FLOWING ART STUDIO

FLOWING ART STUDIO is the home and Gallery of two very different multi media artists, Dante Ambriel and Tashi Draper.

In addition to both artists working differently in ceramics, they also each produce unique hand forged silver jewelry, create their own textile clothing using their hand dyed silks and produce photographs and paintings that reflect each one’s personal vision.

Their Gallery and workshops are housed in a 1920’s Tutor style house on a heritage 40 acre organic fruit farm where they raise horses, a breed of rare miniature sheep and mini Australian Shepherds.

Their work has been collected internationally and locally their work can often be seen at The Sooke Fine Art Show and last year at the Salt Spring Ceramic Awards in addition to other shows in B.C.

DANTE AMBRIEL works in porcelain on highly carved and sometimes figurative and bowl forms that speak of transformation and the place of emergence between two worlds.

ARTIST'S STATEMENT:

I love the white purity of porcelain and its delicate nature.

This very difficult material is called the “Diva of Clays".

Both controlling the movement of the porcelain and allowing its flow throughout the making, drying and firing process, is like a pair of dancers, water and earth, trying to tango in a desert wind storm.

Nevertheless, I like to work with porcelain both on the throwing wheel and using a slab hand building technique.

As I work, I listen to the object as it appears before me and it tells me what I need to do to fulfill its nature, step by step.

I make both objects that hold space - like figures and sculptures - and shapes that contain space - like bowls and cups - in porcelain.

Regardless of whether it is a figure or sculpture, a bowl or a cup, each object has a voice.

Each piece seems to claim its own material, emotional and spiritual space - as though it were a living object.

After it has taken form, the porcelain piece will reach a leather hard state.

At this point, I spend hours, even days, lost in the meditation of carving each piece.

Every mark that I make in the porcelain allows the inner language of that single object to emerge further.

When fired, porcelain then becomes translucent and almost living flesh-like as it radiates light.

This year I have been working on two series: “The Sacred Singer Series” and “The Dreaming Trees Bowl Series”

"The Sacred Singer Series" series explores the human body as a sacred vessel and as a powerful instrument for sonic transformation.

Each singer in the series is a transformer who intentionally generates sacred sound to create and protect the beings that inhabit all space.

“The Dreaming Trees Bowl Series” explores the concept of the outer bark of trees (form) and the inner flow of sap (emptiness) that make up trees.

This series use the bowl as a metaphor for the Buddhist concept of form and emptiness.

The outside of the bowl is highly carved with trees who's branches are entangled.

This represents the interdependence of our world of form while the inner bowl holds the empty space of our constant becoming.

Sometimes I use my own unique methods to fuse colour, pure silver and/or glass onto the final pieces.

danteambriel.com

TASHI DRAPER - ARTIST'S STATEMENT:

When I was young I loved to play in the mud.
I even tried eating it.
According to my mom I wore mud on my clothes a lot.
Mud took on a whole new meaning when I started intentionally forming it.
Now, I still wear mud on my clothes but I have found that clay offers me the best opportunity to express and create the sculptural forms that I envision.
I love the simple, clean and dramatic shapes of Henry Moore’s sculptures, Gabrielle Koch ceramics and Japanese contemporary ceramic works.
I start my work with a slab base and I let the piece grow as I add each new coil of clay.
Once the piece has reached its raw form, I refine the inner and outer surface to enhance the harmony and balance of the shape.
Then, I begin the colouring process by adding layer upon layer of underglaze paints.
I am drawn to the colours and subtle layering of the painter Mark Rothko.
Sometimes I add as many as 12 layers of colour.
Adding the element of colour carries the joy that I feel when I am making the form - out through the clay skin - and onto the outer surface of each piece.
Next, I sand through the layers to reveal the underlaying colours to create a rich tapestry of tones and hues.
The piece is then fired - then glazed - and then re-fired.
Finally, I love to add a dash of metallic leaf to the piece.
Because I was first a silver smith and forger, I often like add a metal sculptural element of silver or copper to the piece once it is finished.

www.tashidraper.com