The Edge Gallery Show, Nov 4th/11

Well, it's about time I update my blog! It has been a while. As I have been way too busy selling shoes at The Bay. Having a full time job really limit my time on Ceramics, but you need money to do what you love!

The show at the Edge Gallery went a Great turn out!!! We had a lot of people stopped by and checked out the artists' works, the works included painting, photography, woodworking, other crafts and of course Ceramics! Hopefully the Edge is getting more attention after this event, and I believe in the future we are going to have more shows like that, just to let people see what our community is up to, and what we are capable of doing.

For those who's missed the show, here are a few pictures of my work that I put out for that night.
Enjoy!

If you have any questions, please ask :)

        Sold

                                              Snack plates $8 - all sold out

                                      none functional teapots, they are filled with candies right now in my studio ;)

Kaye

I'm not fully sure about the name I'm going to give to the brand, it's a tough choice! The name has to say a lot of things! It has to say a lot about who I am and my Style in shoes, and it has to stand out so that people will always remember the name of the brand. I refuse to use my own name on my shoes because I don't want everyone to be stepping on my name :P 


For those of you who wants to know a little bit more about this shoe (inspired by the necklace shown in the picture), I got a mail from Krystine today, and she wanted me to design a shoe for her wedding, and she wants it in blue (facebook blue she said lol), oh darn! she said she wanted it to be sparkly too (just re-read her mail), looks like I have some re-sketching to do!
So, anyway, Today when I was getting ready to go to work, i picked up this necklace from my desk, and i stared at it for quite some time, and was wondering how nice it would be if it was on my foot. So i placed it between my eyes and my right foot, adjusting the distance of the necklace so it wraps perfectly on my right foot. And I was like, O-M-G! I can turn this into a shoe! and for the rest of the day, i make sure i have the image in my head, not letting it slip away, cuz it's the best idea i've had in a long time.


When I got home and read Krystine's mail, I've decided to dedicate this shoe to her. Just because it is very appropriate for a wedding -in terms of idea (I'm really not sure how comfortable this shoe is going to be!); She is one of those people who are terrified of weddings! the word "wedding", literally, scares her. Who would've thought she's getting married before Whitney and I??? Who would've Thought????  Someone's found a key to her heart, and I sure hope those 2 live happily ever after! 


Below is the Sketch of the shoe! I have nO IDEA where to go from there! I don't even know if its possible to get that made!!! I have 2 years tho, so i hope i can do this!

New Life, New Goal.

So! For 26 yrs I have been wandering around not knowing what my goal was in life other than to marry a rich guy and live happily ever after. Met a guy of my dream but obviously it didn't work out (Jerks, too many of them!), and I was even more Lost. And when I had nobody to think about, nobody to see, I ended up having more time to think about how to make my ceramic shoes look more realistic. I watched many many videos on shoe making, I have many ideas and I drew them down on my sketch book for later reference. I saw that in the videos shoe makers make shoes with leather - DUH!!!! SO! I decided to let my clay dry under cover for a week, until it gets leather hard. And the nxt time I was at my studio, I was able to use that Leather-Hard clay to cut into slabs, and put together into a shoe like those shoe makers did.


But that didn't fulfill me, something was still Missing. What else can I do? At this point, my ceramics shoes have not been fired or glazed yet, so they are quite boring to look at. Right now, I'm not too worried about glazes, I just wanted to focus on the slab building skills. And then this came into my mind, "why make ceramic shoes, shoes that you can't wear, when you can make a real pair???"  Yep! That's how I came up with my future goal. I have looked at an enormous amount of shoes and designed a few in my sketch book. I originally wanted to go to Europe (London, to be specific) to take a shoe making course, but there is No way I can afford that. Therefore I have been looking and search for another path. I searched for shoe competitions, just to get my name out there, just to get noticed. but I found nothing for Canadians. And I certainly don't want to immigrant to the States just to enter some shoe competitions. There's gotta be another way.


I look around at my work place, there are A lot of shoes in the back room of our shoe department. each style we hold at least 10-20 pairs + they come in different colors, that's 20-30 pairs for one style, one color. And I seriously doubt all the designers Know how to make shoes. For instance, our Jessica Simpsons, and Fergielicious brand, do you seriously think Jessica Simpson and Fergie knows how to design and make the design? I really doubt they had the time to learn all that. So where did their products come from? Someone made it for them :)  I googled some manufacture places, and found some shoe factories! I'm getting closer to where I want to be, I can feel it!


I looked at the web site, this factory that I was looking at, they make shoes for Clarks and Nike... etc. Apparently you can just send them your design and they will make the shoe for you. And what they do is they will make a sample piece, to see if it matches to your design, if you don't like it or if you feel like it needs to be worked on more, they will work WITH you, until both parties are happy with the result. Next procedure will be pricing and shipping, all that can be negotiate. 


I remember what my Ceramics Prof Steve said to our class, if you are a ceramic artist that makes your own clay for your own work, you'll end up being a clay maker rather than an artist. However if you spend a little money on ready-made clay, then you'll have more time to work on your art, and able to produce more work. Same thing goes with shoes, if I'm going to learn how to make shoes, they would be made to view as an art form. But if I were to make shoes for the public, I better get it done by a manufacturer, just spend a little money for production, and I can make it all back in the end. 


I still want to go to school and learn how to make shoes, I want to be able to make a one-of-a-kind pair of shoes and have it view as an art work, something outrageous, something, crazy and wild, something that people would point at it and say "that's art".


Now, that I know what I want in life, and I have resources on how to achieve that goal. All I need is money,  a brand name and a way to sell off those shoes that I'm about to make.  I gotta say, I'm pretty darn excited about it!


Please, for my blog readers, if you have know of any shoe competitions out there, plz plz do let me know! I could really use some help right now!


Thank you for reading my blog, and more pix will be posted soon, once I have more work done.

Casual works

I will be spending sometime in the studio starting nxt week. Making functional wares. pictures will be posted once they are glaze finished. Price will be listed for purchase.  Check back for updates :)

Featuring "Gossip for 2" piece, sold in pairs!

All I Need

This is dedicated to all the moms and soon-to-be moms of 2011!

Gossip for Two

Continuing with the concept of shoes, I have decided to take a step further. Choosing parts of the form (from a shoe) that I like the most, and applying them onto something functional – cups. My intention was not to make cups that are representational to shoes, but rather focusing on having the essence of a shoe. Also, trying to explore the different possibilities in the forms and the relationships between the holder and pot.

The result is quite pleasing and satisfying. Using the shoe as a saucer which the cup is sitting on, tells me what women have in common, high tea, shoes, and gossip.

Looking at my cups and saucers, I can picture in my head of two females showing off the new pairs of designer shoes they bought recently and gossiping during tea time.

In the future, I am hoping to show improvement in the craft of making, and work more on making it more utilitarian. Perhaps using the same form but trying to speak a different content.

Runway 2011 (Rhoda Collection)

After the summer, I have used up all my ideas, I was lost, I didn't know what to make. The 1st couple projects that I did in Major class weren't as successful as they turned out to be. I thought I was done for, I thought that was it for my ceramics career. I don't understand sculpture, I can't throw, Slab building is too difficult and I'm not organized enough, pinching/coiling is too boring! During the second half of the year I have decided to cast whatever. But what? I looked back at my perious art, and realized that I don't make art that's personal to me only. I have made things ABOUT me, but nothing that I get Really attached to. Therefore, I have decided to turn to ONE thing that I am Obsessed about ----- Shoes! But they are not just any shoes, they are high heels in particular. and here are the reasons why...
I think heels are very important, they might not be the focal point, But if you wear the wrong pair of shoes, it could ruin your whole outfit. When heels are put on, it makes you taller, it makes your hip smaller, just think about why you only stand on your toes when you are Trying to put on your jeans ;) My shoes are made very delicately, with a reason. When I put on my heels, I feel delicate, and people around me feels the same. It is great to wear heels when you are out with a guy, he will always give you a hand, and ask if you are ok. Who doesn't like being treat delicately? I sure do. <3 <3 <3


The more I think about the reasons why I'm obsessed with shoes, the more I start to think about back when I was in high school. I was shy, still am but a little better. I remember where I first found my confident. It was on the runway, held in my high school. When you are up there and 10 spot lights are on you, you don't see anyone else, hense I didn't care, but just needed to look my best. I couldn't see, and slowly I couldn't hear words. all the noices became a background sound. I'm not gonna deny it, it is a great feeling when you are up there, and everyone is sitting down below looking up at you. Hense, I made this piece to remind me what it felt like to have confident. This piece reminds me what I was able to do.

Life is like a runway, everyone gets to be up there once, some gets a longer run, some may only gets to spend 3 mins there. And when you have confident, you don't care what everybody thinks.

Slab build, domestic porcelain claybody.
Andrew Martin's glaze fire to cone 09.
Luster fire to cone 018.

More work (made in 2010 april-may)

Body Supplement

In textile context, body supplement define as things that we temporarily attached to our bodies (except for clothings), ie. earrings, necklace, shoes, purse etc. This was one of the disscusion that came up in my textile class, and I raised this question "does pet count as one?"  I remember that year, all the celebraties took turn posing in magazines with their "hand-carry puppy" followed by Paris Hilton. And then after a while, puppies turned into Babies!!! Stars are getting pregnant as young as age 16. Did they really wanted to be a parent? or did they just want media attention? A lot of these celebraties are people we look up to, our idols. Are they responsible for teenagers getting pregnant before marriage these days? Because they made it seems like an "easy" job? Are these teenagers Ready to be a responsible mom or dad? It kills me when I see a kid is being treat poorly on the bus, on the street, especially in a restaurant where I was working at. But who am I to judge? all I can do is putting this piece up as one of the topic people should be aware of.

Above are just jars with lids that I've been throwing during the summer. I love throwing on a wheel, it clears your mind and then all of a sudden your lost in the wheel. Of course though, you can't really throw unless you have a clear mind. I can't listen to songs, I can't talk and i sure can't have other things in my mind when i throw. I realized that i tend to throw better when I'm listening to classical piano musics :)

Casting project. It was my last project for the summer, and i just wanted to make something fun, nothing with toooooo much meaning hide within my work. everytime i have casted a seahorse, it felt like the mould was giving birth, some turned out beautiful and others didn't. Seahorses is a symbol for strength and luck. Each seahorses have its own strength. Strength to love, strength for friendship, success, health, wealth etc. It's been a really fun project :)

Pervious work (Advance Ceramics)

Man Vs. Nature

When I think about Man and Nature, I think about how nature made us, and then we developed technology to make our living more efficient, to make our lives easier and better. However, everything has it's consequence; Yes, cars, heat and Ac might have made our living more enjoyable; machines have made us work better and faster but in the end, it is what kills us quicker. Things died from pollution, oceans are contaminated with chemicals and people are being killed in wars with more advance weapons. When you think about it, you can't say "oh we should've never let techology came into this world", becuase we need it. If technology has never existed, researchers and scientists could never find new ways to fight disease; Without airplanes, helping and supporting another country with our supplies would be difficult. No matter what, in the end when we die, we return back to nature. And this is the cycle that I've understand, the world is round, what goes up must come down, we must return to where we came from.

Hense, in this work, the heart could be said as part of the tree, and the tree could be seen as part of the heart. Man is nature, nature is man, the more we try to differenticate the two the more questions we will end up with. And somtimes the answer to a question is never achievable. 

*Who am I*

I'm not sure half of the time.

I don't know a lot of things, I know how to make art, I know how to love, and I know how to give. I always thought I was born in the wrong Era. This world is too Modern, and absolutely too complicated for me. I just want a simple life, do what women did 200 years ago. I want to live in a fair tale, where I would know -> "we" could live happliy ever after. I want someone to sweep me off my feet, and carry me for the rest of our journey, someone i can rely on (which means he's gotta be smarter than me), and someone who's willing to know me. I think im born to love, i can give up anything for love, love comes 1st., when im in love, im pretty much blinded to everything else that's surrounding me, so dont mind me if im too drawn to the person whose walking beside me, and sort of missed ya when ur passing by. It's not my fault. Im in love :)

If you've met me, i don't really like talking about myself becuze not everybody likes to listen to one's life long story; just b/c they hear me, doens't mean they are listening to me. So i much rather write them out, therefore, if u are intersted, u can read it. and since ur reading this, u mite as well follow my blog ;)  it'll only get betteh!

So that's a little be about myself to get you started. find out more about me thru my arts, if u dare. . .

- the Beginning of my new blog - the Beginning of a new life -

Baby Maya was born on March 10, 2011. Congratz Whitney and Paul, she's a work of Art :)

I remember holding her for the first time, worrying that she might cry because I was holding her uncomfortably. But she smiled with her eyes half-opened. A little while later she would open her eyes even more, and I could see her beautiful blue eyes. So beautiful! I will always remmeber when I first heard you sneeze Maya! I can't wait for you baby shower, you are gonna <3 the clothes I bought for you, you little diva!

As for my Blogs, I will start posting pictures of my work once i have something to show, and will also talk about how I have come up with my ideas. Other than showing my Art works, I would also love to post up shoes that i find beautiful, gorgeous, hot, sexy, you name it! And artists/work of arts that have inspired me.

That is it for now, but more to come :)

 stay tune...