Portrait of Earth Expressions
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Earth Expressions

Ceramic, Literary, Multimedia, Poetry, Sculpture / Installation, Visual / Media

I enjoy working with clay because it's tactile. I also like that it has been in use for over ten thousand years, making it among the older art media. It lasts. Whether it is red ware or stoneware, coarse or a fine plastic clay like porcelain, the range of properties and potential of this medium are truly amazing. I seem never to run out of things to pursue. And while I often create functional objects, that has changed markedly as I have been making sculptures for 15 years. I like fine, well crafted objects, be they bowl or sphere, drum or tile. I have also branched out into multi media art installations, and poetry writing takes up more and more of my time as I age into wisdom. One can spend many lifetimes exploring the arts alone. Its fascinating. My philosophy is never stop learning and growing, never stop exploring.

About the Artist

I graduated Earlham College in 1988 with a degree in Biology and a minor in Ceramics.  My ceramics has actually constituted a larger part of my career than the biology, but my work reflects both adequately.  I pursue explorations in texture and pattern in much of my studio production, and have a very unique method I developed for making natural expression tiles and mosaics, sculptures, and vessels. One of my specializations is slipware, which is typically earthenware dishes and forms decorated with various colored slips. I wrote an article in 2013 about my methods in slipware, which coined a new term in the ceramics vocabulary.  Wet Slip Inlay. I teach workshops occasionally in this method, primarily at the Common Ground on the Hill traditions weeks each summer.  I am also a veteran drum maker, with over 425 drums made so far.  My latest work is making spherical sculptures of planets, moons and stars. An article on spheres is pending publication. I've been making ceramics for over 40 years. The only time I stopped was when I was dealing with cancer in 2021-2023. It's a lot of work, because mostly I am in the studio and I exhibit only occasionally.  And the cancer. Still, it's fascinating. I love process. The rest is just work. But the best is yet to come.

Artist's Statement

I have several specialties within ceramics alone, as mentioned above. And I have worked full or part time for 44 years.  Sadly, I get little recognition or business, though one collector has taken an interest in my work and I have made some big strides lately. I am not sure what the reason for the struggle is, except perhaps that there is too little funding to go around for too many people, and that cause celebre' rules the day. Competition is fierce. But artists are so interesting, among the most interesting people I know. As I approach retirement, I fully intend to keep being creative, though I may need to adapt and downsize. I don't know what the future holds, except that I will continue on my creative journey. Perhaps I have not yet reached my nadir. Come to the Blue Elephant and see my work.  I will welcome you.  Enjoy.

Featured Work

Photos

A 14 inch diameter ceramic sphere on a wooden tripod. The piece is sculpted in detail to look like an imaginary moon that just might be out there someplace once the Webb telescope finds it. But for now, imaginary will do. A layered treatment of the surface simulates craters, ice flows, escarpments and small debris, while pigments (underglazes) are layered to represent different mineral deposits on the surface. Ideal centerpiece for a home or office, with special lighting to show off the color. Very nice piece, very finely crafted.
Ceramic sphere made to simulate tectonic activity with oceans and continents. This could be earth at another time in its history, or another world found in this or another galaxy. The combination of tectonic activity and large standing bodies of water have set the stage for the evolution on earth, ultimately leading to atmosphere, circulation patterns that give weather and distribute heat over the planet, and ultimately, life. Many colored underglazes are layered to give this piece a very nice finishing touch. Very rare piece, very finely crafted.
A porcelain dodecahedron, each of the 12 facets stepped upwards to a starfish expression. This is a fabrication, taking a full day to make. It is a reference in part to radiolarians, microscopic creatures that live is salt water, and in part to mineral growths, or perhaps biological processes that give rise to patterns. Starfish are stained black, with many layered stoneware glazes in green and blue to reference to sea. Fine example of a rare item that is one of a kind.
Beneath the Ice is a query piece - an object that suggests ice on the surface with windows looking below, to where life could form beneath a thick crust that protects it from the harshness of space. It begs the question, and suggests an answer. Yes, there is life beyond earth, and it's more complex than perhaps we think. Each window has a plant or animal that is found on earth that may have a parallel on another celestial body. Marine isopod, starfish, coral, kelp, seahorse, etc. It's based on Europa and Enceladus, both of which are ice moons which are primary places humans will explore in their search for life beyond earth. It also has large formations of ice on the surface, something of the fantastic. Lastly, it's covered with blue, turquoise and black underglazes to give it an other worldly effect.
A terra cotta hand drum with geometric pattern in glaze, and a calfskin head finished with a braided pattern.
This piece is a very rare example of a slipdish, or dish finished with slip. What makes it rare is its pattern in red, white and black slip, which is very hard to do. It's one of two kinds of feathering found on slipware, the other being "combing" as the English call it. Fired to cone 02 in oxidation with a clear glaze.

Booking

Booking Price: $500-$1,000

Contact Robert Strasser @ rcs52025@gmail.com, or call 240-285-8199.

Specialities in slipware making, drum making, wheel work and spherical sculptures.

I do lectures and workshops. For just a lecture I can work for $500, a demonstration $500- 1,000, and hands on workshops for $1,000 - 3,000. I depends a lot on variables such as travel. Call, we'll talk.

I can travel even internationally if the price is right. I can also do local work.

Available on request.