Spring 2011 Ceramics Update

I have contributed the ceramic jar above to a fundraiser benefiting the survivors of the Japan Tsunami/Earthquake. The fundraiser will take place on ebay and begins this Thursday, March 24. You can preview the items on facebook. This is a public page so no account is needed for viewing. A write up about this fundraiser appeared in the New York Times last week. Please support the fundraiser if you can. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to relief efforts in Japan through Global Giving.

We recently completed the second firing of my 2-chamber wood kiln here in Goshen. The unloading of the kiln will take place this friday, beginning at 8 am. You are welcome to join us for the unloading to see the newest pieces coming out of the kiln. I will also post images of the completed firing on my facebook page.

I will be moderating a student led panel discussion at the upcoming NCECA conference in St. Petersburg, Florida. The panel will be speaking about "Your non-academic education" and will be on friday morning, April 1. The other members of the panel, Craig Hartenburger and Zach Tate, completed residencies at my Goshen studio in the Summer of 2010. We also co-authored an article in Studio Potter magazine. You can read the article in its entirety on my website.

I have a dozen new pieces going on exhibit at the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft in Louisville beginning April 2. The exhibition is called Craft meets Technology and will continue at the museum until July 16. 

Other events coming up include a residency at Pittsburgh Center for the Arts for the month of May, an two-person exhibition with Brooke at Goshen College in June, and a solo exhibition and workshop at Baltimore Clayworks in October. More information about all of these things can be found on the website or on facebook.

2010 Year in Review

Rothshank Artworks

We started the year away from Goshen. We transplanted ourselves into a cozy apartment at Baltimore Clayworks in Maryland for 8 weeks beginning with the American Craft Council show at the end of February. Justin was an invited resident artist at Clayworks. He spent the 8 weeks teaching community members about decal application and working on his own body of work. He produced more the 500 cups, bowls, and platters during the residency. You can read more about the residency on our website. All the pieces were decorated with the artwork of community members who ranged in age from 5 to 92. They were exhibited in the community arts gallery at Baltimore Clayworks and then given away to members of the community. Brooke and Layton spent their time exploring Baltimore and enjoying occasional visits from out of town friends.

We went from Baltimore to Chicago for Brooke's 5^th year selling original miniature paintings and handpainted reproductions at the Chicago International Miniature Show. After spending nearly a month back in Goshen we then made the trip north to Castine, Maine for the International Guild of Miniature Artisans annual Guild School. Brooke taught a week-long class about miniature painting in egg tempera, while Justin and Layton spent some time at the amazing Acadia National Park.

Upon returning to Goshen Justin began and finished construction on a new, 2 chamber wood fired kiln adjacent to his studio. We welcomed our friends Eva Zethreaus, a studio ceramicist from Gothenburg, Sweden, and her daughter Anja to help build the kiln. We also hosted Zach Tate and Craig Hartenberger for the summer. They came from Texas and Missouri, respectively, to do ceramic residencies and kiln building internships at Justin's studio and at Clay Bottom Farm, a local organic farm a few miles up the road from our house. Justin, Zach, and Craig wrote an article about the summer experience that was recently published in Studio Potter magazine. The wood kiln was completed in August and fired for the first time in October with the help of 15 friends and colleagues who traveled from Goshen, Pittsburgh, Michigan, and Missouri. Our good friend Dale Huffman even brought 5 of his students from Carlow University to help fire the kiln and build us a new wood fired pizza oven.

Brooke completed a large project for the Goshen Health Foundation in July. She created 8 original paintings depicting their Philosophies of Philanthropy. The paintings now hang in the corporate office of the Foundation, and were used as illustrations for the Foundation's 2011 Calendar. The paintings are pictured here.

Other highlights of 2010:

• Justin traveled to Hjorring, Denmark to be a presenting and demonstrating artist at the four-day Creabiz Ceramic Conference.

   

• Brooke convened a monthly meeting of local women artists in Goshen. The group now calls itself 33 Shades, and is planning a mural design for the exterior of a local coffee shop.

   

• Justin wrote an article published in the magazine, Neue Keramik, a German publication.

   

• Justin's new body of ceramic ware created in response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was exhibited at the Ogden Museum of Southern Craft in New Orleans.

   

• Layton turned 2 in November. He was a yellow crayon for halloween. The landmarks he has achieved are too numerous to mention!

   

• 3 of Brooke's miniature portraits were selected for exhibition in the International Miniature Art Exhibition hosted by the Miniature Art Society of Florida.

2011 Upcoming Events

• Justin will be giving a lecture, workshop, and exhibition at the Creative Art Studios of Ames in Ames, Iowa in January.

• Justin will be giving a lecture and workshop at Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri in February. While he's there, Brooke and Justin will be featured in a 2-person show at Springfield Pottery.

• Justin has been invited to return to Pittsburgh as the inaugural resident ceramic artist at Pittsburgh Center for the Arts' new residency program. Brooke, Justin, and Layton will all be in Pittsburgh for 6 weeks in April and May.

• Brooke will be teaching 2 miniature painting courses, both focused on acrylic techniques, at the IGMA school in Castine, Maine in June.

• Brooke and Justin's artwork will be exhibited in a 2-person show at Goshen College's Hershberger Art Gallery. The show will run from June to September, with a closing reception in early September.

• Justin will have a solo show of ceramic work at Baltimore Clayworks, opening October 1, in conjunction with a Social Justice themed exhibition juried by Kyle and Kelly Phelps.