TooTall's Ceramic Tattoo Work Day 2/23/11

Posted by

Matthew S. Kennedy with www.tootallspottery.com Ceramic Tattoo Art 

Phone: (805)-765-1113

e-mail:  tootallspottery@yahoo.com

Please Also Visit

Tattoo Art Gallery.com

Memorial Tattoo Urns.com

I am just going to talk about what I did for the work day yesterday (late last night) if nothing else just to keep me accountable for my actions and maybe a bit of a personal diary of my experiences here in Santa Barbara. Oh ya and maybe someone might read this Fucken post and COMMENT! Just kidding if you want to though I would totally appreciate any input you may have on my art and how you think I can improve it or whatever.. I have made a decision to go for more quality than quantity with my blog posts so look for some more original stuff - I will still be posting my Boob pics though have to do that.. 

I stayed up till 5:00AM glazing the Nikki Six piece I was working on. I hope it comes out of the kiln good today! I am going to go deliver it to him maybe next week. I want to go down to LA for the "Musink" Tattoo Ink Convention and may stay over at a friends house to see if I can go by the studio or something.  I am trying to get some celebrity exposure for my art business. Nikki has a bad ass radio show called Sixx Sense and I would like to have my picture taken with him, etc.. for my website. Hopefully I will be taking a great picture of it and posting it on tomorrows blog...

I am also so excited to have this AWESOME Stamp (video of it below) that my good friend Bryan at Jewelry My Tattoo gave to me. I love it and it has completed a artist vision I have had now for about 8 years actually. I have always thought it would be great to have a stamp of my tattoo and artists logo to make these little Medallions to give away to people that purchase my art. I like to just give them away to people that I meet on the street or whatever too. People really like to get something from a complete stranger.  I take a piece of clay and smush it into a small mound, let it dry for a few hours and then carve it like a rock that you would find on the beach. I then glaze it with a glaze called "black Ice" this is my signature glaze, it is like a black mirror - you can see yourself in it. I put some red Tattoo ink in the middle and string some beads to finish the piece. I like this red Tattoo ink I got because it has a nice yellow tint to it. I will be making a lot of these in the weeks to come so if you would like one I will be glad to give you one just let me know... 

Finished TooTall Necklace 

TooTall Necklace You Tube

Below is the latest handmade ceramic plate I have completed. It is a special plate I have done for a very special friend of mine and I will be giving it to her on Saturday It is my artist interpretation of a blue willow plate. I liked the idea when she gave it to me, to incorporate blues and whites. I use a white or clear crackle glaze a lot so this was a good match. I also have been really learning on how to use the tattoo inks that I have to paint with on my pottery. It is a great medium for me to work with! They have a high density pigment and the versatility that it gives me in working with it on the ceramic bisque. You can re-constitute or dilute it with water, etc... very cool.  

When I was in the process of completing this plate I leaned a lot about the vision I want my pottery business to go into with tattoo art. I am learning a lot every day at this point.  I am finally set up and running and it feels great to be able to produce some art instead of worrying about getting everything "right" so I can start to be productive. I am a bit of a perfectionist so I am just sucking it up and making myself do my art and get it out there. It is a scary thing to put your heart and soul out to the world on a regular basis and be true to that. Artists will understand what I am talking about. I have been afraid of producing my art because I was afraid of loosing what I have again and having to start all over. I recently learned at an AA meeting yesterday that I was acting in "self centered fear" by being afraid of loosing everything. I thought I just didn't have enough faith and was scared but really when you think about it it is a form of selfishness to be afraid of something you should be doing like producing the art I was meant to no matter what happens. I only have today, I wish I could remember that every day and live happy, but I seem to forget so often.. Thank God for my meetings and the people in them! 

This is a Collie Pet Urn that I carved from a design that Maria my good friend in Italy drew for me this week. I am so blessed to have these wonderful people in my life to help me with my art.  We are going to split the profits of the sale of Pet Urns that I will list on the other sites that carry my art. She is a great artist.  This is a Collie and we will be doing a collaboration of several dog breads in tribal design so look for these in the upcoming weeks to follow. 

Maria drew this Tribal Cat that we did together about 6 months ago.

http://www.musink.org/

Bergen's Pet Urn

Well, I finished Bergen's Pet Urn

and it was a complete pleasure!  It has a black under glaze and a custom "B" that I carved on the top for the knob. It has my favorite exotic wood (Cocobolo Rosewood). I have an explanation of the type of wood on the pet urns page of the site and more custom  pet urns, follow this link to see more pet urns. 

Cocobolo is a tropical hardwood from Central America. Only the heartwood is used: this is typically orange or reddish-brown in color, often with a figuring of darker irregular traces weaving through the wood. The sapwood (not often used) is a creamy yellow, with a sharp boundary with the heartwood. The heartwood is known to change color after being cut, lending to its appeal.

Cocobolo is oily in look and feel. This oil lends a strong, unmistakable floral odor even to well seasoned wood and occasionally stains the hands with prolonged exposure. Standing up well to repeated handling and exposure to water, a common use is in gun grips and knife handles. It is very hard, fine textured and dense, but is easily machined, although due to the abundance of natural oils, the wood tends to clog abrasives and fine-toothed saw blades, like other very hard, very dense tropical woods. Due to its density and hardness, even a large block of the cut wood will produce a clear musical tone if struck. Cocobolo can be polished to a lustrous, glassy finish. The high natural oil content of the wood makes it difficult to achieve a strong glue joint, and can inhibit the curing of some varnishes, particularly oil based finishes. Great wood for your urn for cremation.

The most wonderful thing about my pottery
business is that I get to make a special
connection with my customers and a lot of
them become friends of mine, enriching my
life. I just completed a pet urn for Elizabeth
and her family. She had such a cute doggy
(picture below).. his name was "Bergen". I
will share her e-mail to me (right side of
Bergen). This was a very nice family and I
appreciate them letting me put this story on
my website. THANK YOU, Matt

Here is a photo of my pug Bergen. He was about 22lbs.
Bergen was the sweetest and funniest dog.  We adopted him
from pug rescue when he was 5 years old. He died when he
was 12.  He was completely blind from the day we met him.
He loved to just be near us. I was always tripping over him
because he was always at my feet.  He loved to go for rides
in the car and would try to shoot out the door whenever we
opened it to leave the house. he'd run out and sit next to the
car.   He slept with my daughter when she was a baby.
Curled up next to her.
He was plagued with bad teeth and ear infections all his life.
He died from a terrible tumor that had taken over his sinus
cavity.

Bergen was soft and had a beautiful shiny black coat.  I want
the urn to be absolutely plain but with a shiny black finish to
pay homage to his beautiful body.  I like the shape as it
reminds me of him- squat and chubby. Also pugs are
Chinese so the overall shape fits because it's asian in spirit.

Looking at his photo I can't believe he's gone.  I have had
many pugs, and seen many pugs, but I have never seen one
that looks remotely like Bergen.  he was a true gift in our
lives.

Thanks...TooTall’s Pottery – Ceramic Tattoo "Art Urns" Phone: (805)-765-1113 Custom Hand Carved ceramic tattoo art. We welcome special orders… http://www.tootallspottery.com/index.html