Up Against The Wall

48 of my 50 tiles are up against the wall. Hooray, yay, hallelujah, yippee, whew, and all of those other happy sounds. My husband took the wall photo for me with his phone.

Luckily on the last day I made several tiles to put into the bank for a rainy day. My rainy day did come. My star - Jacobs Ladder - well, let's just say that Jacob can't climb quite as high(er) high(er) as he did before. So I put my one paragraph, one chapter storybook in his place of honor. And I left one at home by mistake. Will finish up today.

My husband was kind enough to come and pound nails for me and I put the sticky on the back of the panels (for reinforcement) and he hung them. Patience reigned; who is this man I wondered? I'm very happy with the way they look all together. Thank you also to SJS - an extra pair of eyes was just what I needed.

The final thing was to write an artists statement. Ugh, groan, yuck, ick and all of those other unhappy sounds...

So, I said to myself, just tell it like it is and be truthful and it will work. What a novel idea.

Artists Statement

Clay is my favorite material, I love the way it feels in my favorite tool; my hands! New gadgets are always on the market and I want to try them all but in the end, my hands are the best gadget.

Taking a lump of clay and making it into a solid piece of matter fascinates me, clay is such a humble material yet so versatile; nearly anything can be made of clay. Whether I work in three dimensions or in just one, such as tiles, I find myself lost in my work. When I lose myself that is when I find out what is happening in me. And I have found the reverse to be true also; what is happening with me often works its way into clay. New, moist clay is very workable which is an almost daily reminder to me that I too must remain workable and willing and I learn what the clay sometimes has to teach me! Occasionally things come to shape and I wonder, “Where did that come from?” By trusting my hands I am able to find what it is I really want to say and that is sometimes surprising and always a joy!

My 50/50 Experience

I used the 50/50 project as a personal challenge for commitment and growth. Working small and working every day has given me the chance to experiment with ideas that have intrigued me but I haven’t taken the time to do. More than that it led me to becoming looser in my work; breaking out of rigid boundaries has been a goal of mine! Trusting myself to complete this project was probably the greatest lesson gratefully learned.

Of course they want a bio too, hmm, I was born, I did this, I did that, I went here. This is what I ended up with, thanks to Tiffany for helping me with this!!!

Artist Bio

My love affair with clay began in grade school; I made a soap dish for my mother and still have the memory of the smooth white earthenware on my childhood fingers. I forgot about my first love until I began hand building functional and sculptural pieces with clay in the late 1970’s and then later learning to throw on the pottery wheel. Since then my small clay studio has moved with me from Idaho, Illinois, West Virginia, South Carolina, and now here in Pacifica, California.

Through the years I have worked with different art mediums including drawing, watercolor, collage, weaving, photography and ceramics. I always return to my first love; ceramics, no matter what other avenues I may stroll down.

Pacifica has been my home and studio for the last eighteen years. The seaside landscape has been a huge influence on my artwork. Living near the ocean and seeing it each day often leads me to water themed work. Fish are a recurring theme as well as boats which I enjoy using as a metaphor for life’s journey.

Art has come to be my vehicle for connecting to the world by exploring it through the medium I cherish the most, that of clay.