Nudes that are dudes.

Click on them to enlarge, if you are a size queen.

By the way, they are all graphite on 18" x 12" paper.

Bon Appetit!

from the Renwick show

Brief interview here!!

Renwick Invitational

History in the Making: Renwick Craft Invitational 2011

1st floor, Renwick Gallery,
March 25, 2011 – July 31, 2011 1661 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W. (at 17th Street)
Washington, D.C. 20006
Museum Information (recorded): (202) 633-7970
Smithsonian Information: (202) 633-1000

featuring ME, Ubaldo Vitali, silversmith, Cliff Lee, ceramist, and Matthias Pliessnig, furniture.



Upstairs in the Grand Salon is a show of paintings on loan from the American Museum. This is me in front of a painting of Vinnie Ream. I am descended from the Ream family.

Eastern State Penitentiary Project

Hey listen up!

If you are interested in following along with the Eastern State Penitentiary project, you can do so by signing up at United States Artists.
The project is already funded, however one can still sign on to be a follower. This is where updates and images will be posted, not on this blog or on my Facebook page.

The very first window was installed today and there's a link to a private photo album at USA Artists. Here is a teaser photo to provide the proper incentive:
That's installer and artist Bryan Willette doing all the work!

Art Phag Hag

This here's a short video for your viewing pleasure (or pain):


It was made by Marc Brodzik (Woodshop Films and Scrapple TV) and I am speaking to my friend Eric McDade, (who also did a vid for Woodshop).

The video co-stars, Rain, the cat!

Blurred Horizons

Hey Peoples!
I am lecturing next week at:

Philadelphia Art Alliance

251 South Eighteenth Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103

Telephone: 215-545-4302 Fax: 215-545-0767 www.philartalliance.org

Here's part of their press release for your edification:

The Commonwealth:

PAA’s flagship lecture series examining the state of the modern craft and design movement

March 10, 2011 – 7:00 PM

Speaker: Judith Schaechter, Award-winning stained glass artist and educator

Topic: Blurred Horizons: Fine Art vs. Craft

PHILADELPHIA, PA –The Philadelphia Art Alliance is pleased to announce the second lecture in our Spring 2011 schedule for our newest program stream, The Commonwealth! Continuing with PAA’s new mission of the advancement and appreciation of contemporary craft and design, The Commonwealth will explore the current issues pertaining to the modern craft and design movement, through panel discussions and lectures by artists, academics and curators from the notable craft specific institutions in the city and the larger Northeast Corridor. This series is the product of collaborations between PAA and nationally featured artist/educator Doug Bucci, who is serving as Program Curator.

It is $5 and you can buy tix online here!

Hey: I have been writing on this subject for a while now...or should I say ranting and raving? Will I really discuss "blurring the lines"? Hmmm.....maybe yes, maybe no....I was kind of hoping to offer some clarity, actually...but that might be too much to hope for. I was thinking of trying to blurt the whole thing out in one breath....but its 7 pages so far...call the paramedics!

I do promise to discuss toilet bowls. I do use the phrase "dialectical other". Consider yourself warned!

Here's a pretty picture to entertain you. I think it explains pretty much everything....

click

here! Ten Words and One Shot.

Eastern State

Many of you know I am working this year on a series of windows for Eastern State Penitentiary here in Philadelphia.
I have made the decision not to post updates (or at least not very many and not too many pictures) on this blog because I felt it was a conflict of interest. Let me explain: I was given the opportunity, outside of E.S.P. to raise funds. This was done through a new initiative by United States Artists.
I was successful in raising all the funds I was asking for!!!! And I am immensely grateful to the donors and to USA Artists. Now, their website has a blog feature (called "Updates") so donors and followers get privileged info via the site. I don't think it would be fair to them to post here as well, since that was a special perk of being a member of the site.
HOWEVER: one need not have donated to be a "follower".
If you are interested in reading my updates on this project and seeing images of the work in progress please go here and sign up as a "follower" of my project. At the top right of the page is a "sign up" button. Let me know if this doesn't allow you to follow my project as I am a bit uncertain how this works.

If I use part of a piece as a demo I will post on this blog, however as this seems the appropriate venue for that type of post.
Just to prove I mean what I say, above is a head for window #2 and below is the layers used to create the colors.

French antique blue on clear #11 (only because I can't get Lambert's light enough!!!!), An old sheet of Desag gold pink on clear (same reason its not Lamberts--which I far would prefer to be using!) and LAMBERT'S red/ cl B. Stencil black and silver stain.

this is just a test

Something I'm diddling around with in Photoshop. It is a full figure from the drawing below. Probably these wide eyed little girls have had more than their meme-day...but I can't seem to lose interest! Perhaps someone should stage an intervention. (Note to the overly literal: that was a joke.)
For goodness sakes, click on it to see it big!! All those pixels...just for yooooou!

More info than you asked for

Here is my skeddy for the next year or so as it stands today......

MARCH:
Exhibition: “History in the Making: Renwick Craft Invitational 2011”

1st floor, Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution
March 25, 2011 – July 31, 2011
“History in the Making: Renwick Craft Invitational 2011 presents the work of ceramic artist Cliff Lee, furnituremaker Matthias Pliessnig, glass artist Judith Schaechter and silversmith Ubaldo Vitali. These four extraordinary artists create works of superior craftsmanship that address the classic craft notion of function without sacrificing a contemporary aesthetic.”


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Lecture: Thursday, March 10th – 7:00 PM
THE COMMONWEALTH:
Speaker: Judith Schaechter
Topic: Blurred Horizons: Fine Art vs. Craft

Admission $5 Buy Tickets Online!
“The Philadelphia Art Alliance is pleased to present the next installment in our new flagship lecture series, The Commonwealth. On Thursday, March 10th, PAA will host Philadelphia artist and educator Judith Schaechter for a lecture entitled “Blurred Horizons: Fine Art vs. Craft”. Ms. Schaechter, a distinguished artist who has received multiple fellowships from prestigious foundations such as The National Endowment for the Arts, PEW Trust and Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, will speak about the inspiration for her modern stained glass work and examine the trajectory of craftspeople who have sought to position themselves as fine artists over the last half-century.”

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APRIL:

Lecture:“Creativity: Surviving Challenges”
The Professional Institute for Educators
Continuing Studies | The University of the Arts
215.717.6431

“Artist Judith Schaechter will show some examples of her own intricate, narrative glasswork and will talk about approaches to creative thinking – both as an artist in studio practice and as a teacher guiding students in developing their craft and concepts.

How can new creative ideas be cultivated? The creative process is weird, elusive and ultimately unknowable. Sometimes ideas occur suddenly, sometimes they linger and sometimes there is the dreaded “block.” How can teachers in the arts help students to embrace and better understand that creativity and perseverance are essential, yet difficult? How can art teachers help students value the process of exploration to find multiple possibilities?

Schaechter has considered these questions, influenced by the Multiple Intelligences research of Howard Gardner, to explore the challenges that artists face. She developed a quiz to guide her students in the exploration and discussion of their own creativity in practice---looking at inspiration, work habits, motivation, beliefs and audience.”

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Late April/early May:
Visiting artist in residence at Australia National University in Canberra Australia. Glass Department.


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JUNE:
BeCON Conference
Bullseye Glass, Portland Oregon
I am delivering the keynote address and also teaching a one day workshop June 20th.

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OCTOBER:
Exhibition:
“Cute & Creepy” (group exhibition)
October 7 (opening date) – November 20, 2011
Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts

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MARCH 2012:
Exhibition:
Installation of 10-15 windows at Eastern State Penitentiary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! First major showing in Philly since 1999-ish!!!!!!!
Link to art installation program at ESP


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Upcoming (no date)
My work will be featured on skateboards by MakerUSA! I guess I should stop telling those durned kids to quit skateboarding in front of my house....
“Maker collective exists as a place where the reverence for the handmade is at the core of our mission, where an authentic life is one where inspiration and insight inform the hands and work of the artistic soul.”


As always.....my work is exclusively represented by Claire Oliver Gallery
513 West 26th Street, New York, NY 10001 / Tel: 212.929.5949 / Info@ClaireOliver.com

Say good by to Germ Books

Hey peeps who like Germ books!! Friends and fans of the fantastic David E. Williams!!

Come out and say goodbye on Monday with me! (for the record--I am NOT "co-hosting" this event--I will be there, that's all)

So sad to see this fantastic "institution" close its doors....

THE END OF GERM

A night in tribute to David E. Williams and the closing of Fishtown's legendary GERM books/gallery

Monday Jan 24 - 9pm FREE

with tributes from Radio Eris, Jon Canady, David Talento, Red Masque, the Nikola Tesla Inventors Club and more LIVE

National Mechanics

22 S. 3rd St. btween Chestnut and Market

All the Noose that's fit to print

Sorry for the lack of posting....may I plead holiday distractions?
Here's what's going on at Studio House of Rats:

1. new print "Feral Child" 60" wide....woot woot!



2. Sculpture (currently in plasticine, to be cast in glass by Steve Easton). Hey--sculpture is fun! Who knew????





3. I am writing a book. Title suggestions welcome...this is going to be five essays.

"Beauty-Inspiration-Creativity"--this incorporates the beauty essays from this blog--rewritten for the ten thousandth time. I swear...this time nailed it. yeah right!

"Craft in the Age of Digital Technology"--craft...what is it distinct from fine arts and design, why should anyone care, etc.

"This is Not a Pipe" on the notion "authenticity"--originally for a symposium at Camden Rutgers but posted here too.

"Treasure and Torture" --art and politics. Ugh. I hate politics. This was written originally to present to my UArts students in conjunction with a project they were assigned. They were tasked with responding to the "Tesoros" exhibition at the Philly PMA, an exhibition of post-colonial South American art and artifacts.

"Light, Divine and Otherwise"--stained glass and light.

So enough about me...how do you think I look?

A Call to End Media Prejudice in the Arts

I know...its not quite got the same urgency as Civil Rights or Equal Rights.... but still...

How many times have I heard critics, academics, curators, collectors, dealers and yes.... even artists, for God’s sakes, publically trotting out their ignorant and insufferable belief that working in certain media is somehow lesser than another.

SHAME ON YOU!!!!!

Critics, academics, curators, collectors and dealers: get a clue. Mediums are media. They mediate. They are the thing that’s in between the artist and the work of art...you know, the thing that really matters? Why care if the substance is glass, ceramics, oil paint, paper, poop or bubble gum? Isn’t the entire point what’s being done with it?

I have heard that glass is a ghetto. That craft is a ghetto. I was once uninvited from a speaking gig because the painting department head heard I worked in glass (she never even bothered to look at the work)!

Is it a ghetto? Well, if we insist on making it one, I suppose so.

Here is the issue that this prejudice is based on, as I understand it: “Craft is based on technique and materials rather than intellect”. OK, so I have to ask: and that’s bad and wrong why exactly? Wait—I’ll pretend to be one of these people and answer that myself:

1. Body dysmorphia: In setting up Art versus Craft as a dichotomy of mind versus body, or brawn versus brain, the body is going to be the loser because its seen as stupid, and often disgusting. Bodies are messy and make embarrassing demands. Then they die.

2. False Idol Worship: In setting up Art versus Craft as a dichotomy of materials versus concepts the material will lose because its, well...materialistic. Material seems fetishistic; overly commodifiable and it reminds us we are greedy and using up our natural resources. Concepts don’t have that problem. They are lofty and ethereal and make us look immortal and morally righteous.

2A. More False Idol Worship: In committing one’s work to a singular branch of material knowledge (i.e. being a “glass artist” or a “clay artist” etc) one is deliberately and willfully elevating material above all else at the expense of more profound content. It is a form of misguided monomania because it is believed that the materials should fit the idea and not vice versa.

3. Class Issues: In setting up Art versus Craft as a dichotomy between process and technique versus analysis and discourse, process and technique will lose because virtuosity is seen as showing off and as a performance rather than a philosophy... Skill and labor remind us a little too much of.... slavery...either in the standard sense of horrific exploitation of others or in the sense of slavish devotion—unhealthy obsession.

4. For Artists Only: there’s more money and clout in being called an artist than a craftsperson or “glass artist” or “oven mitt maker” or whatever. See above for the reasons why.

But........what's going on here?..............is this stuff true? NO!!!!!!!!...........wait for it......!!!...........These are all false dichotomies. Duh. We need to unify mind/body not banish them from one another. We need material and concept to cohere, not collapse. We need technique and analysis to be a dialectic, not a fight.

Marriage, peeps, not divorce. Stop gnawing your arms off trying to get away from what scares you cuz it ain’t going away!!!!! Deskill ALL YOU WANT; all it means is more outsourcing. Not to mention the loss of a BODY of knowledge that is irreplaceable and priceless.

A special word to artists working in craft media who insist on supporting these prejudices. THAT’S BAD!!!!!!!!!! STOP IT!!!!!! Have some effing pride for goodness sakes!

Militant Ornametnalists, unite! And don’t cow to these harmful and ignorant beliefs. Stand up for the gloriousness of your chosen profession and be happy and secure in the knowledge that devotion to materials and process are just as righteous a path to enlightenment as anything else. Just because monomaniacal devotion is out of fashion doesn’t mean you should apologize—if anything monomaniacal devotion is one of the surest paths to discovery, originality, and deep spiritual truths. And god help us if those are out of fashion.

As Louis Pasteur once famously said*: “There’s no such thing as applied science and pure science, just good science and bad science” So, if we must dispatch with stuff, can it just be the crap in any medium instead of, oh, say the whole category known as “Craft” or “Glass art”?

Can’t we all just get along?

*Actually, supposedly he didn’t really say this. Too bad, cuz it’s an awesome quote.

demoliciousness

Its been a while!
I don't want anyone to stop chatting up this blog's more arcane topics because its rockin' my world...
but here's a demo in case you are jonesing for one.

This is what this piece currently looks like on the light table. Her arms aren't done yet, that's why they are blue and not purple.

She is comprised of two layers. On the left is St. Just Blue on Clear #11. Very pale. Never underestimate how much color pale tones are in stained glass. The red is Lambert's R/cl 1001b.
About that red layer: people get freaked out about sandblasting "too much". The glass is pricey, yes, but you are paying for the layers, not the color. Sometimes you just have to be brave and sandblast like a maniac. Trust me on this.

This is the sketch (which I colorized in photoshop just for amuse myself.)

Here are some of the stages of the work: on the top left she's been sandblasted as a silhouette and I made some magic marker indications. I have done a little work with the flex shaft--but mostly I am starting to file the tones into the figure. The top middle shows a bit further along the process and the top right shows all the highlights filed into it.
The bottom row is the two firings I did of the painting. As always I use stencil black vitreous paint. I did only the two firings.

The whole bod.

This is a close up of the two layers together. She's purple now because I wiped some transparent red oil paint on her. I want to emphasize that its a teensy tinsy amount...and it has this huge effect of the color. This isn't lightfast. DON'T put oil paint on a window intended to receive UV light (that's THE SUN). This is not a technique that is appropriate for work installed in architecture.


OK--this is important so listen up!!!!!! I don't know how I want these windows to look like finished. I prefer to find out as I go. One of the things that's most important is trying things out in layers. So here are four pictures with sample layers taken from my "Bulk Failure" boxes to see what looks interesting--I'm just messing with colors and patterns here. This is crucial and one can learn a TON doing this. Don't assume you know what a layer is going to look like ahead of time. You don't! Its really amazing what happens and its a lot of fun, to boot.

It will eventually inspire the rest of the piece. Right now, I don't know who she is or why she's wearing a fishnet bodystocking that makes her look like a cheese hanging in the Italian Market. As soon as she's happy with her outer layer, I am certain she'll let me know!

Deep Thoughts

I was reading this blog by an old friend of my family’s. I was fascinated by this particular post in which he discusses the mind/brain problem. Now, I am very interested in anything pertaining to the mind/body because I would say that therein lies the dilemma, the drama, the delight of ART but I’ll get to that in a minute.

It would seem that culture has encouraged a widening of the mind/body gap that has the chasm getting bigger and bigger, like two tectonic plates determined to form continents that will be settled eventually by warring tribes. I have my theories why. To reduce them to a single sentence? I would say we despise our bodies because they DIE—best to focus on the soul which we can’t usually observe rot so we can pretend its eternal. The Industrial Revolution didn’t help with the mind/body split problem as it reinforced the idea of physical labor being the realm of the poor, the uneducated and unfortunate and entirely a separate thing from those who were rich and schooled and could live an intellectual existence and a leisurely life thinking deep thoughts. I hate that. Especially as a craftsperson. Of course, I work with my hands and I can see clearly its not just the head that is intelligent and that hand skills are a vast body of knowledge—and one our culture undervalues to the point where we are in danger of losing it altogether. Let’s see where that gets us shall we? Outsourcing, anyone? Its gonna be a bitch if society collapses or the bombs drop.

Mechanization certainly enabled us to imagine our thoughts as being entirely divorced from our senses and our physical existence. Everyone knows their soul doesn’t look nasty like a spleen. It looks like this. Or, I guess, like this! (Perhaps they could rename it the “Penile Gland”?)

OK, bear with me here—I will try to relate these concepts at some point!

Because I am evil, I asked my students at NYAA to define art. Not in the personal sense, but the universal. Cuz I’m just nutty that way, I assume commonalities—that all peoples have always made artistic stuff and I wanted the students to think about some sort of baseline definition.

I then gave a power point about the definition I came up with... which I have since decided was a bit overly wordy and I have simplified it. Before I poison you with my definition however, I shall insert an absorbing graphic so you can come to your own conclusions without the influence of my own incredibly persuasive mumbo jumbo.

OK—done? Please add it to the comments!

My universal, all encompassing definition of ART is thus: the marriage of form and content.

I have also asked my students at times, to define creativity. I define it, not as “an original idea” but as creating relationships between disparate ideas. Now if Art is the marriage of form and content its sort of the ultimate union of two incompatible ideas.

Think about language: that’s putting ideas into forms too—no wonder most of my students answered the art definition as some variation on the idea of communication. I actually think that art’s communicative power is sort of a side affect and that we have verbal cognition for a reason!! Art is no replacement. It’s more like telepathy than talking. And its very personal, one to one communication—it’s not preaching (lest it become propaganda)

So, to marry physical form to mental content sounds easy. Hahahahahahaha! Joke’s on you. Artists know that it’s damned near impossible to do in any original way or with any finesse—you non-artists try it sometime! Get back to me with pictures, please.

But my point here is that the artist is re-enacting the greatest creative connection in the universe. That of spirit to matter—content to form. Perhaps it’s why religious people can see artistic creation as being in competition with God-the-Creator. To actually, successfully turn the intellectual, the emotional, and the inspirational into a physical THING is pretty miraculous.

The aware (sometimes even enlightened) human soul is packaged in this gloppy, wrinkly object... Where do they actually connect? Where does the soul begin and the brain end? I’m guessing in that synaptic leap. If it’s something scannable then maybe someday we can diagnose artists!

It’s enough to make you religious....

Wanamaker Organ

If you are from Philadelphia you are probably familiar with the organ in what used to be Wanamaker's (now a Macy's)
A friend of mine and UArts alum, Scott Kip, is part of the team that works restoring and preserving it and he gave me and some friends an inside tour. Its five stories of rooms--very labyrinthine and compressed in terms of space. It is very much analogous to being inside a body as it seems to have a circulatory system, a nervous system, lungs (so MANY lungs! its pneumatic, after all) and intestines. Just an incredible place.
Click here to see the album of pics.

harpy engraving

click to enlarge! This is on a piece of Lambert's blue on clear flash glass "B". Its about 13" x 17"
The procedure:
Sandblasted the silhouette--no detail. Just a light blast.
Traced drawing on glass with a razor point sharpie.
Engraved highlights and roughed out some of the shading (not too much)
Used a file to smooth out the tones.
There's some sharpie marker on the mouth. I don't really want to paint that on but I may.

The bottom image is me trying out a layer on the lightbox. That red is an outtake from my piece "Nature".

Eastern State Penitentiary project

From my proposal--a photoshopped image of what a cell might look like filled with the colored light cast by a stained glass window.

Example of the amazing spaces at Eastern State.

Hi all! I am super excited about this bit of breaking noose!
I have been chosen as one of the artists to do an installation at the historic ruin, Eastern State Penitentiary.

For many years, this has been my dream venue--its a truly amazing place. Each cell has chapel-like proportions and a window aperture reminiscent of a cathedral architecture. Not to mention the beauty of the decay....its an amazing place. I aim to make ten windows in all.

I am also working with United State's Artists Project Site to help raise funds. This site has a number of features that may interest people in that one can follow the project, interact with me etc. If you do choose to participate by funding--hey I will send you a present! And its not a tote bag, I promise! Pledges start at 1$, FYI.

You can access my page here!

I will have a blog at that site where I update my progress and my thoughts about the project...feel free to follow along.

I thank you so much for your interest and your support...!!!!♥♥♥♥

Eclectix interview

interview here!

Andromeda

Girl on a bench

Rat or wolf?

This is what the sketch looks like in real life.
And this is what it could look like (when I do it in glass)--this is a photoshop fix. The only difference is a shorter muzzle and the tail.

I am curious as to whether or not the fixed one actually looks more wolf-like to you. Because I dunno if I should bother changing it.

Cassandra

Cassandra. Click to enlarge...seriously as she looks much better a bit bigger.

Harpy

what I did this weekend. Besides bonk my head while attempting to "garden".
As usual, click to enlarge.