HUMDINGER: a show by Ashley Bevington



This year here at Edinboro University we have three ceramics students going through their candidacy reviews.  Candidacy typically happens once you've been in the MFA program for 1.5 years.  Once a student is reviewed for candidacy they are officially accepted into the program here at EUP, given they pass.  You are not required to have a show for candidacy, but all three 2nd year MFAs here at Edinboro are doing so this year.  

Our first MFA student to have their candidacy show was Ashley Bevington.  Ashley is from Nashville, OH and received her BFA from Columbus College of Art & Design in 2014.  Bevington has participated in many regional & national exhibitions and has received numerous awards within her craft. Bevington was awarded a graduate assistantship through Edinboro University's MFA program, and is expected to graduate in 2017.

Ashley's statement is as follows:

"My work revolves around the disillusionment of adulthood. As children, we long to be grown-ups. It isn’t until we become adults with responsibilities and analytical tendencies that we realize how good we once had it as children. With added pressure of the media, we tend to have bloated expectations of what our lives should be. I have found that having lowered expectations is a key to happiness. I find the humor in daily negative events in order to avoid ruining a potentially good day. This newly found survival tactic has me reliving my past through this mindset. The pieces that I create are all objects from particular stories that in some way shaped who I am today. The stories are typically traumatic events that took place during my childhood. I am trying to re-experience these events as my current self. I feel that once I complete a piece about a specific event,that event becomes merely a story, and the burden of that event can be lifted from my present life.

I coil build the majority of my ceramic sculptures. The pinch marks left behind are similar to stitches holding a wound together. The pinches add a warped/nostalgic feeling to each piece. I use pastel colors as a sense of relief from heavy content."

Ashley put together a wonderful show!  It was very thoughtful as an installation, creating a narrative while walking through the gallery, yet each piece holds up just as well on it's own.  The playfulness in the pinched textures and color of her work is inviting for the viewer, asking the viewer to relate to the concepts, imagery, and narrative.  


Needless to say Ashley passed candidacy with flying colors!  We're so happy to have her in the program here at Edinboro University.  Ashley is currently the Vice President of Clay Club.  Make sure to keep up to date with her on:

INSTAGRAM
WEBSITE

Soda Kiln

This semester at Edinboro University we've been rebuilding our downdraft soda kiln.  The kiln has been a big pain in the you know what!  We tore down the kiln, but left the supporting frame of the kiln along with the cinderblock and castable.  The flue needed some shaping with a grinder once we started adding brick to the new floor of the kiln.  One thing that we realized was that the soft brick and hard brick was about a millimeter off in thickness, so we had to add castable to the soft brick courses to level out with the hardback courses.  

It's been about two and a half months since we started working on the kiln and it's just about done!  Look for a more in depth post in the future discussing the rebuilding of the kiln.  



Edinboro in NNSJE 2016

Three Edinboro University Ceramics students were accepted into the 50th NCECA National Student Juried Exhibition!  Top left we have undergraduate Matt George, bottom left we have 2nd year MFA student Ashley Bevington, and on the right we have 1st year MFA student Hannah Pierce.  Congratulations to these three killer students!  We're always thrilled to represent Edinboro University in this amazing annual show.  Follow these students on their Instagram accounts at:

Doug Peltzman at EUP

This semester Edinboro University's Clay Club funded by EUSGA brought in studio potter Doug Peltzman as our Fall 2015 visiting artist.  Doug lives and works in Dover Plains, NY.  He has taught workshops across the country in places such as Arrowmont, Peters Valley, Googleworks, The Clay Studio, etc.  He is also a founding member of Objective Clay.   


Doug's work deals with breaking elements down to their simple line structure.  Line, color, pattern, and form are all important components in Doug's work.  He uses a white porcelain along with a black stained porcelain to create his work.  
His work is mainly wheel thrown, but he also uses plaster hump molds for several forms.  The ridges he creates in his work are used to control glaze movement in the kiln.  These ridges hold glaze giving his work variation in color and glaze thickness.  


While at Edinboro University Doug demonstrated different throwing and decorating techniques he utilizes in his work. He also spent time critiquing students work and presenting lectures on his research and past experiences.  Clay Club would like to thank Doug Peltzman for coming to Edinboro and presenting a great workshop! We would also like to thank Edinboro University's Student Government Association for their financial contributions to help make this event possible.

For more information about Doug and his work please visit his website at:

Links related to Doug:



Show at Standard Ceramics

Our professor of Ceramics and advisor for Clay Club Lee Rexrode juried a show at Standard Ceramics' gallery Clay Space in Pittsburgh, PA.  The show included a handful of members from Clay Club including:

Pat Bell
Ashley Bevington
Sara Catapano
Royce Hilderbrand
Didem Mert
Sara Morales-Morgan
Hannah Pierce
Stephen Rosini
Sarah Smith
Sarah Wagner

Tech: Luke Doyle

Professors: Lee Rexrode and Chuck Johnson

Gram, the owner of Standard, gave several of us a tour of the facilities.  It was amazing to see the large mixers, pug mills, and lets not forget the pallets upon pallets of clay mixing material!  They have the facilities to mix 75,000-100,000 pounds of clay per day!  DANG.  Thanks so much to Standard and Clay Place for the tour and for showcasing a handful of members of Clay Club.  

Clay Club Annual Show

Edinboro University's Clay Club set up their annual show this October.  The show was a huge success!  We had undergraduate and graduate work at all levels showcase a piece or two in the Bates Gallery at Edinboro University.  The show included members:

Patrick Bell
Ashley Bevington
Sara Catapano
Matt George
Myka Hayden
Royce Hilderbrand
Ian Hine
Tiffany Kitner
Caelin McDaniel
Didem Mert
Sara Morales-Morgan
Jason Piccoli
Hannah Pierce
Stephen Rosini
Neil Simak
Sarah Smith
Dylan Sonney
Eric Walton

Hannah Pierce
Reluctant
Ceramic and crached thread
2015

Left and middle: 
Dylan Sonney

Bottle and Mug
Wood fired porcelain
2015
Right:
Eric Walton
Bowl
Wood fired porcelain
2015


Sara Catapano
Untitled
Cone 6 soda fired ceramic
2014

Sarah Smith with her piece
A Blooming Firework
Stoneware, plywood, glaze, slips
2014