Journal

News from Dowd House Studios: places to find our pottery, exhibitions, classes & workshops, new forms and exciting projects.

Filtering by Tag: small sculpture

Whodunnit??

February 28, 2021Jenny Dowd

The Art Association’s annual anonymous art show kicked off a few days ago, did you guess which piece was mine? This year the pieces are all on display at the Art Association Gallery and Center for the Arts Gallery with purchasing and viewing online. Some pieces are still available and a heated silent auction is also in process, check it all out here: https://whodunnit.afrogs.org/#/index All sales benefit the art education programs at the Art Association.

I was asked to make a 12 x 12 canvas, and since I still don’t know how to deal with a canvas surface I made my own support. But first, a ladder…

For some reason I just wanted to make a small porcelain ladder and when it came out of the kiln I knew what my piece would look like. I was thinking of all the helpful but slightly awkward tools I like to draw on mugs, but what if I made them 3D? (See them here)

Ladder, hammer, scissors, staple gun, wrench, carpenters pencil, and tape measure. Each tool got its own pocket and I embroidered the pocket with clues or an outline of the object.

I also made sure to test the scissors.

So here it is, The Basics. Just enough to start any project! The piece ended up like a pillow for the wall with little pockets for the tools. It was pretty exciting to see my piece in the gallery with a red dot before it got picked up by the purchaser!

The sale & auction is open until March 4th at 6pm MST check it out here

categories Art Exhibitions, New Ideas, Process
tags Art Association of Jackson Hole, whodunnit, small sculpture

Ensemble

May 25, 2018Jenny Dowd

It's time for the Laramie County Library annual book arts exhibition, Inspiration and the Artist Book. As usual, this year's theme left me stumped for a few months: Ensemble. I rolled the idea around in my head as I worked on other projects and brainstormed with my dad (now you know my secret!)

This time I went tiny, deciding to make an ensemble of clothing. But it's not just any clothing- these items are made from the pages of an old book.

I started out by making tiny patterns and testing how to fold the paper with the fewest number of folds or overlaps.

I really wanted a hat as part of this wardrobe, it took me a few tries to figure out how to display it. At first I made a stand-alone hat rack, but that seemed too complicated. In the end I added a little hook onto the clothing stand so all the little pieces would be together.

The clothing rack and hangers are made from black wire. I like the gestural line quality and felt it fit well with the pages of text.

The final piece is very small, 8 inches tall by 10 inches long.

Book Jackets

Each person is a book. We are each an ensemble of ideas, information, fact, fiction, stories, dreams and musings. In order to face the day we wrap ourselves in what we have, leaving space in the wardrobe for more items and changing styles.

By mixing and matching we create a story to be presented to the world, adding and sharing pages and pieces through conversation, reading, living, and researching.

This tiny delicate piece was also a challenge to pack for shipping. In the end it occupied a much larger box than I would have imagined for such a small piece... but the box only weighed 4 pounds!

Visit this book sculpture in person and see how all the other artists interpreted "Ensemble." The show will be on display at the Laramie County Library in Cheyenne, WY from June 8 - August 8, 2018.

categories Projects, New Ideas, Art Exhibitions, Sculpture
tags Laramie County Library, ensemble, Book Arts Invitational, bookart, small sculpture, paper sculpture, paper clothing

Whodunnit?

March 10, 2018Jenny Dowd

Whodunnit? is my favorite event & fundraiser at the Art Association, and it was last night! This yearly event is a celebration of tiny anonymous art. Around 200 artists create and donate 6x6 inch artworks that are signed on the back.

One reason I like this event so much is that I find the 6x6 inch format difficult. After my usual struggle, the final piece often marks the exploration of a new idea in my studio. The small canvas becomes a sketch for a new path or it helps me figure out a problem to work through an idea I've been mulling over.

I've made several pieces over the past years for this event, but haven't managed to photograph them all. Here's what I found...

2010

Tooth Fairy Notes

At this time I was trying out some new materials and working to make the canvas feel more like clay. I was also writing some funny little stories and haiku about the Tooth Fairy.

2015

Envy

I think this was the first time I made the "canvas" instead of using the provided canvas. But most importantly, this piece was the first time flowers or little mischevious vases showed up in my sculpture!

2016

Remember when?

I'm still mulling this idea over, of adding depth by combining drawing with sculpture. This was the piece that started me thinking about that idea.

2017

Books

This was a tiny version of a small piece I had made in 2016 for a book arts exhibition at the Laramie County Library. (See that piece Here.) I had lots of leftover little books and wanted to revisit the idea and keep the background open. I added the flowers because as much as I love having flowers around the house, they have to be put up on high shelves or else my cat knocks the vase over. So I'm often finding wilted flowers here and there.

2018

The flower stage

This time I wanted to make something that would change with different backgrounds (I only made one, but photographed it on a few different papers.) I've been thinking a lot about stages and invented settings. I've also recently discovered that I love working with cardboard and I like showing some of the "how" behind the craft.

I'm still excited about the ideas behind each of these pieces (and the ones I forgot to photograph) and am looking forward to seeing what these ideas lead to!

categories Art Exhibitions, Community Projects
tags Art Association of Jackson Hole, whodunnit, small sculpture, jenny dowd

Spiders!

August 27, 2016Jenny Dowd

Last weekend I participated in a unique project: Spiders! Interconnectedness, Innovation and Stewardship. Organized by Sarah Kariko, Research Director of Gossamer Labs, this project brought together a team of artists and scientists with the mission to explore the biodiversity of spiders found in Grand Teton National Park.

The setting for this exhibition was the Berol Lodge at the AMK Ranch in Grand Teton National Park. The pop-up exhibition was kicked off last weekend with a talk at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, WY as well as an opening reception on August 21st. While I helped with some of the installation, I ended up missing the reception, so unfortunately I did not take photographs of the exhibition.

These tiny sculptures were my contribution to the exhibition. I took inspiration from the daily lives of spiders:

Crab Spiders hang out on bright yellow clumps of Arrowleaf Balsamroot while they watch for prey:

This detail of a layered velum drawing is my representation of the afternoon activities of orb-weaving spiders as they repair and rebuild webs. Then in the evening, between hunting and repairing webs, I imagine that a spider would admire her collection of silk wrapped prey- reminiscing over large captures and particularly tasty meals.

DG House created a painting of the Crab Spider sunning itself on the Arrowleaf Balsamroot and Chef Oscar Ortega fabricated a beautiful solid chocolate spider sculpture!

I learned a lot from this project, from the daily spider activities that inspired my sculptures, to venom research and spider silk synthesis innovation. I even had the opportunity to see a recently discovered spider in person.

The Mason Spider is currently being studied, yesterday I met up with Sarah Kariko to see Maggie Raboin's research site. After the Mason Spider attaches her egg sac of spiderlings to a rock, she builds a mound of objects around it: pebbles, grass stalks, seeds, flower petals... These tiny mounds (1 - 2 inches) blend right in with their surroundings and are beautifully built. As an artist who takes inspiration from collected objects, I found this fascinating! (Look closely in the center image for a tiny snail shell)

This project has only just begun, in 2017 the exhibition will travel to the University of Wyoming in Laramie. I hope to have the opportunity to see these artists and scientists again, who knows where this inspiration will lead!

categories Art Exhibitions, Community Projects
tags Spiders, inspiration, small sculpture, AMK Ranch, Sarah Kariko

contact us

Dowd House Studios