"In art the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can inspire." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Land 3"
"O.H.I.O."
By Ralph Stuckman
O.H.I.O. was conceived 5 months before the actual completion of its actual creation. I did a search on the facts surrounding the state of Ohio. Selections were then completed on this given information. My designs were two fold for people could recognize some Ohio features and guess at the others. Initial Ohio drawings were done and transferred onto linoleum blocks. Carvings tools were used to make vivid representations from these blocks. Slabs of clay were rolled onto the blocks and then cuts made of the individual pieces.
When bone dry, the pieces were bisque fired to cone 04, and then I did combinations of red, blue, and black under glaze washes with mostly white low fire clays. Another 04 firing of these works fused the under glazes and the clay together. White transparent glazes covered the tops for another 04 firing. It took me an hour and a half to arrange the total composition of 91 pieces and glue them onto a 28” by 34” framed plywood painted black. These challenges were worth my time and effort and will pave the way for me to do more themed works of this nature.
