{"id":12691,"date":"2011-07-27T04:54:06","date_gmt":"2011-07-27T09:54:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/utnews.utoledo.edu\/?p=12691"},"modified":"2011-07-25T13:47:05","modified_gmt":"2011-07-25T18:47:05","slug":"ceramist-fired-up-about-new-studio-art-on-the-mall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/07_27_2011\/ceramist-fired-up-about-new-studio-art-on-the-mall","title":{"rendered":"Ceramist fired up about new studio, Art on the Mall"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Travis<\/a>

Travis Sanderson worked on a vase for Art on the Mall.<\/p><\/div>He\u2019s a young, hot artist \u2014 literally. Travis Sanderson leaves the garage door open to catch some air while working in the Old No. 9 Studio and Gallery in Toledo.<\/p>\n

The ceramist grabs a block of clay, pulls up a stool emblazoned with racing flames, and takes the potter\u2019s wheel for a spin. Within seconds, his hands shape a smooth, cylindrical vase.<\/p>\n

Sanderson makes it look effortless.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like to be able to take things as basic as dirt, water and fire and make something beautiful \u2014 and not even necessarily something beautiful, just turn it into something creative,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He pushes in several sections of the vessel, giving it an organic look.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I started to do sculpture, I was just doing stack, very symmetrical forms,\u201d he recalled of his undergraduate days at The University of Toledo. \u201cAnd then I went rock climbing with the UT Wilderness Exhibition Club and saw the textures and the natural elements on the climbing walls and got turned on to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of his artistic pieces look like they sprouted outside. Check out thefirehousearts.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had people describe my work as underwater coral or something growing in the woods under a big pine tree,\u201d Sanderson said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no wonder the environment inspires him. After receiving a bachelor of fine arts degree in ceramics from UT in 2008, Sanderson headed west to work as an apprentice for one year in Montana at Whitefish Pottery.<\/p>\n

\u201cI learned more the business aspect of the art; I got to work some art fairs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

That experience should help Sanderson, who will be one of more than 100 exhibitors at Art on the Mall, which will take place Sunday, July 31, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on UT\u2019s Centennial Mall.<\/p>\n

\"Finished<\/a>

Finished pieces by Travis Sanderson are shown off in a natural setting.<\/p><\/div>\u201cI think Art on the Mall is a great gig because it allows an emerging artist the opportunity to be seen at the same venue as established craftspeople,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Sanderson will have an array of pieces at the free, juried event.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019ll be one-of-a-kind vases and functional pottery with sculptural elements,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m integrating the organic nature of my sculptural work into usable objects.\u201d<\/p>\n

His everyday fare includes mugs, mixing bowls, teapots and plates. But the works aren\u2019t ordinary. Sanderson adds textures with anything from carpet and mesh to shells and metal grates on eye-popping deep greens, bright blues, earthy browns and ashen grays.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I went back to Montana last year, I fell in love with wood firing, which is a different way to fire pieces using wood as the main fuel source instead of electric or gas,\u201d he said. \u201cIt just creates a different look. When the fly ash from the wood gets hot enough, it creates its own natural glaze on the surface of the pots; it\u2019s pretty amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sanderson will have a few wood-fired works at Art on the Mall.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, he\u2019ll be heating up the kilns to 2,200 degrees at the former Toledo fire station, Old No. 9 Studio and Gallery, 1841 Broadway St.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal is to have a showroom for local artists and a more personalized gallery for solo exhibitions up and running this fall,\u201d Sanderson said. \u201cI\u2019m betting we get plenty of traffic; we\u2019re close enough to downtown and people can dodge the Anthony Wayne Trail to drive down Broadway and see the gallery.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Travis Sanderson is turning up the heat at Old No. 9 Studio and Gallery, a former Toledo fire station, where he creates cool ceramic artwork.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12691"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12691\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}