Hi Everyone, I know, I know, it's been a looong time since I updated my "news" page.  Seems like I start each of these news posts with the same disclaimer.  There's been too much going on!  So much, in fact, that I haven't had a lot of extra time to update my "news" section on my site!  In any event, there HAS been a ton of stuff going on .. 

For now, I just wanted to shoot out an announcement that I have a new section on my site called "New Photographs".  As many of you know, I was a photographer before getting into ceramics (way back – more than 15 years ago now).  I've always enjoyed making images, but lately, I've been working on some photographs again.  Upon returning from China and Thailand last summer, I spent a big amount of time pouring through the 7,000+ images I shot there.  I've edited those down to about 75 or so and posted some of those in "New Photographs" section of this site.  Here are a few of my favorites ..

There are lots more, so if you have a minute to check it out, they're posted at https://www.brianharperstudio.com/china-thailand-2012/  

That's it for now.  More SOON!

Brian

Hi everyone –

The late summer/early fall has been spent working on a new project I started called The Open Crowd Project.  This is a project to 3D scan and print representations of people in an effort to build a 3D printed "crowd" of people.  On The Open Crowd Project website, there are instructions on how to send in images of yourself – participants send in their images and I stitch them together, print them, and add them to the crowd.  The learning curve has been STEEP, but it's been a really excited project so far.

Please help spread the word about the project.  People have already sent in images from as far away as Seattle and Rochester, but I would like to get people participating from around the world.  Here's most of the group (so far) …

There are LOTS of images on The Open Crowd Project website, so go there and check it out!  And send in images of yourself!

 

 

So much else going on right now, grants, shows, awesome students, etc.  I think this is maybe the busiest time of my life.  Sometimes its overwhelming as it all piles up, but I can't remember a time when I've been involved with so many amazing things.  

Speaking of that, I better get back to work!

Brian 

China for four weeks, Thailand for two weeks .. yes, it was really great!  Too much to explain here.  I haven't had the chance to pour through the thousands of photographs yet, but if you're on Instagram, you can see some of the pics from my phone there (@bharperstudio).  There are a whole bunch there, like this one:

And this one: 

And this one: 

And there are LOTS more.  Anyway, its hard to sum up the experience in one blog post.  I probably should have worked to keep my blog going when we were there (my other blogs on Blogger were shut down in China, but I never checked to see if this one was shut down as well).  As you know, Facebook and Twitter don't work there, but for some reason, Instagram worked, albeit slowly, but that's why I continued to post there.  

One of the interesting aspects of the trip to China and Thailand (at least for me) was the sheer amount of energy surrounding you in daily life there.  I'm certain its much different in the countryside, but for the most part, we were travelling in large cities – some of the largest cities in the world.  The amount of visual (and actual) energy around you seemingly all the time is pretty astounding.  Upon returning to the States, the world seemed to be moving so slowly – traffic, people, everything seemed to move at half speed compared to life in a big Chinese city.  

So, I hope to post more images here of the trip.  For now, I hope I've broken the blogging ice here as my posting regularity is not what I hoped for when I first set this blog up.  

Anyway, stay tuned!

Brian 

Hi everyone –

I'm headed to Seattle in a couple of hours for the NCECA conference, but I just thought I'd take a moment and write a quick update on what's been happening at the studio during the spring.  Things have been busy at school at again as I've worked with my students over the last month or so teaching them how to build a small train kiln.  Ian Shelly and I finished the welding last weekend, so the kiln is about done – just a few minor little things need to be done.  Now, all we need is wood .. maybe the students will fill our wood rack with nice split wood while I'm in Seattle!?

Anyway, here are a few pics from the build ..

I also finished this piece after MUCH work, and some trials and tribulations ..

There are a few more images of this work in the gallery section of my website, so check them out when you get a chance.  With this work, I've worked to develop a new approach to assemble the work.  The new approach is stronger, but more finicky and time consuming, however I think I'll be able to transport them better for exhibitions.

I've also been working on some work that is moving in a more geometrical direction.  I'm not completely sure where this exploration is going yet, but I'm excited to see what happens ..

That's it for now, better get on my way to SEATTLE!

Brian 

Its been tough to find a lot of studio time during that last few months.  In addition to my usual responsibilities at school, I've also recently taken over as the BFA Coordinator AND the Barr Gallery Director.  Needless to say, the futile attempt to find a work/life balance has reared its ugly head again.  So, much of the progress in the studio during the Fall has been in my research, as I've devoted considerable time to investigating the techniques and tools needed for 3D printing.  That research culminated in a grant application for a Summer Faculty Fellowship from my school (IU Southeast) to learn to scan and print objects and at the end of the Fall 2011 semester, I was awarded the Summer Research Fellowship as well as a Grant-In-Aid for Research to purchase a small 3D printer – the Makerbot Replicator.  I should have the printer in my studio by the Summer and I'm thrilled to be able to pursue that line of research for my work! 

During this semester, I also had my work on a banner for the first time (the middle image on the banner).  This was for a show I was in at the Carnegie Center for Art and History here in New Albany, Indiana.  … 

Hope all is well!

Brian

Hi everyone, thanks for checking out my website and this studio update.  Its been a REALLY busy summer so far.  I taught the first summer session and my second summer session is almost finished.  If you've been keeping up with my Twitter feed (http://www.twitter.com/bharperstudio), you might have heard a little bit about the IUS Police surveillance of the kiln area .. funny, they don't seem to share my sense of humor about new kilns popping up outside!  In any event, its been busy on every front.  My show at LOT Louisville came down a few weeks ago and, for now, all of the work was removed and packed away in storage.  That work was a very new direction for me, so now that the show is down, I'm excited to see where that direction leads. 

Just as the show was coming down, my work was published in the July 2011 issue of Pure I Uncut I Candy, a Louisville Art Browser magazine:

For the second summer session, I'm teaching a new class I proposed at IU Southeast called "Topics in Studio Ceramics".  The topics will be rotating throughout the years, but for this one, I'm having the students focus on outdoor low fire atmospheric firing methods (raku, saggar, etc).  We started the session by building three new kilns, a saggar kiln, a raku kiln, and a small wood fired kiln that can be used for raku as well as for high temp firings.  Here's a picture of one of my students, Jay Whitman, firing the wood kiln …

Building a handful of new kilns at school was a little choppy at first (turns out  there are a lot of people at the University that want to "approve" that .. who knew?!) but, we are moving along in the right direction now.  Now that those kilns are built and things are rolling along with students firing them, I'm planning on getting more studio time in the upcoming weeks.  Especially considering the second summer session is about to come to a close and things might start to resemble some sense of normalcy soon.

Also, the Visions in Clay show in Stockton, CA opens soon, so check out the website for that ..  http://www.deltacollege.edu/div/finearts/dept/dca/gallery/exhibit1/index.html  There's some good people in the show and a big congratulations to my friend, Dylan Beck, who won Best in Show.  Awesome work!  It's always good to show with good people.

That's it for now.  Thanks again for checking out my site, stay tuned for more updates.

Brian

Hey everyone, I just found out that my work was accepted into the Visions in Clay 2011 exhibition at the San Joaquin Delta College Center for the Arts in Stockton, California.  I'm not sure when the opening is yet, but if you are in the area, stayed tuned for an update when I receive more information. 

 

I've just added a new section to this website to show images from some of the projects I've been lucky enough to be a part of throughout the years.  So far, I've added pages for the Gulf Coast Kiln walk project, the St. Pete Clay Company kiln, the Flagstaff kiln, and Don Bendel's walking mural.  There are some more, so stay tuned for when I have the time to get more posted.  Anyway, check out the new pages from here

Here's an image from the Gulf Coast Kiln Walk project …

Thanks again for checking out my work.

Brian Harper

Now the LOT show is up and the opening is in the books, I needed a fresh take on my studio, so I did a complete scramble of everything in there.  After the dust settled, I re-arranged everything and threw a bunch of stuff out so I can start anew.  Here's an image of the scramble:

and one of the post-scramble redesign:

 

I'll be back at it with some more work shortly, so stay tuned!

brian

Tonight is the night! 

An exhibition of my new artwork opens tonight at the Land of Tomorrow (LOT) Gallery at 7pm (until about 10pm).  The gallery is located in the St. Francis building at 233 W. Broadway in Louisville, right on the corner of S. 3rd and W. Broadway.  The exhibition will be up until June 30th.

Exhibitions also at LOT for this opening are Brent Green's, Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then, Ebony Patterson, and A Failed Entertainment: Selections from the Filmography of James O. Incandenza, and exhibition curated by Sam Ekwurtzel

Stop by if you have a minute!

Brian