I made it! I am soooo exhausted today, but also very happy, after working for 12 hours at Studio Here‘s artist in residence at the Minnesota State Fair yesterday. Thanks to @nbaxterpottery ‘s ability to help me out with an emergency firing, I had plenty of interesting studio projects to demonstrate, such as glazing bisqued pieces, sgraffito, and showing the whole process of building a small bust from rolling out a slab to finishing the facial features. Being there has definitely been worth the effort and the building nervousness I’ve experienced ever since agreeing to do it 😊 the chance to share my process and motivation to make art with such a wide range of people and the genuine and heartfelt conversations I had throughout the day were so inspiring and heartening. Thank you to the Minnesota State Fair and to Minnesotan Fair goers for being such art enthusiasts. A State Fair with a strong art component is a unique and wonderful thing.

I made it! I am soooo exhausted today, but also very happy, after working for 12 hours at Studio Here‘s artist in residence at the Minnesota State Fair yesterday. Thanks to @nbaxterpottery ‘s ability to help me out with an emergency firing, I had plenty of interesting studio projects to demonstrate, such as glazing bisqued pieces, sgraffito, and showing the whole process of building a small bust from rolling out a slab to finishing the facial features. Being there has definitely been worth the effort and the building nervousness I’ve experienced ever since agreeing to do it 😊 the chance to share my process and motivation to make art with such a wide range of people and the genuine and heartfelt conversations I had throughout the day were so inspiring and heartening. Thank you to the Minnesota State Fair and to Minnesotan Fair goers for being such art enthusiasts. A State Fair with a strong art component is a unique and wonderful thing.

My sculpture residence at the Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts building is drawing close! I will be working in a designated studio area from 9 am to 9 pm on Labor Day, Sept 6, and show how I make my slabs and how I sculpt. I will also demonstrate the sgraffito technique, and glaze some of my busts. There will be two artists talks throughout the day, but I will be available for questions about my process in between those as well. Come and stop by if you can! I am fully vaccinated and will be wearing a mask the entire time I’m there; and I hope so will most other people present inside the building.

Some wonderful news that have kept me going recently:
I have been invited as an artist in residence to the Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts competition! This means that I will work in a designated, open studio area at the State Fair Fine Arts Building for 12 hours on September 6th, last day of the fair and Labor Day. Visitors will be able to see my work process, interact and ask me questions. I will be there from 9 am to 9 pm – mark your calendars! One of the best parts of this residency is that I got to pick a piece to be exhibited in the State Fair Fine Arts Show! I chose one of my newest and most challenging pieces – my badass female superhero that symbolizes my journey to expel toxic people from my life. I have called her ‘Take Care’ which I find a nice twist on this somewhat overused phrase. The outdoors sunlight really brings out the beauty of the crackle glaze, and the incredible rich hues of the stainless steel base that @kfokkenart custom made for this piece. I think it will look great at the fair, and send a good message. I’ll close with this great quote:

“Self defense is not just a set of techniques; it’s a state of mind, and it begins with the belief that you are worth defending.” – Rorion Gracie

Even with the pandemic, or maybe because of it, this year is moving fast for me and now it’s time for the Northeast Minneapolis Art-A-Whirl® already! This wonderful event to experience the art and artists of the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District, and to view and shop their work, will happen this coming weekend, May 14 through 16, safely modified to keep everyone healthy.
I’ve made some time to create small, cute and giftable one-of-a-kind art for the event (think unique 3D fridge magnets!) Just like last year and due to Covid, my art will be available online only through my online store. The magnets will drop in my shop Friday, May 14 at 5pm! My larger sculpture pieces are also available through this store.
I hope you’ll take some time this weekend to browse the amazing art this town has to offer, and to stop by my shop as well. Link to my shop:

https://nemaa.org/artists/kordula-coleman/

The announcement for my show is up on the @lanesboroarts website now! The show will take place at Lanesboro Arts in Lanesboro, MN, and will run from October 23 through December 10 2021. It will be my first solo show (gasp!) and I’m so grateful and excited about this opportunity to share the stories and experiences of my German childhood with a wider audience, through my sculptures.

Link to show:https://lanesboroarts.org/…/dappled-with-shadow-and…/

Hello friends! Thanks for checking out my website. I have updated my online store I. Time does the holidays with small, affordable, but still one of a kind art pieces that could make somebody’s holiday very special! The ornaments and magnets feature pictures of my sculptures that I have transferred onto polymer clay, and vintage brass hardware and fabrics. Each piece is one of a kind. Take a look at my shop here:

https://shop.nemaa.org/artists/kordula-coleman/

Artistry’s 44th annual juried member’s show opened on October 2, and tonight at 6 pm will be the awards show! My piece ‘Letting go of Blue’ made it into the show, and I will sit here in my ball gown, of course, with my speech prepared 😆
It’s always exciting which piece of art will win one of the three awards! Artistry member art is high quality and very versatile. So tune in tonight at 6 pm! Link here:

https://artistrymn.org/44th-members-show

The show will run through November 13, and a virtual catalog is available here:

https://www.artworkarchive.com/rooms/artistry/23af42

New sculptural wall piece for my solo show at Lanesboro Arts in Lanesboro, MN, in October2020.
This piece is inspired by a photograph of my two aunts Resi and Mechtild, when they were little girls, taken around 1940. Their father had been granted a brief home visit (he was drafted into the reserve army for WW2 – a war he hated) and his little daughters are enjoying a moment of closeness and peace sitting on his lap. Thankfully he survived the war. You can see so much heaviness and sadness in this picture. My mother and her siblings were much affected by the experience of living through the fear, death and chaos of WW2, throughout their lives. When I grew up I still felt that heaviness every day – it lived on in my parents. War has long reaching and severe consequences and is a far cry from glorious, even if sometimes tyrants need to be defeated. Also, this doesn’t discount the heroism and courage of the people fighting, living and dying during a war.

All of our lives are more or less drastically changed by Covid19. My work practice has not changed that much in many ways, since it was solitary to begin with. My regular firing place, Continental Clay, isn’t available right now though, and that brought about a change in the appearance of my latest work.
I have been experimenting with pit firing in a charcoal grill and a fire pit in our backyard, and all my new work that will be available in my online Art-A-Whirl shop (Art-A-Whirl is happening online from May 15 to 17!) is finished in that technique, paired with some bright splashes of color provided by acrylic paint.
See below some pictures of the work process and the results. The small busts you see are my ‘escapism’ series – an idea I had in the beginning of the year, even before the pandemic hit.
The people portrayed are dreaming themselves into a peaceful, serene state of mind by focusing on comforting and iconic imagery – like superman, milk and cookies, a love note, or a unicorn!
These busts and the small wallpiece heads will be available in my online Art-A-Whirl store.
Stay tuned for details!