shannynjoypotter

Anchor, detail. One of two free standing sculptures completed last year. Full piece can be seen at the studio at NKB.

UPCOMING SHOW! Opening night is Saturday, July 14th from 7 to 10pm at Gallery 360 located at 3011 W. 50th Street in Minneapolis. Show runs through August 19th. Will be debuting three new sculptures, including a free standing piece that will be residing in the window for a few weeks. Please come.

Cha Cha Cha at Gaviidae Commons, Minneapolis

Just installed Cha Cha Cha, (2011), in downtown Minneapolis in Gaviidae Commons, on Nicollet Mall and 6th Street. It can be found on the 2nd floor, outside Neiman Marcus. All part of a NE artists installation into empty store front spaces. Have one more new little sculpture to be installed next week as it is currently drying. Photos to come.

ART-A-WHIRL. . . yes, it’s here again. Studio 341 will be open all three days, May 19 through the 20th. I will be debuting three new sculptures, Pucker, Glint and Tug. Event is happening Friday 6 to 10pm, Saturday 12 to 8pm and Sunday 12 to 5pm at the Northrup King Building at 1500 Jackson Street NE, Minneapolis. Please stop by and say hello.

Lots of upcoming shows, Art-a-Whirl, gallery 360, downtown and then some. More on that soon! Best news now is that I am finally able to accept credit cards, even American Express, for a small fee of course. I love technology. Money for art, moving through a phone and into the bank. Crazy fast times we are all now in. Enjoy it and keep breathing.

UPCOMING SHOW : April 19 – May 20, 2012 at the Hopkins Center for the Arts, Charles D. Redeppening Gallery. The Critic’s Show featuring Dan Noyes, myself and others from Vesper College. Please join us for the opening reception Thursday, April 26, 6 – 8 pm. Gallery is located at 1111 Main Street, Hopkins, MN 55343 and can be reached at 952.979.1100. Gallery is also open Monday – Friday, 8am – 8pm, Saturday, 10am – 8pm, Sunday, 12 – 5pm. Hope you can make it!

Just sold Unfold, (2011 piece). Thank you Abitare Design Studio!

Now showing a couple of collaborations made with Caroline Keefe at Gallery 360 in Minneapolis. On display are Mound and Ripple.
The gallery is open Monday through Saturday 10 to 6pm, Thursdays until 8, and Sundays from 12 to 5pm. They are located at 3011 W. 50th Street.
If in the neighborhood, please stop by and check them out.

Been spending a couple days a month as a studio facilitator at Vesper College in Minneapolis. Loving the dialogues, the people, the constantly changing work and the freshness within the familiarity of a space that I haven’t spent much time in. Hours of words with enough fulfilling silence. I’ve left the privacy of my studio and taken the unfinished work away from my comfort zone to work in an open space, and that has only rarely happened. As a result my work is turning another corner and will be edging off the wall and onto the floor, even if it’s only for a brief reminder. Copper wire is clearly the conduit to anchor the sculpture and link it back to the wall reliefs. Lines circle and cycle and tie it all together, whether it be sitting on the floor or floating on the wall. In my head it’s clear, the piece awaits.

still on holiday break, at least at the studio. so, i will not be open for open studio this thursday the 5th. please email if you would like to schedule a visit.

until then, happy new year!

Been preparing for the annual Art Attack, November 4th, 5th and 6th at Northrup King. More to come about that later

Very excited about about the new piece, loblolly pine, that is being worked out on my floor. With some help from James will be adding fake bark, almost as a garland, this will better be seen instead of described here. Pinks, charcoals and white are floating around within the options. New territory opening up. . .

have two new 2011 pieces to add to the site, Beyond and Sap, yet to be photographed. currently laboring over a big vertical. gray, copper and yellow tie wire. .?
big deep veins moving through a lovely, gnarly piece of elm. another week or two to go. it clearly still has more to say. more soon.

thanks to all who attending the recent open studio event. in case you missed it, due to the abundance of rain and tornado’s, the studio will be open for Thursday June 2nd, from 5 to 9pm. showing two new pieces that are not on the site yet: beyond and sap. beyond is pom pom’s, cedar, and gina louise. and sap, a slow moving quiet vertical filled with just a little yellow. come see.

also now showing molt and one at abitare design studio at 527 glenwood ave. in Mpls. they look lovely in their new space. take a look if you are in the neighborhood. open M-F, 10 to 4 and Saturday 11-4.

The new work is finally uploaded, ( thank you again kim jones! ) Now preparing for the annual open studio exhibition known as Art-A-Whirl. Will be showing at least two new pieces that are not yet finished, including a collaboration with the lovely gina louise. Please stop by studio 341 by a take a look. Opening night is Friday, May 20th from 5 to 10pm and it continues Saturday from 12 to 8pm and Sunday 12 to 5pm.

for directions go here

making new work and continuing to talk with one that’s been lingering for months. moving on to a 5′+ vertical, very excited about. it’s been awhile since i’ve gone up, horizontals have dictated for some time, but with this one there is no other way for this board to be. it’s a piece of red oak from James, again, (thank you). so thin it’ll be, will try hard not break it, as i have done so easily in past. gentle little cracks and not always so delicate chisels.. .

thanks to all who made VD11 a great show! three new pieces to add to the site. coming soon.

get ready. it’s coming. . . VD11

happy and safe holidays all!

ART ATTACK! !! ridicules name but it is what is it. over 200 artists showing in one building, NKB, for a weekend exhibition. stop by studio 341 and see the new work. two big mama sculptures making their debut. opening night is Friday November 5th, 5 to 10pm, Saturday 12 to 8pm and Sunday 12 to 5pm.

for directions and more info, go to NKB, NORTHRUP KING BUILDING

please come.

it’s open studio time again. another month has crept by. hello october. thursday the 7th, the new moon, 5 to 9 pm. doors open. we will be there. one new piece up, relent. NFS at this time, kinda attached to it these days. later, maybe. preparing for art attack, first weekend of november, at least one new big mama sculpture and maybe another. come see.

Collaborations made with Caroline Keefe will be on display at the Northrup King Building, third floor gallery #332. We will be part of the Fine Craft Exhibit and Design Event. Opening is Friday, October 1, 5 to 8 pm. Mound, Rub and Untitled will be up . Show runs through October 9th. please come.

open studio happening again, tonight in fact from 5 to 9. come on by. two new pieces will be up. relent and give way. photo’s to come.

almost a year to date, another well deserved benefit for our friend Dean Magraw. please come. Celtic Junction. 836 Prior Ave. N. St. Paul

now exhibiting four pieces at Design Within Reach in Minneapolis: swoon, surge, fresh and one. various years covered here but unifying motifs pull them all together. swoops and curves it seems. very harmonious fit with the overall aesthetic of their studio. please stop by and take a look if you are in the neighborhood. open monday through saturday 10-6, and sunday’s 11-5. thank you James. thank you Susan.

just a reminder that the studio will be closed for the first thursday of august event. i am listening to the ocean. . . be back soon.

the first all black piece. thinking i may have to live with this one, we’ll see. relent, it is.

yes, the studio will be open this week for first thursday. 6 to 9, i will be there.

happy solstice. bunch of new work coming soon. three finished and documented, three underway.

thank you to James for giving me so many wonderful, useful, and inspiring materials and all of your help over the last several months . . .
it was much appreciated.

finishing up three new pieces for art-a-whirl, molt, swoon and so close. what do those titles tell you? come and see. i’ll be in the studio all weekend, one form or another.

baby blue fades into gray and lighter gray, and then into dirty white and bone white. what was i thinking with baby blue? spring under my skin. how suggestible i am sometimes. never was much for pastels but i have always been into fading. fading away, fading lighter and lighter until it’s worn out or through. the heaviest piece i’m now making is going to look so light is might even lift off the wall. the name is changing along with the color, as they sometimes do. leaving a piece underway and going traveling always radically shifts it. i change and move and with that the sculpture. the title has been nine and then became seam, moved into glimmer and back to seam, and now resting and staying with molt. after all that, molt couldn’t be more fitting.

working, working, working. . . art-a-whirl sneaking up fast (see studio page). goal is to have three new pieces for the show. one of which will be a collaboration with ms. keefe, if all works out. lots and lots of color. reds continue as they have for years, but baby blue and gold? that’s right, baby blue. spring is here and it’s under my skin.

A friend recently told me that all that glimmers isn’t gold. I don’t need it all to be, just every once in awhile.

Just spent a little over two weeks in New York. Every time i leave Mpls. my eyes changes and inevitably my work too changes. Love that cities and it’s energy. Missed it before i had even left. Maybe it was the wonderful time i had or maybe i’m wanting to counterbalance the straight lines of the buildings, either way, curves are emerging in the studio. Swooping, bending and giving is how it is. Parts of circles in my head. Curves enveloping the merging straight lines and i am bending to it. Thank you New York.

i have moved my work to the floor. this is a first, with wood anyway. the piece is so big that is would not fit on my work table in one piece. so i’ve been working on it in two sections, chiseling, shaping, slowly moving, but i could no longer see what i was doing. so to the floor we moved and onto to the ladder to attempt to see and it seems to working. have to say that it’s strangely satisfying to be able to sit on the work as i carve it. strange and satisfying, yes, it’s true.

more images coming soon for ‘09 and the start on 2010.

more white and shiny copper holding it together. sometimes our connections shine. calling it bound.

working on a little piece, ( 10″w x 12″h x 10″d, little ) for the ‘foot in the door show’ at the MIA here. it’s funny to me that regardless of size, moving from the last one being quite large and heavy, to now small and mobile, it all remains the same. one piece moves into another. colors, motifs, movement, they all continue to the next, as a stream of consciousness, as a breath. they continue until they are exhausted or replaced, whichever comes first. white now has returned and persists and continues to satisfy. so it goes.

mulling over and mulling over the newest, nine, it’s working title, due to change. not often do i switch directions so much as i have lately. the horizontal has become vertical. i am looking at the piece on the floor from a ladder, attempting to gain perspective. so far i remain in the dark with constant change. everything moves.

nine pieces of basswood staring me down. have rearranged them until they now feel settled. intertwined rusted sheet metal. all waiting to do something. contemplating curves. in this process of subtraction the direction must be clear, so i wait and watch and draw.

drawing and drawing and drawing on the sides of shift, slowly moving.rusty steel becoming brighter as the days keep getting shorter.

like this. shift.

Our long time friend Dean is suffering from MDS, a cancer related illness. A benefit to raise money for his medical and living expenses will be held on Sunday, August 30th, 2009 at The Celtic Junction in St. Paul.

If you have never experienced Dean live, you’ve really missed something…

There is a suggested donation of $15, but any support is appreciated. If you cannot make the show but still would like to make a donation, please email helpdeanmagraw@yahoo.com.

Sunday, August 30, 2009
12:00pm – 10:00pm
@ The Celtic Junction

LINEUP: ( tentative. more are being added! )
12:00—12:30 DAKOTA DAVE HULL
12:30—1:00 EASTSIDE
1:15—1:45 LEHTO AND WRIGHT
2:00—2:30 ERIC JAHN TRIO
2:45—3:15 AXIS MUNDI
3:30—4:00 THE PETERSONS
4:15—4:45 MARCUS WISE AND SITTAR PLAYER
5:00—5:30 MARCUS WISE/Nirmala Rajesakar
5:45—6:15 LAURA MACKENZIE AND DAITHE SPROULE
6:30—7:00 MARC ANDERSON, JT BATES AND JIM ANTON
7:15—7:45 CAFÉ ACCORDION ORCHESTRA
8:00—8:30 GREG HERRIGES TRIO
8:45—9:15 PRUDENCE JOHNSON AND DAN CHOUINARD (PIANO)
9:30—10:00 BOILED IN LEAD

Please spread the word.