)

Until this morning.

I woke raring to go. I "stumbled" out of bed, literally. A bit of a dizzy spell. No biggie. Happens once in a while. This won't stop me - I have a "plan".

THE PLAN
1. 7:30 a.m., turn on heat in basement pottery studio
2. 7:40 a.m., feed cat, make cocoa, return to bed, blog, read a couple chapters in required book for MFA program.
3. 9:30 a.m., eat breakfast, put-on pot of chicken soup for quick lunch and supper
4. 10:00 a.m.,head into basement and put-in 5 hours with clay: pomegranate sculptures and test tiles, listen to some excellent tunes
5. 3:00 p.m., shower then spend a couple hours journaling or weaving

Well...that sounded like a wonderful plan. But....it is 11:00 a.m. and here I am trying to finish the blog I began at 7:45 a.m.

here is how it actually went down:

1. 7:30 a.m., turn on heat in basement pottery studio. (Check)
2. 7:40 a.m., make cocoa (check)

Now this is where it all goes off-course.....

7:45 a.m. - What the heck? Still dizzy? The floors are feeling a bit rounded to me today. Is the house off kilter? I mean, any more than usual? This place is over 150 years old. Hmmm

8:15 a.m. - I think I'll reposition myself in bed. Oops, dizzy again just trying to sit up.

8:30 a.m. - downstairs to take blood pressure. gee, that looks fine. Hmmm. floors still feel funny when I try to walk on them.

8:40 a.m. - back to warm bed, work on blog. Mind wanders. Yesterday was first full day in basement working on pottery - with the new propane heater in a tightly closed space. What if? Oh no. What if there is a carbon monoxide problem in the house? Hmmm....what do I do about this? I don't dare to drive an hour to Calais to buy a monitor, too dizzy. Not safe.

8:45 am. -put on clothes, begin to open doors and windows....just in case. Open the door by deck that is closest to propane tank, smell gas, hear hissing noise. Crap. This happened back in December. A leak again?

8:50 a.m. - put on boots, stand back up after tying laces, almost fall over. Wow, that was fun (not). Sit down in chair to rebalance self. Stand up slowly, head down to basement, turn off propane heater. Open cellar door, walk to tank, still hissing, stinky propane. Open cover. Tighten cap. Hissing stops.

9:00 a.m. - Call poison control and ask "who do I call if I need to have carbon monoxide levels checked in house?" Lots of questions...they tell me to call fire dept. Call fire department. More clarifying questions, tell me to call 911. Call 911, assuring them not an immediate emergency, but "just wondering how I can find out if leaky propane is an issue."

9:05 a.m. - sirens, firetrucks, ambulance, cars....people with monitors walking through house, checklists. My vitals are good, no carbon monoxide issues.

10:15 a.m. - totally embarrassed but grateful that folks came along to make sure that things are okay. Closed up windows and doors, warming up under electric blanket, eating breakfast, blogging. Feet up. Propane company has been called.

So, that brings me up until now, which is 11:30 a.m. I am finishing up my blog, have a full belly, and am awaiting the next visitor who will check the tank and probably remove it since this is the second time it has leaked. I am itching to get into basement and work with the clay. Taking things slowly though and keeping check of dizziness.

I think Bello would be content for me to stay put here in this chair. He seems quite comfy laying on my legs which are just underneath the warm electric blanket. Alas, there is work to be done downstairs, and I will, being careful to keep myself steady, make my way down there, turn up the tunes, and begin to wedge me a clump of clay.