From Flat Mesh to 3D - Part 3

This is my new teapot project after completing all the dippings in paper clay slip. The teapot and the base are separate pieces. I decide to build the base for the teapot to sit on and to elevate it off the ground.

It took me 19 dips over a span of 8 days in the Gault 1o paper clay slip and about the same number of dips over 4 days in the Southern Ice Porcelain paper clay slip (thin consistency) to achieve this.

I used the Southern Ice porcelain paper clay slip for the final coats because I really like the brilliant whiteness of the porcelain paper clay when it is bisqued fired to Cone 04. One of the properties of paper clay is that you can add wet paper clay (in the case, slip) to a bone dry piece with no problems at all. The piece is bone dry and ready for bisque fire.

It's a sculptural piece, a take from my earlier work titled "Empty Calories"

From Flat Mesh to 3D - Part 2

This steel mesh form has been dipped 5 times with paper clay slip. The paper clay I am using is the Gault 10 Pclay from Aardvark. It's my standard paper clay for my sculptural works.

The first time the piece is dipped in the paper clay slip only a very light coating stays on the wire. With successive dippings, the layers build up and it depends on how thick you want the final form to be.

Right now, it is still in the formative stage. It will require many more dippings and dryings in between to build up to the final stage.

Summer time (or a very mild winter like what we are experiencing here in So. California right now) is always a great time to do this kind of project as the paper clay slip dries quite fast. On an average day, I can manage 2-3 dippings.

"Colony" Gets 2nd place

My sculpture "Colony" at the City of Brea Art Gallery "Made in California" received the 2nd place award last night at the Awards Ceremony.

Juror Sinead Finnerty-Pyne, curator from the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena selected seventy pieces of art out of approximately 500 statewide entries that included painting, sculpture, photography and installation art.

The show will run till May 6, 2011 at the City of Brea Art Gallery.

City of Brea 26th Annual Made in California Juried Exhibition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Anthony Foo is pleased to present his new ceramic sculpture, COLONY, at this year’s City of Brea 26th Annual Made in California Juried Exhibition. This exhibition runs from March 26^th thru May 6^th, 2011 at the City of Brea Art Gallery, Brea Civic & Cultural Center, 1 Civic Center, Brea, CA 92821. Phone: (714) 671-3601.

Opening reception is on Saturday, March 26^th from 7:00PM to 9:00PM. Admission is FREE.

Anthony Foo is an Orange County ceramic artist who has exhibited at the American Museum of Ceramic Art (AMOCA), Kellogg Art Gallery – Cal Poly Pomona, California State University Fullerton (CSUF) Grand Central Art Center, The McGroarty Art Center in Tujunga, City of Brea Art Gallery, Irvine Fine Arts Center and online Upstream People Gallery. He and his work have been written up in "Orange County Weekly," "Art to Art Palette" and "500 Raku" by Lark Crafts.

“COLONY is the newest in my paper clay and wire mesh sculptures,” says Foo.

“This piece is made up of three subunits which can be arranged in various configurations, each giving a different feel and perspective. I like working this way as it allows the piece to be manipulated thus creating a "new" sculpture. Different people will arrange the work differently and this brings in the element of interactivity to the piece.”

To arrange an interview with the artist, please call (714) 528-9304, or send an email to info@anthonyfoo.com, or visit the website at www.anthonyfoo.com.

Sculpture within a Sculpture

This piece started out with 21 individual wire mesh pods that I made from a roll of chicken wire (steel mesh hardware cloth) that can be found in any home building supply store.

Each one was dipped in Southern Ice porcelain paper clay slip until the desired thickness was achieved. It took me about 2 weeks to get the thickness I liked.

The initial process was slow as I had to wait till the slip was completely dry before the next dip was made. As the layers build up, I was able to dip about 4-6 times a day depending on the weather conditions.

The final stage of this piece was assembling the individual pods into three groupings. This allows the sculpture to be arranged into different formations, each one giving a different feel to the composition.

As the steel wire is embedded in the clay, the work was fired to Cone 06 (bisque). No glazes were used. A clear coat was sprayed on the piece to seal the surface.