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 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 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 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 more