CCC Artist David Tholfson

 David Tholfson

 

CCC artist David Tholfson says “ceramics saved my life in high school where I was lucky to have the East Coast funk ceramicist Toby Bonagurio as my teacher.” Since then he  continued to refine his ideas as a sculpture/ceramics major, but never really grasped the technical side of clay, relying on the clay to impose its will on what to do.

 

Focusing on his music and performance work after college, he returned to clay when he was offered a small kiln to take home and got excited about raku firing. “It’s a great way to ensure the surface was part of the form” 

 

Now he relies on hump and slump molds for structure, makes his own stencils using the SolidWorks modeling program and a 2-D cutter. He fills the stencils that press onto slabs with local dry clay dust. “I’m really fascinated with the idea of many things inhabiting the same space so textures swell over patterns. Someday, maybe I’ll figure out how to actuate the insides of the vessels."

 

Please check out David Tholfsons new Instagram account: www.instagram.com/placebo_ceramics

CCC Artist Natalie Black

 Natalie Black 

Until 2019, CCC Artist, Natalie Black lived her whole life in Tennessee and was first exposed to the thrill of creating with her own two hands by her Grandmother who taught her to sew and knit as a girl. One can see an influence of this in her ceramic work which translates techniques and aesthetics of material fiber that is soft and flexible into a ceramic material that is hard and rigid. Her work is a reconsideration of “women’s work” and fiber traditions. 

 

Natalie uses various sculpture clay bodies and has recently started experimenting with paper clay. The textures she applies to surfaces are very time intensive and she develops a small section at a time, until it feels finished.  Natalie started experimenting with slip dipping knitted squares when quarantine started. It has been difficult to fire her work since the studios have shut down, so she has revisited a 2-D process employing a graphite rubbing technique to collect textures and reconfigure into a larger composition combining sewn sheets and ceramic wall pieces. 

 

Natalie’s deep inspiration comes from poetry and fiction, as well as visual artists such as Linda Lopez, Francesca DiMattio, Rebeca Hutchinson and Ruth Asawa.

With her confirmed commitment to her art, Natalie must balance in her full-time job as a custom framer, and keeps in shape by running, cycling and playing soccer. Though now in quarantine, the soccer league and Artist as Quiltmaker XIX, at the FAVA Gallery have been canceled.

 

Please check out Natalie’s website:   https://ntblack.wixsite.com/natblackstudio.

CCC Artist Darren Cockrell

 Darren Cockrell

“My father taught me how to work with my hands and problem solve,” says Darren Cockrell, this week’s CCC Artist. He got sucked into ceramics more and more after taking a class from a good friend while pursuing a degree in anthropology. 

 

Darren focuses on woodfired stoneware and porcelain. All his pieces interact with the group process involved in a long wood firing. Natural ash glaze is used for an ideally firing goal of deep, rich, matte surfaces. “It is really about the firing process for me.” He spends a long time on each piece: firing, and post firing sanding. While firing he can stoke the kiln for 8 days and grind, at least an hour, on a simple bud vase or cup and 10-30 hours on a sculptural vessel. At present he is working on sculptural vessels with the shape of tilted hourglasses. This work is more refined and geometric that his previous work. It is his innate desire to make and the prospect of the next wood firing that keeps him inspired. 

 

Darren has to balance his artwork into his life with two young children so he  works in manic bursts. He was able to attend the Kohila Woodfire Symposium in Estonia as a US representative in 2016. Check out his work at: www.darrencockrell.com