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View to a Kiln: Creating raku
IF YOU GOWhat: “A Taste of Raku” with artists Richard Rosen and Annabelle Johnson When: First Thursday evenings of the month, through season. Next class is 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday March 4, 2010; the following one will be April 1 Where: Rosen Gallery & Studios, North Line Plaza, 2172 J & C Blvd., Naples Admission: $43 per person, payable by check; reservations required. Class is limited to 15 persons Reservations: 821-1061 Everyone likes a little uncertainty, just a smidge of healthy surprise. If that riddle arrives in the form of something beautiful to behold, so much the better. Raku pottery is such a puzzle, at least in its end result, but its process is simple and straightforward and, as the participants in artist Richard Rosen’s “A Taste of Raku” class learned, no mystery at all. Rosen and fellow ceramic artist Annabelle Johnson offer the one-time class the first Thursday of each month at Rosen’s North Naples studio. The evening lesson is three hours, and during that time, attendees hear the history of raku, as well as pick a piece of pre-made pottery and decorate it with one of the studio’s deceptively dull glazes. Then, they place it in Rosen’s kiln, where it is fired for 45 minutes at 1851 degrees, revealing raku’s unexpected results. Pots that once promised to be luminescent blue can turn shimmery copper. Spidery black and white lines may develop, or they may not. Smokey streaks are created, or they aren’t, and whatever design the budding artist tried to impose upon the ceramic vessel could be exactly what was wanted — or an inexplicable alternative. Or, as Rosen noted: “Same glaze, same process, different results.” “Mother Earth puts her five percent in there,” he added. “But that’s part of the allure of doing this.” In a process full of wonders, it’s no wonder that for many who try raku, one attempt isn’t enough. February’s class had 14 attendees, including a group of women from Bonita Springs who met in the Bonita Springs Newcomers Club and now belong to Encore, an offshoot of that organization. As part of their meetings, they like to attend arts-related events, and have participated in raku classes before. “That’s when we realized how much we loved it,” said Helena Nesbit, a member of the group.
After picking her pot, Nesbit decided to glaze it with blue luster. Fellow club members Francine Gerson and Elyse Morande selected the same glaze, admiring Rosen’s example pot that showed a blue background and a flare of bold copper. “I want this one,” Morande said of the sample pot. “I love it.” At a nearby table, Encore group member Lorraine Gelly said she planned to try two glazes together. The raku glazes, which contain finely ground glass, dried quickly and were applied with a broad brush. “I’m doing a ‘White Crackle,’ but then I’m doing ‘Rainbow Luster’ over it and seeing how that turns out,” Gelly said. “I like surprises.” Not everyone who took the class was experienced with raku. Eileen Gallagher, a seasonal Marco Island resident, took the class with her friend Donna Wexler, who was visiting from eastern Long Island. Gallagher laughingly described herself as the sort of student who failed art class. Wexler, however, went to work on her pot with a file, carving additional indentations, and working copper wire through the rim. She also dusted it with sand. “I just love different media,” Wexler said. “We’ll see what comes out.” They didn’t have to wait long, Johnson noted. In addition to raku’s unpredictable nature, it also provides almost immediate results – another reason for its popularity. “It gives people instantaneous gratification,” Johnson said. “We’re able to take ceramics, which is typically a long process, and shorten it so it can be done in an evening.” Once the vessels were properly fired, Rosen heaved open the lid of the kiln. Then, a safety gear-clad Johnson gingerly lifted out the white-hot pots with a set of long tongs, carrying them to nearby metal trash cans lined with newspaper. Once the cans were covered, a chemical reaction served to finish the process, as the ensuing fire consumed all the oxygen from the container, vessel and glaze. After 10 minutes, the pots were removed, cooled with water and returned to the artist. Gelly, who used two glazes, discovered her pot had two distinct sides, green and copper. “I love it,” she said. “You don’t know what to expect. I was hoping for green.” And Nesbit and Gerson, who stood next to each other and even used the same dish of “Blue Luster” glaze, found their pots to be complete opposites. Nesbit’s was blue and Gerson’s was copper. “That’s what happens,” Gerson said. “That’s what’s so much fun about raku.” |
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Brush Up Your CreativityShow off your inner artist at these evenings staged by the North Naples Art Alliance.My admiration for sculptor Richard Rosen and the artists who share studio space with him in North Naples just keeps growing. Instrumental in forming the North Naples Arts Alliance (made up of numerous artist studios and galleries in the Pine Ridge/Shirley Street industrial area), Rosen first helped to coordinate “Underground Art Wednesday,” a monthly opportunity for the public to mingle with artists, see their studios and view changing exhibitions in an informal social setting. Those evenings continue and are deservedly popular. But in the fall of 2009, Rosen and fellow artists Annabelle Johnson and Patty Kane decided to take the concept a step further and involve the public in the creation of art. On Monday evenings, Kane hosts “An Evening of Creativity” at Rosen Gallery & Studios, during which she introduces aspiring painters and the plain curious to the art of watercolor. Less formal than a class, these sessions are aimed at people who can’t or don’t want to commit to a whole series of classes and who have never painted or haven’t held a paintbrush in years. “These evenings bring out the creativity in anybody,” Kane promised me. “And everyone goes home with something really cool!” Kane also directs “A Saturday Morning for Me” every week, where participants focus on “sort of a self-portrait of what makes you, you,” she says. Rosen and Johnson also devote the first Thursday evening of the month to “A Taste of Raku,” designed for neophytes. Participants select a ready-made, bisque-fired pot or vessel and are guided through the process of glazing. While the glazes dry, they enjoy a casual buffet meal, and near the end of the evening, the pieces are removed from the kiln and plunged into a reduction pit. After cooling, each participant receives his or her finished piece to take home. The efforts of Rosen, Johnson and Kane bring a whole new level of interactivity to the creation of art. Personally, I can’t wait to get started! Patty Kane’s “An Evening of Creativity” is from 6-9 p.m. Mondays. Her “A Saturday Morning for Me” is from 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays. Richard Rosen and Annabelle Johnson host “A Taste of Raku” from 6-9 p.m. on the first Thursday of the month. All sessions take place at Rosen Gallery & Studios in North Naples, and reservations are required. |
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30th annual Naples Art Festival draws art-lovers, awards artists. WINNERS LIST
NAPLES — In Cambier Park on the grounds at The von Liebig Art Center, 300 artists competed and thousands of people attended The Naples Art Association’s 30th annual Naples National Art Festival this weekend. The festival included artist lectures on Saturday and the Third on Canvas Exhibition at The von Liebig Art Center. Richard Rosen of Naples took the Best in Show prize for his clay sculpture, while Best in 2D (two-dimensional) went to Janet Rogers from Ormond Beach on Florida’s east coast, for watercolors. Angelika Kade of Naples captured the Best in 3D title for marble sculpture. Naples-based artists and art collectors Charles L. Marshall Jr. and Richard L. Tooke judged the festival. Both toiled over which artists to include in the two- and three-dimensional awards, overall best in show award and awards of distinction, the categories each artist had hoped to attain. Together the judges selected the Best in Show and 12 other winners. Tooke worked at the Museum of Modern Art for three decades and retired as director of the department of rights and reproductions before coming to Naples. A two-dimensional painter himself, Tooke said it was easy to find several artists at the Naples Art Festival who pushed the envelope in their own respective mediums. One award of distinction winner in particular caught his eye, Patricia Karnes of Winter Park in Central Florida, for her jewelry. “I wouldn’t have thought I would have chosen a jeweler for an award of distinction, but I just wanted to recognize this artist,” Tooke said. “The jewelry looked like sculpture but could be taken apart and worn as jewelry. It’s really very exquisite.” Marshall, an accomplished watercolorist and former print maker, said the judging was difficult thanks to the variety of mediums they had to choose among. He and Tooke spent much time exploring various techniques, some precise and others free-form. He knew at first glance that Rogers’ winning watercolor was a contender. “The first time I made my rounds in the morning I knew it was in the running,” Marshall said. “The rest of the day I just kept going back to it.”
Best of 3D went to Kade for her marble sculpture, a traditional carving with contemporary interpretation. But it was winner Rosen’s clay sculpture that made the judges select him for the coveted Best in Show award. Rosen’s clay sculpture is unique because though it is a sculpture, it’s presented in a way unlike most sculptures. Many of his pieces can be hung on a wall. “Richard Rosen is taking the medium and pushing it into another dimension,” Tooke said. “His work has unique shapes and form, and colors. He has a distinct color sense.” Joel Kessler, executive director of the Naples Art Association, has been in the art world for most of his life. To Kessler, art is a vital part of any community, and gives back far more than could ever be calculated in the form of events like the Naples Art Festival. “The Naples Art Festival is a treasure that the city of Naples has – it’s amazing that these wonderful people have come here, some from across the country to participate. Our festival is a stop they don’t want to miss,” Kessler said. “And, we have more than 400 volunteers who are so precious to us – we just could not do this without them.” Kessler’s love for art began when he was just a child on a school field trip to the Brooklyn Museum of Art in his home town of New York City. He hopes more young people will come out to the festival this weekend, get inspired and learn about art. “It is so important for our young people to be exposed to art to get a sense of history and the cultures of this world,” Kessler said. “Art is like a history lesson. In many ways, the history of the world can be found in artwork like we have right here at the Naples Art Festival.” Of the 300 artists who participated in the festival, several also accept commissioned work. The Naples Art Festival continues from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. The festival is at Cambier Park at 8th Street South, about a block south of Fifth Avenue South in downtown Naples. A $4 donation benefiting the Naples Art Association’s education programs is suggested for entry to the festival. The organization relies on the festival as its major fundraiser, accounting for 20 percent of its operating funds. The 2009 Naples National Art Festival was sponsored by Planning Development Inc., Fifth Ave. magazine, Naples Daily News, Anchor Health Centers, Comcast, Sunny 106, WAVV101.1, Happenings A&E magazine, Key West Aloe, Dolphin Transportation, the city of Naples, and the Collier County Tourist Development Council. * * * * * For more information, contact the Naples Art Association at NaplesArt.org. E-mail Kelly Gray at kelly@kelly-gray.com Winners of 30th annual Naples National Art Festival The Naples Art Association at The von Liebig Art Center on Saturday announced the winners of the 30th annual Naples National Art Festival. Richard L. Tooke and Charles L. Marshall Jr., artists and art collectors based in Naples, served as judges. Tooke reviewed the artists working in 3D, and Marshall reviewed the artists working in 2D. Together, they selected the Best in Show and 12 other award winners. * * * * Best in Show – Richard Rosen of Naples, for his clay sculpture. “His style of practical ceramics have moved into pure art in themselves,” Tooke said. “The work he is creating now is things I’ve never seen anyone do in his medium. His work is very mature. I was looking for someone who took the 3D medium and turned it into a voice of his own, and Richard did that.” Best in 2D – Janet Rogers of Ormond Beach on Florida’s central east coast, for her watercolors. “Her work caught my eye the first time I walked through the festival,” Marshall said. “I liked the way they looked, not structured like realism but loose, with a lot of white showing through, so the paper added to the portrait. It was very free-flowing.” Best in 3D – Angelika Kade of Naples for her marble sculpture. “Her work is rather traditional sculpture with contemporary overtones,” Tooke said. “Her work is intricate, with sculpture in stone combined with wood carving. She is a superb craftsman.” |
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Off the beaten pathOnce a month, local artists band together to draw art-lovers to their out-of-the-way studiosOn Wednesday evening, 30 minutes after opening his studio to the public, Richard Rosen sits down next to one of his newer clay projects.
His work often looks like fantastical buildings coming up from some sort of landscape where Dr. Seuss meets Gothic architecture. The particular piece he’s working on is shaped more like a traditional vase, except there’s a great deal of textural focus points, raised areas and indentations. He carefully fills in small circular sections with blue, the brush strokes tightly overlapping. He wants the people mulling through to see him work while enjoying their complimentary snacks and wine. It makes them feel like they are seeing inside the process, he says. “It gets them closer to the work,” he says. Getting anyone closer to his North Naples studio is a challenge in a part of town more often thought of as home to custom cabinet makers and wholesale tile salesmen. That’s why Rosen, along with a score of other North Naples artists, are opening up their studios on the first Wednesday evening of each month. They pool their resources to buy advertising and their mailing lists to attract as many art lovers as possible. “Almost everyone who comes through here tells me the same thing,” says painter and printmaker Tammra Sigler. “They all say ‘I had no idea there were so many artists out here.’ This is one way to change that.” - - -
With out much in the way of street lights, navigating the streets can be a bit of a challenge. And if, like Studio Blue, you happen to not face the street and are on the second floor, good luck getting anyone to show up, no matter how well promoted the event is. It would all be much easier if these studios were in high traffic areas like Fifth Avenue South or Third Street South. But those districts are too high rent for most local artists. “So we’ve created a little community of artists here where we can afford to work,” says painter Barbara Groenteman, co-owner of NONA Gallery and Studio on J & C Boulevard. Beginning in the early ‘00s artists started flocking to the industrial neighborhood located just off Pine Ride Road, buffeted by Airport-Pulling Road to the east, Taylor Road to the west and Trade Center Way to the north. Shirley Street has an especially high concentration with eight of the sixteen members of the Underground Art Wednesdays having set up shop there. Sigler was one of the first to find space on the street. “It’s always been a struggle to get people to know you were out here,” she says. But there are plenty of benefits to help make up for the low number of window shoppers. The seclusion allows the artists a quiet environment in which to create. “I can’t paint and talk at the same time,” Sigler says. “It has to be one or the other for me. So I couldn’t have people in here all the time while I’m working.” It’s also close to people who supply materials that many of the artists use. There are lumber yards nearby for woodcarver/sculptor Nili Leichter to get the exotic woods she uses to create her evocative pieces. And for folks like Rosen and studio mate Margret Chevalier, it’s a place to house kilns that probably wouldn’t be allowed in commercial spaces like those in the shopping districts. - - - Calling the open houses “Underground” is a bit of a misnomer in that the work is pretty straight ahead. “Edgy” and “gritty,” words that are often used to describe underground art, don’t really apply here. There’s nothing in the artwork involved, which ranges from $150 to $10,000, that would seem out of place in houses decorated by Robb & Stuckey. Which isn’t to say that there isn’t substance. A great number of the participating artists are award-winners both locally and nationally. “In our case, ‘underground’ is more a statement on our out-of-the-way location than the work,” Groenteman says. “Though some of the work is less straightforward than others.” The clientele also isn’t what you might expect for something billing itself as “underground.” The average age of the 100 or so people who came to check out the studios was probably 60. Mostly the patrons were friends of the artists or friends of friends. But there were a few people outside that circle. “This is our first time down here and my wife was looking for different things to do and she found this,” says Harvey Spitz, who is spending two months in Naples from New Jersey. “We met Richard Rosen at Art in the Park and he told us we should come,” says Judith Lipnick. Friend or stranger, the response, while not directly relating in many sales so far, has been greatly enthusiastic, the artists say. “I think it’s still seen as a privilege to be in an artist’s studio, to see where the work happens,” Sigler says. “It gets people excited, more so than seeing it in a more sterile gallery environment.” If you go Underground Art Wednesdays When: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. the first Wednesday of ever month from November through April Where: 16 artist studios and galleries in North Naples Admission: free Information: 821-1061 |
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