Plainbellied back in action

While we are out west this summer, Plainbellied is going to take a ceramics studio class. I'm very excited for her. While I've been doing my PhD, she's put a lot of things on hold, including ceramics. Over the past five years, she's focused more on 2-D art, when she is really much more comfortable molding clay. I am definitely not an expert, but I've seen some of her work, and I really like it. I've posted a few of her earlier pieces below (stuff I like), along with a description of what I know about them.


These three pieces are part of a series Plainbellied did. She has helped me learn to appreciate abstract art. It doesn't always have to make a statement. Sometimes it's all right for art just to look cool. I think she succeeded here. I should apologize for the picture quality. I took them all myself, and I am not very gifted with a camera. These are in my sister-in-law's New York apartment, so we tell people that they're on display in New York.

This photo probably requires more explanation. Apparently, the art department where Plainbellied studied had experimented with a flexible mold material some years ago. They had molds of baby heads and celery bunches. Plainbellied stuck them together. These are on top of the bookshelf in my home office (hence the dust I should have noticed when I took the picture). While admittedly weird, they look cool when put together like this. It's like a bunch of baby comets or something.

I wish I still had a photo of another piece she made of a reclining pig with pearl necklace. Basically, it was a parody of the reclining nude portraits so many artists seem compelled to paint. Sadly, Plainbellied traded it for a nice set of a salad bowl and cups made by a friend (sad that we don't have her piece, the bowl and cups are very nice).