The
Captivating Art of Clayton Bailey
July,
2000, Update—
This story was written after a visit to Clayton
Bailey's studio in 1997. Now, thanks to his Studio
Cam, visitors can take daily virtual excursions to the artist's
remarkable domain and see what wondrous work is in progress. While you're
visiting Clayton Bailey's site,
take a look at the delightful works
of Betty Bailey, and catch a Port Costa sunset through the eye
of Sky Cam!
Port Costa,
California—
"Who
needs an alarm system?"
Clayton Bailey and his Pyrograph
Automatic weather recording
Fossils they way they should be
A Clayton Bailey Robot
Robot & Ray Gun collection
Betty Bailey, Clayton's wife |
Do you have
the feeling you're being watched?" asked Mark as we walked up to
Clayton Bailey's gate. I looked up to see a row of eyes gazing intently
from the top of the fence. With gargoyles like these, who needs an alarm
system? "They look friendly in a scary kind of way," I said.
"They're monsters, but they've definitely got a sense of humor."
All of Clayton
Bailey's art has a sense of humor, and a walk through his sculpture garden
on a perfect spring day was a journey of mirthful delight.
"I started
out as a pharmacy major," he told us, "And I've always been
interested in science and chemistry." His ceramic sculptures reflect
his fascination. "I like to experiment with glazes and firing temperatures,"
he explained as he showed us a fanciful apparatus that apeared to be turning
stone into gold.
"What's
this?" asked Mark, pointing to a spherical piece that looked a little
like Captain Nemo's diving helmet. "That's a pyrograph," said
Clayton. "I was making snake oil jugs with glass faces a while back,
and when I stuck my hand inside, my shirt sleeve caught on fire. That's
how I got the idea for making an apparatus that can record the weather."
He pulled out a wooden board and gave us a report for the last month.
Burn marks had created a perfect record of sunny and cloudy days, and
Clayton has become an expert in reading them.
We continued
making our way through Clayton's garden of wonders, asking "What's
this?" and "What's that?" almost nonstop. "That's
a jug that used to hold acid in a gunpowder factory," said Clayton,
"And this is the paleontology section." Before us lay a large
skeleton labeled "Bigfoot." Nearby were equally rare displays
of cyclops' skulls and bones from other fantastic creatures.
Even the
bricks Clayton used to paved his garden have a story behind them. "I
found them all on the beach," he said. "They were used as ballast
in ships during the Gold Rush. Many of them came from England."
Passing a
dinosaur, a rocket, and countless other arresting items, we arrived at
last in Clayton's workshop, where he showed us the robots he makes out
of vintage components like radios, vacuum cleaners and kitchen appliances
from the '50s. We asked him if he worked on commission. "I hate it,"
he said. "I just like to make things, and if someone wants to buy
them, fine."
These days,
lots of people do. Bill Gates has a Clayton Bailey robot, and his works
can be found in galleries across the country.
Before we
left, Clayton showed us his extensive collection of toy robots and ray
guns. The Smithsonian would be jealous. Come to think of, they'd be jealous
of Clayton's whole operation. It's a national treasure.
Clayton Bailey
Ceramic Wonders
P.O. Box 69 Port Costa, CA 94569
510-787-1168 voice or FAX
www.claytonbailey.com
e-mail: cbailey@jps.net
