IA

New Challenge-Based Artwork: Construct

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Once again interrupting my Japanese posts to remind you that the invitational You Want a Piece of Me? exhibition which I previously posted about here ends on August 17, 2025, so due to the gallery’s open hours you have two more dates left in which to stop by! I’ll get more into that below, but first, let’s do a deep dive into what I did.

This show asked artists to create art using a jigsaw puzzle, or puzzle pieces, as part of the art - and to leave at least some portion of original puzzle visible. You may recall that last year we did a similar challenge using board games, and here is what I did for that Advance to Gogh show in 2024!

For You Want a Piece of Me?, I needed to recycle puzzles - but I don’t own any, so I stopped by a thrift store and perused their offerings. I ended up buying three puzzles, mostly based on the differing scale of the pieces. I hadn’t decided what to do yet, but I figured owning these puzzles was a good first step. They were, in order of scale: L.O.L.Surprise! Floor Puzzle [large pieces], Milton Bradley lambs puzzle [medium pieces, 1 original piece held in an octopus tentacle], Milton Bradley Big Ben waterfall puzzle [small pieces, 1 original piece held in an octopus tentacle].

I pondered what I wanted to do with them for some time, as I wanted to make something that was still my own but that also satisfied the challenge parameters. I eventually decided I’d make a sort of topography out of the puzzles. This required actually building them, which for the 1000 piece puzzle took far longer than I wanted it to; I ended up building the other two easily but only assembling a few sections of the Milton Bradley Big Ben waterfall puzzle until I had enough connected material to satisfy my needs.

Then I built up a patchwork foundation, purposefully rejecting any edge pieces as I wanted the sculpture to communicate growth potential along its full border. After I glued it together and somewhat leveled its base, I then sculpted an octopus atop it. I formed the octopus out of QCC, clutching a mid-sized puzzle piece in one of its tentacles and a small piece in another. I also added some sand ridges. After curing, I painted the whole sculpture! Here are some progress pictures:

And here’s the finished piece! This is Construct, acrylic, QuickCure Clay, glue, and puzzle pieces, 16x25.67x3.25", 2025.

If you want to see Construct and the other Gallery 103 You Want a Piece of Me? entries in person, you can stop by either tomorrow (Saturday, August 9th) or next Saturday, August 16th between 10am and 1pm. Gallery 103 is located on the ground floor of the Ho-Chunk Centre located at 600 4th St, Sioux City, IA 51101.

Upcoming: You Want a Piece of Me? Exhibition

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I’m interrupting my Japanese posts (which will continue!) to share that the Summer 2025 ArtWalk is on Thursday, July 10, 2025, starting at 5:30pm at the Sioux City Art Center in Sioux City, IA. Visitors can walk from there to Gallery 103, 3Rivers Art Gallery, ArtSUX, and Vangarde Arts. At each venue, visitors will see artworks that follow the theme: You Want a Piece of Me? Over 30 local artists (including me!) have created art using a jigsaw puzzle, or puzzle pieces, as part of the art.

The Sioux City Journal published a cover article titled "Putting It Together" about the event and exhibition on Monday, June 30th with some flattering descriptions and a sneak peek detail of my submission which will be at Gallery 103. To respect the SCJ paywall, I'll just include an image of the part of the article that's about me! (You can click on it to expand the image if you’d like.)

Every location will offer a chance to see our art community's creativity, and snacks and beverages, too. If you want, you will also be able to use your phone and a posted QR code to vote for your favorite artwork! The First Place winner of the People's Choice Award will receive a fine-art wood-crafted jigsaw puzzle from Liberty Puzzles in Boulder Colorado. The Second Place winner will receive a $100 gift certificate to a class at the SCAC.

After the reception is over, I’ll share my piece in its entirety for those of you who can’t make it to the ArtWalk!

Upcoming: Orange City Arts 2025 Regional Art Show

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My artwork has been juried into the Orange City Arts 2025 Regional Art Show Stewards of Creation, which will be on display April 5 - May 3, 2025. I have one painting and two ceramic vessels in this exhibition; my colleague Shannon Sargent and my student Eli Boyd Harris also each have an artwork in the show as well!

The exhibition is located in the NWC DeWitt Theatre Arts building at 721 Albany Ave SE, Orange City, IA 51041. Viewing hours are Mondays-Saturdays, 9am to 10pm. Cash prizes will be awarded to ‘Best in Show’ and ‘Honorable Mention’ at the closing reception on May 3, 2025!

I've Been Making Ceramic Sauce Bowls, Too!

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In addition to the chopstick rests, I’ve made a number of little ceramic sauce bowls to gift to folks in Japan as well! To complement my leaf chopstick rest designs, I went with flowers for these small dishes. I photographed a range of six, and then provided you with a single shot of one of my favorites:

And as I did with my chopstick rests, I’ve made a few small ceramic Sioux City dishes as well. I’ve included as a size comparison one of my Sioux City chopstick rests next to these little dishes:

Though my own vision is to use all of the above pieces of pottery as sauce bowls (for wasabi, yuzu koshō, etc.), they could serve as little trinket/ring dishes, too.

My Own Ceramic Chopstick Rest Designs!

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I’ve been producing a number of chopstick rests to give out as gifts this summer in Japan! The people are so nice and there’s such a gift-giving culture that I want to make sure I am able to reciprocate. I’ve mostly been making a variety of leaf chopstick rests:

However, I also am in the process of making a few Sioux City chopstick rests for those who are more connected to the sister city relationship between Yamanashi City and Sioux City or have strong bonds to Morningside University.

These are much more finicky to glaze, as keeping the text legible and the heart from “bleeding” into the white satin glaze requires a multi-step glazing process:

  1. I glaze the heart with two to three coats of glossy red with a small brush

  2. I apply wax resist to the heart and each of the letters with a very small brush

  3. I brush on two to three coats of the white satin glaze

  4. I painstakingly coax the glaze off the wax resist areas using a very small, wet brush

It’s tedious, but the results look great:

Shelby Prindaville's custom ceramic Sioux City, Iowa chopstick rest

Any of my chopstick rests can easily be converted into a magnet instead, if the recipients prefer to use them that way!

Promotion to Full Professor in 2025!

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I learned yesterday that I will become a senior faculty member at Morningside University beginning next fall, as I will be promoted to full professor!

In academia, there is a ranking system which is typically: instructor → assistant professor → associate professor → [full] professor.

I served as an instructor while teaching at Louisiana State University in graduate school in 2011-2013, became an assistant professor when I was hired full-time at the University of Saint Mary in 2013, was promoted to an associate professor in 2019 after earning tenure at USM but then moving to Morningside University, and have held the rank of associate professor since then while earning tenure at Mside in 2022.

It is an honor, and one that few academics reach before their mid-40’s, so I’m pleased to have earned it at the relatively youthful age of 38!

Upcoming: Advance to Gogh Exhibition with People's Choice Award

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The Advance to Gogh flyer for participating artists, designed by Jean-Guy Richard!

My amazing friend and artist Terri McGaffin has organized the Advance to Gogh exhibition taking place at multiple galleries in downtown Sioux City, and she and Gallery 103 invited me to participate!

51 artists including me brought game boards (and some included game pieces and boxes) to the lottery selection on April 6th. I drew #43, which was Scrabble Junior!

I’m looking forward to the opening artwalk on Thursday, July 11, 2024 at 5:30pm beginning at the Sioux City Art Center and proceeding to visit all of the included venues:

Sioux City Art Center
Gallery 103
Three Rivers Gallery
Art SUX
Vangarde Arts

There will also be a People’s Choice Award with online voting, so stay tuned as I share more information about that as it becomes available! If you want to visit Gallery 103, it’s located on the ground floor of the Ho-Chunk Centre at 600 4th St, Sioux City, IA 51101.

I have to commend Terri - organizing such a big event across multiple galleries and organizations is a real labor of love and she’s doing a fantastic job with it.

I was the ArtWorks 2024 Judge for the Sioux City Community School District

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On May 2, 2024, I was honored to serve as the ArtWorks 2024 judge for the Sioux City Community School District. This was a massive show with 1,000 student pieces from elementary, middle, and high school students! It was a lot of fun to soak in all of the varied artwork on display, and it was very difficult to award only ten prize placements. I was really wowed by the students’ hard work and talent, and also by the teachers’ creative assignments and support!

I returned that evening to see the show’s opening night, and it was packed with admiring folks of all ages. Here are a few photos of parts of the exhibition - it was so big that these only capture a portion of it!

Upcoming: 2024 ARTcetera Juried Exhibition and Fundraising Auction

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One of my obvara raku vessels was juried into the 2024 ARTcetera exhibition and fundraising auction at the Sioux City Art Center! This exibition opens with a reception on Thursday, March 21, 2024, from 5-7pm. Artworks will be made available for sale at “Buy It Now” prices on March 22, and the exhibition continues through April 18 when the auction is held as a part of a ticketed event evening.

The opening reception will be free to attend, and if you’re interested in buying tickets to attend the auction, you can do so here.

The Sioux City Art Center is located at 225 Nebraska Street in Sioux City, IA, 51101.

Sioux City Art Center Board of Trustees Renewal

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I was appointed to the Sioux City Art Center’s Board of Trustees in January 2021, and subsequently elected and reelected as President of the Board of Trustees in 2022 and 2023. City board appointments are for two-year terms, so my term was ending in December 2023. The Sioux City Art Center’s director and board asked me to seek to renew my appointment in October 2023, so I reapplied and waited for City Council to deliberate. They sent out my renewal letter and certificate recently!

Siouxland Woman Magazine Featured Artist Profile

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Below is the digital spread of my featured artist profile in Siouxland Woman Magazine’s Volume 9 Issue 2, published in January 2023! While it’s the current issue, you can also look at the whole magazine online here.

Whiterock Art Show Photos!

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Here are some photos from my three-person show Whiterock Art at the Betty Strong Encounter Center in Sioux City, IA! You can still check out this exhibition in person through November 13, 2022. I have 37 works on display, including 20 chromatograms, 15 site-specific ceramics, and 2 painted bas reliefs on panel using the polymer clay I helped create (QuickCure Clay).

As you can see, I arranged dried botanicals harvested from Whiterock Conservancy in four of my 41.816, -94.646 ceramic vessels to show this ceramic collection’s utility and connection to the landscape. My friend, former colleague, and master ceramist Susan Nelson inspired me to do this, as she often shows and photographs her ceramic work with ikebana, or the art of Japanese flower arrangements. I also placed a representative sampling of the small rocks, twigs, and other debris I cleaned out of the clay in a fifth display inside one of the smallest dishes.

At the reception for the show, I sold four of the 41.816, -94.646 ceramic pieces! I was pretty pleased with that, particularly because my price point for pieces in this collection was significantly higher than that of my stoneware work, given all the additional labor that went into this site-specific series. One of the buyers selected a piece holding dried botanicals, and another picked the vessel containing the rocks, twigs, and debris cleaned out of the clay body; both shared with me that they plan to keep those displays intact. That intent surprised me, but I’m happy that my decorative touches felt so appropriate that they’ll continue on beyond the exhibition!

My 41.816, -94.646 Ceramics

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In my three-person show Whiterock Art at the Betty Strong Center here in Sioux City, IA, I have 37 pieces on display! There are 2 painted reliefs, 20 8x8” chromatograms, and 15 handmade ceramics. I’ll post photos from the show and reception shortly, but right now I want to focus on those 15 ceramic pieces in detail.

My Whiterock Conservancy ceramic body of work is special in that it is 100% site-specific in every component. I dug my own clay out of the Middle Raccoon river beach cliff, cleansed it of rocks, roots, and other debris, and then I did not amend it (often potters mix additives into their harvested clay to improve elasticity or other desirable characteristics, but I thought that would weaken this collection’s conceptual power). Below are images documenting my clay collection!

I handbuilt 15 different vessels, and as I was doing so, I thought about if I should glaze them at all, and if so, would transparent glaze from non-local sources taint the project…? I shared this quandary with friends, including my wonderful former colleague and master ceramist Susan Nelson.

After a couple of weeks mulling it over, Susan arrived at a different solution: ash glazing. I learned from her that ash can be used as a glaze, often in combination with clay to lower its melting point and smooth out the finish. I reached out to Whiterock Conservancy co-founder Liz Garst to see if I could collect some of the ash they generate, and she was kind enough to collect me a gallon bag of ash from a slash pile burn primarily composed of invasive honeysuckle bushes.

I inter-library-loaned a book on natural and ash glazes and conducted a variety of tests to determine the best ash glaze mixtures, application methods, and firing temperatures - but I also had deadlines to meet that meant I couldn’t dally too long in the experimentation phase. I eventually settled on using three ash glaze mixtures that used different proportions of clay to ash mixed with water and put 6 pieces in a Cone 8 electric kiln firing and 9 pieces in a Cone 9 gas kiln firing. Below (respectively from left to right) is a still wet raw ware handbuilt bowl, bisque-fired pieces, my work study students and I experimenting with ash glaze recipes in the ceramics studio, and ash-glazed bisque ware awaiting its glaze firing.

Below are are the finished pieces in the 41.816, -94.646 collection. Those title numbers are the latitude and longitude of the artworks’ origin, and if you input them into a map application you’ll see a pin drop on Whiterock Conservancy near the river beach! I love that these ceramics are made of the land itself, and are glazed with the conservation efforts of people today trying to restore what we’ve lost in ecosystem health and diversity. The colors, texture, and variation resonate in this body of work, and I look forward to comparing these pieces with future geographic coordinate collections, as I plan to create site-specific ceramics from other localities as well.

Upcoming: Whiterock Art at the Betty Strong Center!

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You may remember I attended an artist residency at Whiterock Conservancy outside of Coon Rapids, IA, in summer 2021. My good friend and colleague Terri McGaffin had already completed a residency there that spring 2021, and turned me on to the opportunity. Another Sioux City artist, Pauline Sensenig, then followed suit this summer 2022.

All of us will be exhibiting our work in a three-person show called Whiterock Art at the Betty Strong Encounter Center in the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center in Sioux City, IA, from October 2 - November 13, 2022. The reception will be on Sunday, October 2nd at 2pm, and I hope you can join us - there will be a reception and presentation by Whiterock’s own Liz Garst, co-founder and Board of Directors member of Whiterock Conservancy.

I designed our show logo, postcard, and poster (viewable at the exhibition) - below you can take a look at the digital postcard.

Show postcard back design

"Functional Aesthetic" Reception Photos

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The reception for my Functional Aesthetic juried group show at the Le Mars Arts Center was really nice! I met some of the other exhibiting artists, and a group of my friends attended as well - then afterwards, we went out to dinner!

Here is an exhibition advertisement and a few photos of my five pieces in the show. In both the ad and the show design, my ceramics earned center stage! I was pretty pleased about that, since this is my first professional juried exhibition of ceramics; I only began working in the discipline in 2020 so it’s fulfilling to have my work in this field be received well so quickly. I haven’t even finished editing my portfolio images of all of my newest raku ceramics, so these pictures give you a sneak peek at some of my most recent ones.

Functional Aesthetic is still up for another couple of weeks, so please check it out if you’re in the area!

Upcoming: "Functional Aesthetic" at the Le Mars Arts Center

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This is a milestone - I have my first ever juried ceramics exhibition which will be at the Le Mars Arts Center later this month. I only began working with the discipline of ceramics in 2020, and so this is an exciting development. I will have five handbuilt pieces from my raku firings in July and October 2021 on display in this Functional Aesthetic group show.

Functional Aesthetic will be open from November 9 - December 18th, 2021. The opening reception will be Friday, November 12th from 5-7pm.

The Le Mars Arts Center is located at 200 Central Ave SE, Le Mars, IA 51031. Contact info: 712-546-7476, lemarsarts@gmail.com, www.lemarsarts.com. Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday 1-5pm, Thursday 1-7pm, Saturday 10am-4pm.

2021 ArtSplash Festival Judge!

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This past weekend (September 4th and 5th) was the 2021 ArtSplash festival, hosted by the Sioux City Art Center. I had previously attended the 2019 ArtSplash which was held in Riverside Park; the 2020 festival was cancelled due to the pandemic. This meant a lot of people - including myself - were really excited to attend the 2021 ArtSplash, which was relocated downtown to take place in and around the Sioux City Art Center itself. I think this was a very smart change that highlights the institution and clearly links it to the festival.

I was invited to serve as one of the two 2021 ArtSplash judges, and I was honored and excited to say yes! I visited each of the approximately 50 artist booths and looked closely at the work presented as well as spoke with the artists about their processes. My co-judge and Briar Cliff University art professor Nan Wilson and I then came together, compared our notes, and visited a number of booths again before selecting four Awards of Excellence, a Best 2D, Best 3D, and Best in Show artist.

This was my first time judging an art festival, though I have judged art shows and competitions before. In my previous judging roles, I did so solely based off of the work itself, without access to the artists until after the awards ceremony. I really enjoyed getting to speak with the artists and learning more about the work and process as a part of this ArtSplash judging. Overall, I’d say the 2021 ArtSplash was a blast, and I look forward to 2022 ArtSplash!

Whiterock Conservancy New Artwork: Surface

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I just finished my second relief from my Whiterock Conservancy residency earlier this summer! This piece depicts an American bullfrog, Rana catesbeiana syn. Lithobates catesbeianus, floating on the surface of one of Whiterock’s turtle ponds.

Here are a couple of process pictures of the underlying QuickCure Clay relief. I began by sculpting the above-water portions of the bullfrog, and then added patches of algae as well.

After I finished the relief elements, I began to paint! I’m pretty pleased with the end result. I finished this piece with two coats of gloss varnish to contribute to a wet appearance.

This is Surface, 12x16x2”, QuickCure Clay relief and acrylic on basswood panel, 2021.

Whiterock Conservancy Journal 3

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On the ninth day, we visited the farm again (and I took some photos of a few farm animals and the inside of the historic Garst Farmhouse!) because I wanted to wander around the large and relatively clear Garst Home Pond; I brought the underwater camera I purchased for scuba diving with me and hoped to take some cool fish photos! However, I didn’t think this plan through very well, as I wore my normal tick-prevention gear of long pants and sneakers (sprayed thoroughly with Off! Deep Woods repellent), so I didn’t want to wade in if I could help it. Luckily there were a few spots with large enough rocks at the edge where I could get on top of them and then submerge the camera to capture initially flighty but ultimately curious bluegill fish (Lepomis macrochirus)!

We then stopped off for a wardrobe change and I forded the river with the walking stick this time to harvest some more “blue” clay, which made the whole journey much easier! After this, my last two friends departed, and I was on my own for the rest of the residency.

I spent the whole of the tenth day working on the base drawing and then some of the sculptural elements for a mixed media frog relief.

On the eleventh day, I worked on artwork some more as well as investigated the town of Coon Rapids a bit more - I visited the antique store, the bakery/café, and the Mexican restaurant. I also stopped into Adel, IA, to check out Harvey’s Greenhouse as I’d been told they have multiple greenhouses, with one entire one being devoted to cacti and succulents. In the evening, Liz Garst stopped by and we chatted, I showed her my work thus far, and she tried to tell me of a site she thought I might try for red clay… but when my navigational ineptitude was making it clear I’d never be able to check it out based on her verbal instruction, she then took me on a short Gator ride to physically point to the location!

On the twelfth day, I worked on artwork some more.

The thirteenth day brought a thunderstorm! This was welcome in that the area desperately needs rain, but unwelcome in the sense that I had planned to try to go to the potential red clay site but couldn’t given the weather. I also couldn’t bike either! Instead, I continued to work on artwork and during a pause in the rain took a stroll down to the river beach.

On my last full day, I adventured again! In the morning I took the Gator the same route Liz showed me to try out a different site for red clay; the way becomes impassable by UTV at a certain point, so I had to hike the rest of the way without a trail. This meant wading through grass that in some cases was taller than me, and the ground in some areas was still sodden from the rain! I made it though, only to find it was much the same as the other cliff my friends and I had tried. Ah, well; I gave it my best efforts this go-round and perhaps this unfinished business will call for a future residency here again at some point! I worked on artwork in the afternoon, as the daytime temperatures toward the end of this residency were in the mid-90’s, and in the evening, I biked the Steve Garst trail from the Visitor’s Center into Coon Rapids. Along the way, I passed by a pond that had wild river otter in it! I felt blessed, but also a bit frustrated; I was wearing shorts since I was biking and the very tall grasses, nettles, and other plants surrounding the pond made it impossible to photograph through well but were also not pleasant on the skin as I tried to get closer. I also had a height disadvantage! So the best photographic proof I have is pretty Nessie-level in quality, which also means I don’t have good artwork reference imagery, but it was a really cool experience nonetheless.

The following morning, I packed up all of my artwork and belongings, cleaned the place up, finished my entry in the Whiterock River House Journal (a physical guest book), and headed out in the early afternoon! The final photos in this slideshow are of the River House itself.