GO open studio project

I'm excited to be participating in this huge open studio tour sponsored by the Brooklyn Museum with over 1800 artists opening their doors to the public to visit and see their art. And...the community will vote who they would like to see in a show at Brooklyn Museum!

What to do: GO online or the iphone app
www.gobrooklynart.org
Create an itinerary and add my studio to your map!

https://gobrooklynart.org/studio/demetriachappo

I'll be at my studio 11am-7pm, Sept 8-9,

along with 6 other ceramic artists. Come say hi!

CLAYWORKS on COLUMBIA

195 Columbia St. (Degraw and Sackett)

Emily Rosen • Freddy Borges

Adrienne Hecker • Jill Bell

Sabina Magnus • Demetria Chappo

Brooklyn Studio Tours

I'll be showing some of my ceramics and a few new hanging sculptures at Clayworks Gallery for the exhibit FORM+FIGURE which is part of the Brooklyn Studio Tour this weekend. 

Stop by Saturday, May 19 and Sunday, May 20, 12-6pm to see the show, meet the artists, enjoy some wine and tour our studio.  195 Columbia Street (between Degraw and Sackett)

This annual tour is a lovely way to stroll through the Red Hook and Carroll Gardens neighborhoods of Brooklyn and features many incredible works by local artists.

Participating artists from Clayworks: Jill Bell, Freddy Borges, Demetria Chappo, Peggy Clarke, Carlos E. Escobar, Risa Glickman, Adrienne Hecker, Laura Kastin, Bonnie Levine, Lisa Anne Lincoln, Sabina Magnus, Deb McDermott, Tanya Olszewski, and Joan Whitlock

Pop-up Shop

This Saturday, May 5, I'll be setting up a pop-up shop at the Prospect Park Craft Fair. I'll have many of my handmade ceramic sculptures, porcelain bangles, and honey bears! I'm so happy to be sharing the space with my good friend and amazing artist, Camille Abbe, who will be selling her gorgeous ceramic tableware. For many years Camille and I worked out of the the same studio, she now lives in Boston, so I'm really looking forward to spending the day with her and all her beautiful ceramic pieces. We'll be under the wine-colored pop-up! If you are in nyc, please come say hi at this pretty day in the park! :) The Prospect Park Craft Fair supports PS 154, the local school. There will be about 50 local artists featuring all handmade art and crafts. Directions: Bartel Pritchard Square. Take the F/G trains to 15th Street Prospect Park West and come to the southwest park entrance. http://bit.ly/IAAlTL

Bangles

Beautiful Rejection Bangles. 

hand-sculpted porcelain and black chicory stoneware 

painted with vibrant glazes and oxides. made in brooklyn.

The Beautiful Rejection Bangles developed while I was carving large sculptural forms. Leftover bits of clay from the carving process collected on my worktable. 

From these discarded bits of clay, otherwise rejects, I reclaimed them and sculpted jewelry pieces that could become beautiful and cherished.

My jewelry collection was inspired by my sculpture and design objects out of a craving 

to continue an intimacy with the clay after the firing and wanting to create a series that could be worn close to the body. As a marketer and copywriter having worked in the beauty industry for many years, this also appealed to my love of fashion. 

So much of the ceramic process is devoted to touching the clay and moulding it with your hands. For many functional pieces this journey continues after it comes out of the kiln - consider the relationship you develop with a great mug, how it feels in your hands or on your lips as you sip coffee or tea from it. It's more opaque when it comes to sculpture, although I'm a big proponent of touching sculptural work post-firing, seeing with both my eyes and my hands (in museums this can be frowned upon). Creating signature jewelry pieces allows me to embrace this relationship with a piece long after it has been moulded from wet earth and stone. 

Big

Lately I've been fascinated by the idea of "Big." Not Carrie's long time love or Tom Hanks and Elizabeth Perkins jumping on a giant indoor trampoline (although trampolines are another big fascination of mine right now, yet altogether tangental).
What's spinning on repeat in my head is the idea of continually increasing the size of the sculptures I'm creating. Repetition and size.
Last year I began a series called The Grasshopper and the Ant which was featured in the show Organic Stories at Clayworks Gallery. Quickly after carving the first one I knew I wanted to repeat the form and scale larger. The original stands 8.5in x 3.25in without the stoneware base. The second one grew to 11in x 4.5in. They sit on the dresser behind my desk and lately the calling to go bigger has been strong. Finally, I started carving a new piece last night, larger still. This one is currently around 19in x 6.5in; there will be some shrinkage when it's fired. It was really nice to start working on it, like running into an old friend and getting some to catch up.
Another series I've been growing in size is my GeoMetria icosahedrons. The last few have been about 6.5in across. This new one will be around 8-9in in diameter. For this piece the size creates a new structural challenge as well as playing with the right clay body and moisture content in the clay - too wet, it can't bear the weight, too dry and I loose flexibility and start to experience cracking. There are other ways to build this piece, but I right now I want to keep the integrity of the inspiration - from my mother's (and grandmother's) paper hangings built from folded circles.

image above: left, 2 current works in process in the studio; right, other pieces post-fire in these two series.

"Hey Honey!" at Clayworks on Columbia LOVE PAIRED exhibit

‎"Hey Honey!" slipcast in porcelain

"Hey Honey!" is my newest series currently featured at Clayworks on Columbia's LOVE PAIRED exhibit, now until March 18th.

A big focus in my work is happiness, things that make you smile and playing with iconic images. I love how every time I see these bears they make me smile. Before this project, I never noticed how many different honey bears there were and now I am constantly on the search for new ones. 

Currently in collection: "Oh My! honey bear," "Belly-scratcher Backpack bear," and "Baby Big Crown Hairy Back bear"

With Love and Good Fortune...

These sweet, little porcelain Love Note Fortune Cookies can be seen at Clayworks on Columbia's Love Paired show.

Upcoming show

I'll be debuting a new collection called "Hey, Honey!" in this upcoming show at Clayworks on Columbia. The exhibit, Love Paired, takes a peek at relationships, interactions and love interpreted in the clay. Hope you'll show some love and stop by! :)

Three new GeoMetria pieces

GeoMetria (sizes 6.5in, 3in, 3.75in diameter)

I started to increase the size of the platonic solids and I'm really happy with the results. Also, on the small one I reversed the seams toward the inside. I'll make a few more like this one I think.
These three are glazed with bruno's white and edged with copper oxide before high fired.

"Old Ned" for Ice Carnival King

A bit of whimsy and good fortune for the holidays!

  Recently on a trip home to Louisiana, my dad shared a story from his fraternity days in upstate New York. It was the Ice Carnival Festival, a huge prom or homecoming-like event with a fancy dance, a king and queen chosen for the big night, and ice sculptures were created around campus. That year's theme was Greek myths and they'd carved Poseidon out of the ice. One of dad's fraternity brothers was up for king, a guy they all called Old Ned.
  In the weeks leading up to the Ice Carnival, the elections were under way and dad's fraternity was pulling out all the stops. They had flown weather balloons over the campus with Old Ned painted on the sides. Their campaign got its break from another fraternity brother's family business, Kee Key Key Fortune Cookie Company in New York City's Chinatown. They secured a special run of fortune cookies and spent all night typing on mimeographs. It was more than just luck that Old Ned took the crown that year, it was destined in their fortunes.

  Dad's story gave me a bit of inspiration back in the studio and I crafted these little ceramic fortune cookie ornaments. You don't have to break open the cookies to get to the fortune which pokes instead out the top, and they do not predict a king of the ice carnival. Each cookie offers a different bit of destiny and good cheer straight from favorite carols, in one of ten variations....

"Let your heart be light, from now on your trouble will be out of sight"

"Repeat the sounding joy!"

"Dance merrily, in a new old fashioned way"

"You better watch out, you better not cry"

**For historical accuracy some details have been amended from previous version. Next time I'll fact check with dad before publishing!

GeoMetria

GeoMetria icosahedra rattles

Recently I began making a series of polyhedra and Platonic solids. When I was young my mom, siblings and I would make icosahedra, 20-sided objects, like these out of holiday cards sent to us and hang them in the archway of our living room (My MawMaw had done the same with my mom and her siblings growing up). I loved the shape and wanted to try it in ceramic, I picture them collected on a coffee table, bookshelf or mantle. Plus there's a surprise when you pick them up, sound from little solid balls of clay inside that rattle and chime when you shake them.
I playfully referred to the series as GeoMetria; a slant on my name: geometric meaning earth measurement, and Demeter, my namesake, the goddess over the fertility of the earth.  Plato related each of the five convex regular polyhedra to one of the natural elements. As a water sign and swimmer, I was particularly amused to learn that the icosahedra was equated to water because of its smoothness and correlation to the way water flows.
The current pieces are around 1.4in - 4.5in across, some can be strung to hang and I have works in process at the studio that I've grown much larger in scale.
The irregular polyhedra solids are part of a collection of jewelry, strung on vintage chains.

New pieces in my Sticks and Stones collection!

Sticks and Stones

These spikes made out of sculpture clay have a rough texture from the grog, small particles inside the claybody, which picks up the oxides well. Shown in cobalt, skinny copper oxide accented with brass beads, shimmery metallic iron oxide with brass beads and dark copper.

Holiday group show

I'm participating in a group Holiday Ceramic Show and Sale
Reception December 3rd & 10th, 1pm – 5pmFind lots of amazing handmade ceramic gifts, functional pottery, sculpture, jewelry and home decor.

Come out and enjoy hot cider, wine, cheese, sweets, and conversation.
RSVP on Facebook.

Part of the Citywide NY Clayfest studio tour.

New pieces from the kiln

Sticks, stones and spirals...a few new pieces that will soon become necklaces and hanging sculptures. I'm loving the cobalt oxide on these. The deep blue is so vivid.

Ceramic Necklaces. Sticks and Stones collection

Recently, a series of necklaces grew from my sculptural work. These are a few works in progress from of my Sticks and Stones collection.  I'm working in sculpture clay which provides a great texture and a lovely medium for a palette of earthy oxides and occasional glazes in golds and corals. Necklaces are strung on ochre, mauve and peacock leather cords with vintage brass beads and chevrons are backed with animal-friendly faux suede for protecting skin and precious fabrics.

New from the kiln

Seed pod rattles

Just unloaded the kiln with all these seed pod rattles. These hollow forms are hand built and filled with dried balls of clay for a lovely sound when you shake them. I picture them clustered together or individually as an accent on a bookshelf or coffee table or imagine them as a feature in a terrarium.

See more of my work here: demetriachappo.com 

The Swan

The Swan

Carved out a solid block of clay, her elegant head and neck gently articulate.

The Grasshopper and the Ant

The Grasshopper and the Ant 1 and 2

The Grasshopper and the Ant 1 and 2 were carved out of a solid blocks of clay and solid clay bases were added.

Highlights from the Organic Stories Exhibition

Exhibition continues through July 31.

Organic Stories Ceramic Sculpture Exhibition

Organic Stories Ceramic Sculpture Exhibit

Opening reception June 25, 4pm-7pm
Clayworks on Columbia Gallery, 195 Columbia Street (Sackett and Degraw), Brooklyn waterfront. map.

Clayworks on Columbia Gallery presents Organic Stories ceramic sculpture exhibition. The show explores several sculptural techniques including carving, figurative, coils, extrusion and casting. Featured Artists: Freddy Borges, Demetria Chappo, Peggy Clarke, Tami Gold, Reina Kubota, Rachel Libonati, Deb McDermott, Brendin McDermott, Mary Waugh and Nancy Weiss. The exhibit will be on display through the month of July.

Corallation

Coil and hand built, chrome oxide. 25 inches.

Carved from solid clay block with porcelain wash. 10 inches.

Castle

Extruded and hand built, iron oxide. 9 inches.

Octopus, Hearts and Flowers

In a workshop by Namoi Cleary at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, I explored three different surface techniques on these pieces: silkscreen (octopus and the small grey flowers), carbonate and photocopy transfer method (cobalt flower band) and colored slip and paper cut outs (hearts).

Peacock Collection

Bark collection

I like the juxtaposition of these two natural elements, bark and clay. Living in a city, I'm currently limited to an electric kiln, but I would love to experiment with different firing techniques to emphasize the texture.

6" x 4.5" pocket - natural and blue

6" x 3" pocket - antique iron

6.5" x 4" pocket - antique iron


5" x 1.5" pocket - natural and blue


10" x 3" pocket - natural and blue

Bodies Series

I have always been intrigued by medical art. Many years ago, I acquired a few paintings at an estate sale in Baton Rouge - one is by Max Brödel, a German medical illustrator who became the first director of the Johns Hopkins Medical Art Dept at the turn of the 20th century. When I discovered a milagros charm connected to the wellness of the digestional tract, it begged to be pressed into clay.


3" x 2" pocket


4" x 2" pocket


5" x 3" pocket


4.5" x 2" vessel