Test Tiles for Transfers on Ceramics

Test Tiles for Mixed Media Art Project

These are not decals, this an actual printing on clay using a ceramic ink on raw clay, then fired. It has taken us much practice and experiments to get this to work. In these pictures you will note the image looks pixilated, it is due to the canvas the clay was rolled out on. There are many variables that effect the look of the image.

I am working on a project that will use images and thoughts from my Mothers life, as a type of portrait and honor to her, but in general to all women of my Mothers generation who survived two wars and a great depression-they are made of stern stuff, but who also wore there badges with grace and compassion. My Mother was beyond a sewer, she was a seamstress, a tailor, and artist with cloth and needle. She also was a science teacher majoring in biology and chemistry. Her love of nature and science was passed on with great love to myself and my brother, and like a stone dropped the ripple effects go on to our whole family. Now her grandsons hunt fossils and points with great glee...a gift given from another generation. At almost 99 she still is a presence in my life, even with the effects of a massive stroke 9 years ago, she can still communicate love, grace, compassion and determination. I am always in awe of her being and thankful for the gifts she has given me and others. So it will be in an art piece, perhaps many, that I will honor her as Mother, as Earth Mother, as life giver, as woman, as love....it will be a theme in my art to honor these gifts. As Dali, Jasper Johns, and many other artists develop a symbology of language that reappears in their art, my art is developing its own language, its own alphabet. So these test tiles are the beginning of a mixed media piece in the making. As the piece progresses I will share it with you.

Symbol of Woman, symbol of love, symbol of Motherhood

This is a close detail of the front of the art work for the Dali Museum. I wanted to highlight this for you and give you a bit more information. I found a picture of my Mother form the 1940's. If you look closely you will see her profile repeated twice in this section. The war planes are a reference to all wars, a nod to Dali's ants, and World War II. My Father was stationed in Guam with the Army Air Corp. He was a raido man on a B 52 Bomber. My Mother was alone, raising my brother in Mississippi. My Father did not see his son until Don was 5 years old. The dress form also has references to my Mothers expertise in sewing, it was beyond hobby, it was the skill of a tailor. She also was a science major, teaching biology, chemistry and physics as a young teacher. Her image reminded me of Gala, Salvador Dali's wife. I remember one photo, that he had put a halo over her head like an angel or saint. My Mother was truly a person that knew what unconditional universal love was. She taught me to respect all people, animals and life on this planet. She was the universal figure of Motherhood and that is how I used her picture and the symbology in this art work. Lela, a beautiful name, that is also the name of love.