Ben Roti Ceramics
OPENING MAY 4!
May 4, 2012 - September 8, 2012
A tribute to the legendary Don Reitz spanning 51 years of his career. Join us from 6-9 pm on First Friday and see 100 artworks by Reitz on the ground floor and the third floor of the Belger building at 2100 Walnut Street in Kansas City's Crossroads Arts District. DON REITZ will run through September 8, 2012.
Read moreThis trip was AMAZING. David Whyte and his fiancé Jennifer Ruxer visited this week and we were able to go to the Grand Canyon (a second time for me in one month!). It was raining in Cottonwood and the forecast for the Grand Canyon was cloudy and possiblity of rain, but we went for it anyways. I'm so glad we did! We drove through rain and even snow to get to the South Rim, but when we arrived the canyon was even more beautiful than the first. The cloud cover gave the valleys splashes of color and contrast throughout the entire canyon. I couldn't stop taking pictures and it seemed that each picture got better than the first. I couldn't wait to get them on the computer and get them on my site. Really looking forward to my next visit to the Grand Canyon.
Read moreThis week Don sent me to Denver Colorado to pick up pieces from the Sandra Phillips Gallery in Denver, CO. I took Kami along with me and we got caught in the middle of some really crazy weather! We saw dust storms to blizzards. Kami and I got stuck in Winslow Arizona for the night, and had a two hour window to pass through Flagstaff, AZ before the ADOT closed I-40 again. It was a nerve racking trip (driving Dons artwork through snow) but we made it back safe and have photos to show from it!
Read moreThis week my best friend Abe Saleh and his wife Jessica visited Kami and I in Cottonwood, AZ. We went all over Cottonwood, Jerome, Sedona, Flagstaff, and even the Grand Canyon! This was the first time I had been to the Grand Canyon that I can remember. It was a bright sunny day (still very cold) there was snow still throughout the canyon, but we got some great photos. It really is hard to take in the scale of the canyon. It was so much larger than I ever imagined. (I also got a bit trigger happy with my camera) Looking forward to heading back in April.
Read moreAfter my Midnight to 6 AM shift, I was driving into town and the moon was just beginning to go down over Mingus Mountain. I pulled over to the side of the road and got a few good shots of the moon setting over Jerome and Clarkdale below. I must say that I live in a very beautiful state.
Read moreIt has been a little while since my last update this is because we are in the middle of a serious firing schedule. Don has a large retrospective show that will be coming up on May 4th 2012 at Belger Arts Center. So Don has been cranking out work left and right. With all the work that is being produced the work has to be fired. Since his show with Bentley Gallery that recently came down in January, we have been firing a wood kiln about once every week! We've also thrown in a few Salt kiln firings in there too. There has been a few times where we are firing a wood kiln and a salt kiln at the same time! Don's salt kiln is one of the loudest kilns I have really ever been around. (It was really nice when it had been going on for a few days and we get to turn it off, the silence was much appreciated) I did get a few shots of firing during my Midnight shift on March 3rd 2012. Below are a few photos from a night firing in March.
Read moreI know this is kind-of late, but if you are in the area be sure to check out Don's opening TONIGHT from 7-9pm, Hope to see some familiar faces tonight! If you don't catch the opening tonight be sure to check the show out at Bentley Gallery before the end of the year!
Bentley Gallery PresentsDON REITZ: A LIFE IN CLAY
December 1st - December 31st
Opening Reception with Artist: Dec. 1st, 7-9pm
Read moreThis week I was lucky enough to travel to one of my favorite cities, Chicago. I was there for the 2011 Sculptural Objects and Functional Art (SOFA) exhibition on Navy Pier. The 18th Annual SOFA CHICAGO 2011 + The Intuit Show of Folk & Outsider Art at Navy Pier’s Festival Hall (600 E. Grand Avenue, Chicago, Ill. 60611) presented by The Art Fair Company was from Nov. 4 – 6. This two-fair, three-day art event featured contemporary art and design presented by more than 60 international art galleries and dealers at SOFA CHICAGO; and outsider art, ethnographic art, non-traditional folk art and visionary art at The Intuit Show. I arrived a few days early to help Lacoste Gallery set up Don's pieces for the show. I put in several hours over the week long stay and helped with the assembly and tear-down of The Don Reitz Project and the Lacoste Gallery's space.
Read moreA few weeks ago Don, Larry, and I traveled to Phoenix for 3 days to work at the Mission Clay Products Pipe Factory. MCP creates large sewer tile pipes that would be used under ground for septic and water pipes. These large clay pipes are extruded down at the Phoenix plant and several other locations across the lower United States. The factory in Phoenix can extrude pipes up to 36" in diameter and over 8 feet tall. The clay used in the pipes are from several clay deposits across Arizona, the clay is mixed and fired at the Phoenix plant. The factory has 3 very large Bee-Hive kilns where they can load hundreds of pipes in each kiln load. The pipes are placed into the kiln using forklifts and cranes to stack the kiln. When we arrived on Sunday night they had placed 3 large pipes in a back room for us to work on. We were under a tight time restraint as we had to load them into the kilns by Wednesday morning. We successfully completed two large pipes that will hopefully be exhibited in Chicago on the Navy Pier for SOFA. Check out the images from our 3 day adventure.
Read moreThis weekend we are firing a woodkiln out at the ranch. It has been a while since we fired a woodkiln so I'm very excited to get back into the woodfire mode. I put a few pictures of the stacking below. This kiln is such a breeze to load until we get to Don's sculptures. The smaller sculptures are pretty straightforward and can actually be done by one person, however, the larger sculptures (which usually end up on the top to utilize the arch of the kiln) are a little bit trickier. For most kiln loadings I have to crawl over the bag-wall, into the firebox, and help guide the piece onto the top shelf.I have a lot of new work in this kiln along with Kent, Larry, and Don. All together it should be a fantastic firing and will update the photos (and hopefully my portfolio) with the results from the firing.
Read moreJust before we decided which day we were going to load the kiln it started to rain. There wasn't much lightning and I didn't have a great camera but though I would put a few photos of the monsoons.
Read moreThis November Don Reitz has invited 4 major ceramic artists to come out and be apart of an Anagama firing. To prepare for the kiln Don invited his past assistant Mat Rude to come out and help make some larger pieces for the upcoming firing with us. It was really great to see my old friend (not too often you get to see other people out at the ranch), and work in the studio to create some really amazing work.It was truly amazing to see each piece start from a basic cylinder or cone shape and become absolutely fascinating sculptures. There were several times over the last 5 days that I couldn't help but just pinch myself to make sure that I wasn't dreaming. It was so cool to see the studio so full of energy and creativity. As the pieces were being assembled Don was bouncing from piece to piece working a little bit on each one allowing the other to dry. That was pretty fascinating to see how Don works with the larger scale work. Below are photos from the week and I will upload the final pieces as they are finished. I'm really looking forward to the Anagama firing!
Read moreThis weekend I took a mini vacation with my mom (Lisa Roti) to Ft Myers beach and had a wonderful time! It was very humid (not used to that any more) and very warm but soaked everything in at the beach! It was such a neat opportunity to see my mom and catch up on each others lives. A lot has happened in a year! Here are the photos of our trip from my phone, I will upload more when I get her camera
Read moreI was at it again tonight! This might have been some of the greatest photos I've gotten of lightning so far. The storm tonight was amazing, there was lightning every 10 seconds with enormous bolts each strike. I tried my 75mm-300mm lens this time and it definitely worked a lot better. I think the photos turned out pretty great and wanted to share.
Read moreWe fired a kiln last week, and had fantastic results. We got cone 11 down hard through out the kiln and cone 12 bending in front. Don's work had some amazing colors. Larry and I both had some newer forms in the kiln. I'm extremely happy on how my work turned out. I took some pictures of a few pieces, the rest will come later this week. UPDATE: Check out my ceramics portfolio to see images of my new work from the firing!
Read moreThis weekend Larry, Don, and I went to Flagstaff, Arizona to see Northern Arizona University's new woodkiln. Jason Hess gave us a tour of the facility and we got to see the kiln during the middle of the firing. The kiln is a new design from a Japanese ceramic artist named Takashi Nakazato. The kiln, also known as the "switchback" kiln, has an anagama like firebox on one side with a stack above it and on the other side past the ware chamber is a train kiln firebox with a stack above that as well. The idea behind the kiln is to have the flame hit from one side and then stoke from the other side. This gives the work in the kiln some great atmospheric effects on both sides. They are unloading the kiln on Wednesday and it will be really great to see the results.
Read moreIt's hard to believe that almost a year ago from today I was in Tucson with my mom and I took photos of the amazing lightning storms that occurred during the night. Well tonight wasn't any different. The sky was lit up from hundreds of lightning bolts. It took me a while to find the right "spot" to take my photos. I started on the Sycamore Canyon Road on the way out to Don's place, taking pictures of Cottonwood and Clarkdale, and eventually ended up in Jerome overlooking the whole valley. Here are the great photos from tonight.
Read moreSome of my friends, Juston Rominger and Jesse Albrecht have a show with other veterans titled Combat Paper Project: Iowa at the Johnson County Historical Society Museum, located at 860 Quarry Road, Coralville. "The exhibit is the result of a series of workshops in which at least a dozen veterans from multiple wars worked with the artists from the University of Iowa Center for the Book in the spring of 2010. The participants started from the same point of making their old uniforms into paper, but then veered off in different directions." - Press Citizen 2011. I was able to be there when several veterans turned their old military uniforms into paper back in 2010. (Click here to see pictures)
Read moreI have been in Montana for the last week for the Archie Bray's 60th anniversary. I drove up with a few students from ASU, and flew back out of Bozeman, MT. I took a few pictures at the airport while I was waiting for the plane. The mountains are absolutely beautiful. I had an amazing time catching up with friends and meeting new friends along the way. I even found ten dollars laying on the ground at the airport!
Read moreI just wanted to give a small plug to The Archie Bray Foundation. The Archie Bray Foundation will celebrate 60 years of leadership in the international ceramics community in 2011. A distinctive fusion of visiting artists will culminate in a three-day international symposium on June 23–25. I will be at the Bray with Don and I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone there. Check out their website for more info by clicking here.
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