"The last few years I have
been working almost primarily in clay instead of
wood or stone. Wood was my first sculptural
medium and I liked it quite well for many years.
However I find I like the plasticity of clay and
particularly porcelain. It's smooth to work,
(although it has a tendency to crack and break
in raku firing so I am trying out a different
clay called WSO for raku), and takes detail and
glaze beautifully. I especially like Celadon, a
very old, translucent glaze, with its
traditional look.
Most of my very recent
work is what I call 'Shamanic' work, or spirit
animals, skulls and masks. I have just completed
another bear head with 3 horse heads finished. I
have a cement bear on a wire armature in process
as well. I get this stuff from a number of
different places, one being images that are
coming at me, in a good way, into my head or in
dreams. I often see images of horses and
dog/wolves. All I have to do is close my eyes.
It's like a movie. They move, as though posing,
while changing colors, personas and positions.
Their eyes were translucent like the eyes of
young fetuses in the womb. The current Bear is a
"Peace Bear". I finally decided to nix the idea
of a dove or some kind of writing,
(Arabic/salaam, Hebrew/shalom) blessing on its
head; this isn't the right piece for that. I
also had the idea of making a garland of alpine
flowers around its head. I may just leave this
bear pure white after bisque firing; I like the
simplicity and cleanness of its lines. 'Salaam'
is now another horse head, in the firing and
glazing process.
Bears, Horses and
Wolves/Canines are "my animals", (spirit
guides). And birds. I have a vulture and a
coyote skull that I use as inspiration. And
there are lots of deer, horse and cow skulls on
the property. I use all of these in my studio;
to study and sometimes to lay clay on. No, I
don't have a human skull for "Skull". There are
other images that call to me too, I have what I
call "Gods and Goddesses" in mind. I also have
images of half people and part animals. Kind of
like how people have an animal persona. I want
to bring that out and make it more obvious. This
could be a series of "Anima and Animas"- from
the collective unconscious or universal
archetypes. I keep a very disorganized open
notebook with drawings, images and ideas. Being
the daughter of a geologist, I would also like
to make "fossil beds" in cement or adobe, but am
looking for the right bones to "fossilize".
Upcoming are some altarpieces such as 'Green
Tara', (shes in the making in my studio
now). I find my work is evolving according to my
interests and needs, as well as life and world
events. I think the world really needs loving,
compassionate, transcendental energy right now.
I know I do.
Anything can spark a
piece, even words to a favorite song, "Scarlet
Begonias and a Touch of the Blues". I make it
sound easy, its not always so. Seeing or
visualizing is one thing, making it is another.
Most pieces go through a crisis period that I
have to resolve somehow. Like birth. Either that
or it ends up back in the bag of raw clay. But
the planning and process is as important as the
product. Hopefully I gain understanding on many
levels while creating a piece, even the ones
that I end up scrapping.
In addition to making
art I am also an elementary school teacher and
writer.
As a reading resource
teacher last year I integrated art and writing
in the classroom with sensory discovery. What a
blast. However, this year, 2003, I am focusing
solely on my art."