October 29, 2011

New artist statement and a few new pots

About to launch my new website that I made using Big Black Bag...
You may be able to check it out HERE... temporarily...
That and a show I was entering forced me to focus on a new "Artist Statement".
Here is my latest:

After spending many years of my life as a fashion and textile print designer, creating forms and fabrics for the human figure, I found clay.
I realized there was an entirely different creative and artistic world out there that I never could fully explore in my lifetime.
This was a world that was centered around mud.
My experience with this medium has been, and will always be, a journey.
It is something I have realized after many ups and downs since I first touched clay nine years ago.
I choose to work in a manner that stimulates me creatively.
Investigating and exploring, I may have an initial idea of where a piece is going.
But then I will veer off in a different direction to allow for a possible fresh approach or, unfortunately, a possible failure.
As Beatrice Wood said, "My life is full of mistakes. They're like pebbles that make a good road."
Moving from fashion and textile print design to “mud” was a transition I never could have predicted.
However, there actually is a thread that seems to connect my previous career with my work today.
This connection involves attention to the human form and gesture of line.
My work frequently involves a focus on this as well as the pervasive development of texture.
The human body, nature, and environment absolutely inspire me.
I am not interested in replicating these but, rather, to reinterpret their energy in my work.
My true passion is in the process of creating the work.
The hand-to-clay contact is both meditative and stimulating to my spirit.
I usually throw a form on the potter’s wheel, alter it, then allow for a period of drying.
After the drying, I continue to alter and carve interchangeably until the piece is complete.
The piece is usually bisque-fired in my electric kiln before any glazing or special firing preparations are made.
At this point I move forward with the final firing.
Experimentation remains present in this part of the process as well.
The work continues to change and evolve as I do.
Initially, I was particularly focused on creating functional forms.
Now, I have shifted to emphasizing the vessel as a sculptural vehicle.
I enjoy creating work that relates in a group, or vignette, as well as stands alone.
I envision my work going out into the world and finding its own place for others to enjoy its presence as much as I have enjoyed the process of its creation.

Here are a few more photos:







2 comments:

  1. hi judi,
    the statement sounds really good... not many i've read can avoid going into esoterica that can get indecipherable but yours is clear and straight up. the new website is nice too. kudos

    ReplyDelete
  2. I actually read this one and I understood it!!! Your new look is great, LOVE those cups!!!!!!
    Get them in a gallery :)

    ReplyDelete

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