Mr. Ken, This is How the Tortoise Beat the Hare

Jet engines, that’s how. Ken?… Ferguson, a legend in ceramics and former professor at KCAI, he loved his hares. Google it.

I like turtles, yes, just like that kid in the video. Google that too. Turtles carry their home wherever they go. They are the RV of the animal world along with snails and hermit crabs. This was important to me as my childhood consisted of many many moves from one place to another. I didn’t have the same concept of “home” as it relates to a structure that most people had. I understand home is where you’re the most comfortable and experience the most love. I also understand that as children, many of us had a childhood home, or at least a couple. I had too many therefore did not have a concept of permanence in the meaning of “home”. A turtle Carries a home on it’s back everywhere it goes for its entire life, a permanent home. The concept of storage jars also played a role in what I was about to make. Storage was a big factor in the human transition from nomads to settlers. The ability to harvest, keep food and supplies protected and dry for longer allowed humans to stay put for longer periods of time, to make a home. The turtle I was about to start working on was to be a lidded jar in the shape of a turtle with a small twist, it would be packing a jet engine on it’s back. It would be the world’s fastest turtle.

This is an idea that I sketched a while back, after college and during the decline in artistic pursuit experienced after graduation. I didn’t think much of it then because there was no studio access to facilitate its construction, therefore no reason to pursue it. Things were different now; I had access to a studio, facilities, clay. I could work on projects over time and develop a series that went beyond the simplicity of a cup. So I began making the first turtle of this chapter in life. But first, a quick recap: The first turtle was in middle school.

Simple, playful, ugly. It had a lid that didn’t fit well and looked like it was choking, maybe it saw itself in a mirror. Not bad for a 6th grade art student. Three years later, in high school, I decided to make another turtle. This time it was glazed and didn’t have a lid. While it was a technically superior turtle, it was lacking in depth and felt more like an exercise. The turtle did not have a purpose or function, but at least it looked better than the first one.

College didn’t see a lot of turtling. I did cast some molds of a toy turtle and a toy F-14 jet, cut them up and reassembled them to make little turtle jets. These can be considered the start of the current turtle exploration.

So now the turtles became a tradition and a series. I felt like this was the most appropriate thing to do as the first big project in the new old studio. So I began building a turtle using what I learned in college and what I was seeing at work. It felt good to stretch my legs and make something that I could be proud of again. This project also incorporated two clashing aesthetics into a single vessel, the rigid and mechanical versus the organic and natural combined in a single harmonious composition.

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The first turtle out of college took some time to accomplish. It took almost a year from start to finish, 10 months if you’re desperate for a timeframe, but I couldn’t be happier with the end result. There was no way I could have spent so much time on a single project in college, it wouldn’t be allowed. Although 10 months seems like a lot, in reality, I only worked on the turtle for 2 hours at a time, once a week from October 2014 to August 2015; the schedule for the night class at the high school with some weeks taken out for vacations and holidays. The construction of the turtle allowed others in the night class to see an idea go from sketch to life and the process that came with it. The problem solving and considerations taken while building and detailing it showed that no idea was too farfetched that it couldn’t be done. It established a leadership role for me in the classroom that continues to this day. Any time someone has an idea that they need help with or face a challenge in their process, students seek advice from me if the night time teacher cannot help, this keeps me on my toes. I realized I had a gift, and I decided that I would share it with anyone who was willing to seek it out. The turtle was the first of many turtles, few of which made it to a finished piece.

I began making miniature models as mockups, or maquettes, for potentially larger work. This helps to move a piece from sketch to 3 dimensions and to solve possible issues in construction before investing time and effort into the larger finished piece. It’s common practice among some sculptural artists and is part of a process which yields successful final and finished pieces. It’s also one of many approaches, this one happens to work well for me. So I made another turtle. I was having fun, why stop now?

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Smaller, yes, but still a nice little addition to the turtle series. I found cold finishing to be a more successful route than traditional glazing techniques because it allowed for more range and control of color. This turtle was designed to hang from the ceiling using fishing line. I have never hung the turtle for fear that I’ll drop the lid. One day I’ll make it happen and document it to update this post.

A fear of dropping lids is common among vessel makers. It’s why we measure and record our lid flange inner diameters when the jar is still wet. This works well on round pieces, not so much for turtle jet lids. I dropped the first turtle’s lid once and almost died. I’m a patient person and I like a good puzzle, so I took the lid and meticulously reassembled it. Shard by shard, I glued with care making sure that Humpty Dumpty was put back together. Ironic that I worked for a jet engine repair shop and now I’m repairing my turtle’s jet engine.

I didnt stop at this turtle. I wanted to continue making more, so I did. This time going the opposite direction and making it bigger than the first.

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The third turtle in the series is stuck in limbo. It currently sits unfinished on my work bench. Shame on me. But I do have a feeling this turtle will be done in the near future. I’ll update this post once its finished.

The turtle series is still one of my favorites and I plan on revisiting it in the future. There are sketches that I would like to take further and more ideas that take the series into a broader scope of the rigid aesthetic.

There will be more shell.