Yvonne Cavanagh

New Work Out of the Kiln

2012-02-03T14:45:00.001-08:00

Paper Clay Teapot

2012-01-05T16:53:00.000-08:00

I finally started to make some art work again... it's been some time... here is a little teapot I made out of paper clay from the workshop I took in July. It's not yet fired, but will be soon.

Out of the Kiln

2011-11-27T15:43:00.000-08:00

Back to Work

2011-09-03T09:13:00.001-07:00

This ceramic phone was created by one of my students last year. She is so talented... school started two weeks ago so I am back in the classroom after a summer filled with traveling and ceramic adventures. The transition back to work seemed to be tougher this year than years past... but I seem to be getting my footing. Next week we will finally start working with clay in my beginning classes and they are all very excited. My second year students are well underway working with clay. I do love my job. Teaching in the very classroom I first began in clay is very rewarding.

I am also very busy with the details of the California Art Education State Conference. It is all coming together and is going to be 4 days packed with information for art educators.

Paper Clay Workshop with Rebecca Hutchinson

2011-08-10T12:47:00.000-07:00

Mendocino, Ca is so pretty. It is a charming, gorgeous town right on the edge of the ocean. From the Mendocino Art Center you can see 180 degrees of ocean...

These are some little pieces I made with paper clay. I learned so much while I was there. Paper clay breaks so many of the rules of working with clay in the traditional manner... you can connect dry pieces to wet, even wet to fired clay. You can create pieces that are so incredibly thin and light.
The fast that you can actually sew paper clay with a needle and thread was really interesting to me. I didn't want to continue to work like this (as I don't really enjoy sewing) but it was fun to play with.
Here Rebecca is showing us how she creates her own artwork with paper clay. We were all in awe of her and her expertise.
These little beauties were made by Rebecca. They are handmade paper rolled into pretty tubes that she then dips into paper clay.

A moment in time...

2011-06-08T07:25:00.000-07:00

I created this gift for my friends Angela and Danny.

Their daughter recently turned one and I wanted to give them a unique gift that they would enjoy as the years go on. I have always thought it would be fun to print little feet and hands in clay and can't believe I haven't do it sooner! Aren't they cute? I high fired the pieces with a red iron oxide stain to bring out the texture and highlight the prints. I hope I can find more baby feet and hands to print since I think this made a special gift.

Inspiration / Execution 2011 Wine Bottle

2011-04-15T20:04:00.000-07:00

I created a painted wine bottle for the Bakersfield Museum of Art again. This year I took inspiration from a drawing I created in 2003 called "Insomnia". Below is the drawing that I made during the middle of the night in '03 when I really was suffering from insomnia. I decided to draw instead of get frustrated and this was the result.

I reacreated the same idea of the drawing on the bottle this year... using a lot of blues and drawing little houses, one "lit" as if awake.

Below is the bottle in progress. I took it to school to show my students what I was working on. I painted the bottle first and then began the dots of color on top of the painting.

Many, many hours later... here is the finished bottle...

The event is called "Winescapes" and will be held on April 28th at BMOA. The many painted bottles created by local artists are really incredible to see in person. Hope you can make it.

February

2011-02-21T07:33:00.000-08:00

"When Birds Begin to Pair"

For Valentines Day I was asked by the local paper to create a piece of artwork having to do with the holiday. I created a linoleum print of two little birds facing one another sitting on a teacup.

A few days after the article ran and women e-mailed me and asked if she could purchase the piece to give to her daughter as a wedding gift. She said it would be perfect and she kept the article to give to her as well. I love that! The wedding gifts I most remember were the sentimental ones...thank you to her for purchasing a local art piece for such an occasion.

You can see the article here.

A night for the Arts

2011-02-05T06:33:00.000-08:00

Last night was the opening of "ConTextual" and also our student exhibit at BHS, "Observation". Both shows were a great success! Thank you for your support of the arts in our community.

Here is an article that was in the paper about both exhibits...

http://www.bakersfield.com/entertainment/local/x331595176/A-busy-night-for-whimsy-for-this-First-Friday

I based my work for "ConTextual" on this gorgeous ficus tree in Hawaii I saw last November.

"Building Strength" stands 15" and is for sale for $325 with a portion of the proceeds going to First Book Bakersfield. It can be purchased through the Arts Council of Kern.

Below you can see it in progress last month at my house.

First Friday December

2010-11-28T13:55:00.000-08:00

I will have some little pieces in a show opening at Metro Galleries on First Friday Dec. 3rd. Here are a few that will be for sale that evening. Also, the pieces in the previous post are coming out of the kiln tomorrow (fingers crossed) and if they turned out well they will join these two at the gallery. Enjoy!

Sunday

2010-09-26T19:13:00.000-07:00

I carved away at my pottery today... I bought these little letters to print into the clay and I love them. I can't get enough. Enjoy the photos. It was fun! When they make there way out of the kiln I will post some more.

Saturday

2010-09-25T16:40:00.000-07:00

My wheel is at my house again since I taught a lesson here last weekend. I am feeling good about it being so close... so I actually made a couple of things today. I am going to have some work in a show in December so my plan is to actually work here on the weekends a bit. Trying to work at school is just too much. It is so much more peaceful in my studio.

I was at at friend's house and found this in the yard... I love the texture and brought it home. It is from some sort of onion plant. So pretty... I want bunches of them in vases all over the place.

Visual Arts Festival at BMoA

2010-09-06T09:14:00.000-07:00

Next Thursday September 9th is the opening of the Visual Arts Festivals, Small Works juried show at the Bakersfield Museum of Art. The theme this year is vessels. I am looking forward to seeing all the work; my green bowl (shown here) will be in the exhibit. Also opening that night at BMoA is Eye Gallery and the ceramic work of David Furman.

Bastille Week at Valentien Restaurant and Wine Bar

2010-07-17T16:29:00.000-07:00

Ceramic, acrylic paint and jewels- Masks can be purchased at Valentien Restaurant and Wine Bar.

The artist reception was last weekend at Valentien. Here are some pictures of the finished masks I created. I ended up framing 4 of them in black boxes and I really like how they look against the light wall. Enjoy.

In Progress for Bastille Day at Valentien

2010-06-29T06:45:00.000-07:00

Valentien Restaurant and Wine Bar will be celebrating Bastille Day next month and they are planning a big event. They have asked artists to create masks for the event to be hung on the walls for the month of July. I started to create some yesterday and here is one that is finished in wet clay, but not yet fired. When I get them all finished I will post more pictures. Enjoy!

Dedicated to June 1st

2010-06-01T18:29:00.000-07:00

You know how you (well maybe you don't do this, but I do) pile things on and feel like if you could just make it to a certain day (say June 1st) everything will be just fine? It's been one of those months for me. One thing after another until you forget that you actually signed yourself up for everything you've piled on. You did this to yourself you know. But if I could just get to June 1st. THAT would make it all better. Everything piled on this giant plate called life will be in the past and you can just sit and breath and relax into a moment of pressure-less-ness (I just made that word up, I hope it works for you).

Well.

It's June 1st and life feels a lot better.

Not to say I don't have a million other things I have to, scratch that, want to do.... but this does feel much better.

So, to all of us who are waiting to get to that one day. Cheers.

Remember it will come and it's most important to enjoy each... little... second.... that gets you there.

PS. This is our new little cat (the darker one is ours). I love the pattern on them... so sweet. Thank you to my student Lauren for giving him to us. We love him.

Picked up a Paint Brush

2010-05-28T18:03:00.000-07:00

Summer is almost here, though the weather isn't telling. I have one more week of classes left at BHS and one day left of business at the gallery.

This summer is already filling up quickly with opportunities...

I received an e-mail out of the blue today about painting murals this summer at Lamont Elementary school. It is always fun to help make a school a little brighter. I think with a bit of color the students will feel more welcome. I am really looking forward to the meeting about it next week.

"Strength in Numbers" by me

Bike Month = Bike Art

2010-05-26T19:16:00.000-07:00

I found the little pressed flowers/foliage on the bike path one day and pressed it into this piece, along with the bike chain. This is a wall piece... I really like the way it turned out and I made quite a few.

I created these tumblers out of porcelain clay. I threw them on the wheel and then imprinted bike chain and gear into the surface. I hand carved the rest of the decoration. They are stained with a cobalt blue oxide and glazed on the inside and lip with celedon.

"Winescapes" 2010

2010-03-10T19:56:00.000-08:00

I just wrote this article to be published in the CAEA Painted Monkey as the Lead Article!

A Ceramic Artist Tackles a Wine Bottle
By Yvonne Cavanagh

I have always been drawn to texture and spend much of my time adding it to my ceramic work. After I throw on the wheel or hand build a piece I spend hours carving lines, holes, and scratching to create visual interest. I don’t draw out my ideas first but rather just begin. Even though I teach my students to draw thumbnail sketches, I don’t do this for my own designs (don’t tell them). I don’t really know how to explain how I feel as I work. It’s as if the piece tells me what and where to carve, when to stop and when to keep going.
As an artist, sometimes it’s fun to have an opportunity to create come to me. I have been asked by the Bakersfield Museum of Art (www.bmoa.org) for the last 3 years to turn a large 6 liter wine bottle into a work of art for a fundraising event they hold called “Winescapes”. They ask 30 artists to transform wine bottles and then the bottles are bid on in a silent and live auction. Patrons come and enjoy wine and food as they bid on the artistically transformed bottles. I am always excited and honored to participate. The artists attend the event and so many of us know each other and have spent time chatting, agonizing and celebrating each other’s bottles leading up to the event. As an artist we are used to creating what our imaginations or whim desires. It is an entirely different animal to be handed an object and asked to “turn it into a work of art”, one that (hopefully) a patron will want to purchase. I had never done anything like this before participating in 2008 and now look forward to it every year.
The first year (2008) when I picked up the bottle from the museum I thought to myself “This bottle is HUGE! What have I gotten myself into?” The bottle sat on my dining room table staring at me for a good two weeks. The light piercing though the pretty dark green glass only added to my apprehension. Each time I walked by that empty undecorated bottle I felt like it was watching me thinking to itself, “Yep, still here and you still have to make me into an amazing piece of artwork. No pressure…” Ugh.
Then I had an epiphany… why did I think I needed to paint flat pictures instead of creating texture, which is what I really love to do? I thought of the aboriginal artists who use the dots of color in repetition close together creating a subtle but mesmerizing visual narrative. So I decided to go in the direction of texture again but through the use of paint. I masked off small triangles at the top of the bottle and sprayed it with grey matte primer. I then removed the masking tape to reveal the pretty transparent green glass. I began by drawing small circles at the top of the bottle. I wasn’t sure what I wanted the whole scene to be yet, so I started painting. I painted solid color first and then when it was dry began painting dots on top of the solid color. The dots were made with the back of a small paint brush and sit just a millimeter apart. I could only make 3 dots before re-dipping the brush to ensure even circles of color. I find the more I work on something, the more ideas start to flow. After I began the top I knew what I wanted to do with the rest of the design. I drew giant abstract flowers at the bottom, mountains, clouds and a large rising sun. I painted them all flat colors, and then added dots in other colors on top of the first flat layer of paint. I was very excited with the finished bottle and the event was a great success.
In 2009, I created a bottle in the same style but the subject matter changed. My bottle turned from day to night and the mood therefore changed as it turned. One side had a full moon and turned to a sunny, cozy scene on the other side. I relish thinking three dimensionally and having a bottle to paint allows me to think about how a viewer will experience each side of the finished piece.
This year, I couldn’t wait to get started on my bottle and finished it in record time. I used the same technique of the dots, but again the design changed. I wanted to reflect the economy and express that visually with an optimistic slant. I painted huge pink flowers on one side. As the bottle turns the flowers are grayed and underneath some of the dotted petals I hid pieces from old newspapers about the economy. Now that I have my technique down I can concentrate on the theme of future bottles and can’t wait for next year.

A Trio of Oakland Potters

2009-11-08T08:31:00.000-08:00

Hue Yang, Jason Dunn, Noelle Nakama and me.

Hue caught a picture of Jason and
me chatting ceramics.

Hue took this of the gallery
when is was packed.

Last Friday night was the opening of "A Trio of Oakland Potters" at Surface Gallery.

This opening meant a lot to me. Vikki and I invited potters that I had attended San Francisco State with to have this exhibition here. It had been 7 years since I graduated from there and hadn't spoken to them since that time. I was very shy back then (I know hard to believe). I didn't get very close to anyone, but I greatly admired them and never forgot the three of them or their work.

Fast forward to 2009, ( a year into owning the gallery with Vikki) we were looking for artists to exhibit. I looked Jason Dunn, Noelle Nakama and Hue Yang up on line and discovered they were all still doing pottery in Oakland and from the way their websites all linked to each other I could tell they were all still in touch. After showing their work to Vikki I sent them an e-mail about our interest in them having an exhibition at Surface. That was one of the funnest e-mails I ever sent. I had no idea if they would remember me or even want to have a show her. I was thrilled when they responded with excitement. Jason and Hue drove all of their work down a few weeks ago and the show opened on Friday. All the artists were in attendance along with some family members. It was a great night and now we get to be surrounded by their pottery in the gallery until Dec. 19th. I am so thankful to them for wanting to share it with us (Bakersfield) and for reconnecting with them after all these years.

The Gatherings...

2009-10-16T21:41:00.000-07:00

So I am making tiny bottles again... the ones that are off center and remind me of people with our unique imperfections and idiosyncrasies. During college I had a tough time making anything that was off center. I wanted that clay to spin perfectly and I would not accept less than "perfect". As time went by I was able to let that need go and I have been having much more fun not only clay, but life.
These little bottles will be for sale at the gallery soon and on Etsy. They are meant to sit in little groups or gatherings as I like to call them. I like to sit them close to each other and imagine the conversation they might have.
All of these bottles stand under 4 inches in height. Enjoy!

I need a moment

2009-09-21T20:26:00.000-07:00

Keep Breathing...

I don't consider myself a photographer by any stretch of the imagination, but I really love this photo. I took it a few weekends ago when Chris and I were at the Sequoias. It is a tree on its side with a door cut out of it. It was very surreal.

It is truly a beautiful place if you've never been.

"One" exhibtion showing at Surface Gallery

2009-09-14T15:33:00.000-07:00

This is my current work showing at Surface Gallery. The anniversary exhibition "One" opened on Sept. 15th with new work from the 4 artists who showed at the grand opening a year ago. Vikki Cruz, Liz Sherwyn and Brent Eviston all created work interpreting the word one. I created 12 tiled pieces representing the 12 months since Vikki and I signed the lease. I pressed real flowers and leaves into wet clay to create the images; the little buttons of clay represent the month... one button is January and so forth. On display they hang from June-May since the "year" for me began when we signed the lease and construction began at the gallery. I like the fossil like image the foliage leaves behind, a moment is captured. Oh, and they are for sale $140 each but June, May, January and December have already sold. Let me know if you are interested. Enjoy!

Celebratory May Sold

Flowering April

Weathering March

Gorgeous February

Clean Slate January Sold

Milestone December Sold

Colorful November

Steady October

Keep Breathing September

Rushing August

Busier July

Busy June Sold

It's finished! "Cactus Cooler"

2009-09-01T15:50:00.000-07:00

I finally finished painted the skull for the Bakersfield Museum of Art! After I fired it in the kiln I decided to add a lot more color with dots of acrylic paint. I was planning to make ceramic flowers and attached them, but time constraints made that impossible. I am pleased with how it turned out. But even more pleased that it is out of my hands and done! When I said to a student today I wasn't sure what to call the piece he said, "Cactus Cooler". Introducing "Cactus Cooler". Enjoy! The show opens Sept 17th at BMOA!

Dia de los Muertos

2009-08-06T08:39:00.000-07:00

I realize it might seem a bit early to be talking about Day of the Dead but I am working on a piece for an upcoming show at the Bakersfield Museum of Art. They gave approximately 30 artists a ceramic scull and asked us to turn it into a work of art. I decided to use under glazes on my piece and fire it again in the kiln. The pictures I am posting are the work in progress. I forgot to take some of it bare... oops... so this is it with the under glazes painted on. It is not yet fired so it will appear dull in color now, but after it is fired will be bright and shiny. I am also planning to create some flowers out of clay and after they are fired I will attached them to the crown of the head. Check back to see how it turns out! The show opens at the museum on Sept. 17th.

Sneak Peak

2009-07-31T11:46:00.000-07:00

I started creating work for the upcoming anniversary show at Surface Gallery. The show will open on Friday Sept. 4th with new work from artists Vikki Cruz, Brent Eviston, Liz Sherwyn and myself. I am just going to post a few pictures of what I am working on and explain in more detail later... Enjoy and be sure to make it to the opening!

My most recent work is at Valentien Restaurant

2009-06-08T14:16:00.000-07:00

I created this work to hang at Valentien Restaurant (located at the corner of Oak and Truxtun). I rolled real flowers into the wet clay to create the image. I like the impression the flowers leave...like little fossils, a moment in time. After the tiles were fired I used an oil based metallic medium to enhance the color. The tiles are for sale (although some are sold already) if you are interested! Also, if you haven't yet enjoyed a meal at Valentien, you should!

I created an Etsy shop!

2009-05-19T20:23:00.001-07:00

I finally opened a shop to sell my ceramic work on Esty. My shop can be found at www.yvonnecavanagh.etsy.com

Enjoy!

Starting Here - Past Work

2009-05-02T23:26:00.000-07:00