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 Donna Bath

CONCERT GRAND PIANO NECKLACE 2.75” x  7” $65             pianosculptures@comcast.net   941-497-7692   www.pianosculptures.com                    Blog       http://keyboardtokiln.blogspot.com                             ARTIST STATEMENT   Donna Bath has morphed from being a performing musical artist to being a clay artist who hand-builds whimsical pianos and other musical instruments.    Her art takes you on a journey through her life and her experiences with her playful treatment of well-known musical instruments.    Many 20th century artists whose works she admired during art history classes have inspired her designs and use of color.    Abundant ideas are on the “TO DO” list while glazing techniques are being explored.    Her work is becoming refined through attention to detail and pieces are becoming more dual-purpose…sculptural, as well as functional.    The next steps are towards loosening shapes and the definition of glaze lines as well the exploration of a variety of sizes of pieces.         Donna with a bag of clay in her music studio   Donna offers ...   Suzuki or Traditional Piano & Flute Lessons   Performances for Weddings and other special occasions     DUO DELICATO (flute & guitar duo),   SOUND OF ELEGANCE (flute & harp duo)   MAGICAL MUSIC (soprano & piano) or piano alone   941-497-7692   Resume   Donna Swarts Bath is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and Butler University.  While working on degrees in piano and flute performance at Oberlin, she also studied drawing and printmaking with Paul Arnold and painting with Forbes J. Whiteside.  There, her paintings were included in several exhibitions and a woodblock print was included in a published collection of poetry.   Her artist talents served her in many small ways in her early marriage and parenthood and her influence is now being seen through her two adult children’s art collections and their own artistic endeavors.  Donna designed commercial signs for businesses, presentation posters for meetings, a state directory for restaurants and 2 rooms of unusual space-saving furniture which she had built for her own two children.   After 15 years of teaching as an adjunct professor at Taylor University in Indiana, she continues to teach piano and flute and perform as a free-lancer since her move to Florida in 1993.  But, in 2003 she discovered her passion for clay and has joyously developed her skills while working with Pat Kelly, Walter Yovaish, Corleen “Corky” Whitman, Julie Baxter and Nancy Heart.  The results of this music and clay mixture have integrated into a unique visual display of pianos and other musical instrument designs representing her experiences and attitudes of being a performing/teaching musician and her appreciation of everything around her.   Donna’s work may be seen at The Dancing Crane Gallery, 1019 10th Ave. W., Bradenton, FL and at Final Touch Frame & Gallery, 520 US Hwy 41 Bypass S., Venice, FL; or, online at www.pianosculptures.com. Her first solo exhibition was at the Venice Art Center in Nov., 2006 and she has been accepted into juried shows at Venice Art Center, Art Center Sarasota and Art Center Manatee during 2007, 2008, and 2009.   HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO MAKE IT?   1.   Design and “engineer” how the item will be built. 2.   Create a newspaper pattern for pieces – several copies! 3.   “Wedge” clay (knead strongly) to work out any air bubbles. 4.   Roll out clay on “slab roller” or “extrude” pieces. 5.   Cut pieces and join with “slip” (thick slurry of clay). Place pieces on newspaper-covered board. 6.    Reinforce all seams, inside and out, with coils of clay. 7.    Smooth all seams. 8.    Check after several hours and do more smoothing. 9.    Do inside design cut-outs when clay has slightly set up. 10.  After 2-3 days some cuts may still be made and initial steel wool smoothing may begin.  (As clay dries, the surface becomes rougher.) 11.  5-7 days – completely dry and treacherous to handle.  Repairs are difficult to make and rarely successful. 12.  Carefully plan and load kiln for most efficient firing.  For “bisque” firing, pieces may touch and even be stacked. Low fire under-glazes may be applied before bisque firing. 13.  Bisque firing to cone 04 (1945 degrees F) takes about 9-10 hours.  Cool down time for handling with heavy gloves is about 6 hours 14.  Wipe dust off every piece with damp sponge so that glaze will stick. 15.   Wax any areas where glaze should not go on any piece to be dipped in glaze.  Usually not necessary for brushed-on glazes. 16.  After glaze is dry, wipe off any glaze on waxed areas and touch up areas without glaze. 17.  Prepare kiln: vacuum out dust and make sure kiln shelves have enough “kiln wash” to prevent glaze from sticking to them. 18.  Carefully plan for the most efficient use of space in loading the kiln for the final firing.  Pieces must be separated by about an inch and in no danger of touching or falling against one another. Anything glazed on the bottom must be set on “stilts.”  Check with mirror to make sure that stilts are positioned correctly.  Before adding shelves, measure highest piece and choose “furniture” so that shelf won’t touch items below. 19.  Glaze firing at cone 05 (1888 degrees F) takes about 10 hours or at cone 5 (2167 degrees F) takes about 12-13 hours and cool down time to handling with heavy gloves is another 6-8 hours. 20.  Assemble, if needed, with Industrial Strength E6000 glue and allow for a day of curing time.   EACH PIANO TAKES APPROXIMATELY 40 HOURS OF ACTUAL HANDS-ON WORK!!!   Back to Top

PURPLE, POLKA-DOTTED PIANO FOR A RED-HAT LADY 9” x 7” x  6.25”  $250   THE LAST ETUDE 14” x 12” x 7.25” $275   RED, UPRIGHT GRAND PIANO COOKIE JAR 12” x 9” x 12.5”  $150   PIANO IN PARADISE  2 9” x 9” x 12” $350   HYBRID FLUTE              12” x 31” x 7”              $500   CASCADE    9” x  25”  $300     WALTZING TO CARNEGIE HALL 8” x 15” x 15.5” $500