July's Artist X is always coming up with the most compelling concepts for workshops. A few years ago I took a totem series from her, five successive Tuesday night classes in which I created organic forms that were meant to be stacked upon each other. I decided that each was interesting on its own, so they never made it to a stack, but the series is displayed on a glass shelf in my home and gets many compliments.
The artist's son is currently living and working in Tokyo, so her next workshop is inspired by Japanese culture: Kokeshi dolls. |
| Original Kokeshi Doll |
The original Kokeshi were made in the Edo Period, roughly 1600-1868 and produced in only 6 to 8 perfectures, aka studios. Most of these were located in close proximity to health spas, so there is strong speculation that the dolls were used in massage treatments. Another theory, presented by Artist X, is that they were given to new mothers to wish good health upon their newborn babies.
For her upcoming workshop on August 1st, students will be immersed in Japanese music, food, and art as Artist X leads a 90 minute class teaching students to create clay versions of these dolls. Email me if you would like more information...
 |
| Clay Kokeshi standing before her wood predecessors |
No comments:
Post a Comment