This weekend I went with my darling mother to the SOFA (sculpture objects & functional art) show at the Park Avenue Armory on 67th Street. I REALLY enjoyed this show. There were so many things that were right up my alley! In addition to painting, I've always had a keen interest in ceramics and pottery. In art school I had a dual concentration on both, but didn't really pursue the pottery thing after college. Honestly I was only OK at it, and painting was clearly my strong suit, but still there was always something about clay that just made my heart sing :)

Here are some pictures of some of my favorite work from the show.

I absolutely loved these ceramic faces by Johan Thunell. If you look closely (they are smaller than you'd think, maybe 6" tall), you'll see that he's only glazed the teeth and eyes, giving these pieces a creepy, yet charming glimmer of life.

This piece, by Marian Bijlenga, was another favorite of mine. It spoke to my inner textile artist I think. I've made several forays into the field, but have never really found my voice. I think there's still a future there though.

Left: a beaded heart by Jan Huling, who we met at the show and is a charming woman. Right: a collection of enchanting dolls by Charla Khanna.

Left, back: some striking pots by Per Weiss. I'm always impressed by giant pots! The  figurative work in both pictures is by Lars Calmer. There's something I really liked about these. They reminded me of some of my artist friends from Oklahoma.

This super realistic box of money by Randall Rosenthal was carved from a single block of wood!

Another notable artist was Joan Rasmussen who had some really fascinating little dolls made from ceramics and found objects. I also really enjoyed the intricate baskets displayed at the Tai Gallery booth.

They reminded me of the cover to my high school calculus book (left). The piece on the right, by Honda Syoryu, is representative of the work I saw. Do you see what I mean?