My roots are as a fiber artist, so when I signed up for a ceramics class several years back, it was simply a pleasant way to spend time with a friend I rarely got to see.  It was a compelling enough tangent – a fresh way to get my hands dirty and something new to engage my mind. At the end of the series, my friend casually said “that was fun” and walked away from it.  I was irrevocably hooked. There was no turning back. I couldn’t imagine life without clay.

 

So, what to do with this new medium?  Part of its initial appeal was that on the surface it seemed so different from my fiber work:  3D vs. 2D, working on a hard form vs. malleable cloth. I didn’t see any similarities. I didn’t anticipate that ceramics could relate to my core work -- a form of surface design called ecoprinting -- at all.  But as I began to explore, there began to be this rich dialog between the two, and some fascinating parallels to unfold. 

 

Early in my pottery experience, I was particularly fortunate in two things. First, to be working with a teacher who let me learn at my own pace, voraciously consuming information and experimenting instead of following some pre-determined syllabus.  Not that I was without guidance, but the opportunity to be somewhat self-directed by my unending curiosity has served me well. Second, in that initiation period, I had the experience of a wood firing. I watched in rapt attention as a couple of experienced potters prepared for the big event, absorbing every bit of information I could.  My questions and almost childlike wonder earned me the invitation to put a pot into the firing and to participate in its process. 

 

That was an almost a transcendent experience.  To see the exquisite beauty of surfaces created by wood ash has spoiled me forever.  Wood firing has become, by far, my favorite form of firing. That visceral sense of co-creation, of collaborating with fire is deeply compelling.  And the balance between having intention, but surrendering the outcome keeps me coming back again and again. Unexpectedly, that quality in wood firing is very similar to what has engaged me so strongly throughout the years in my ecoprinting process. 

 

As the opportunity for wood fires are few and far between, I’ve also become quite enamored with Raku. It has a similar feel of mystery and tension but with the advantage of  more immediate gratification. Firing in small batches has a nice rhythm to it. In both Raku and wood firing, that sense of “atmosphere” that is in the title of this exhibit is central to my experience.  

 

Within the bounds of safety and reason, I like to take creative risks. I like to work large.  I like to work small. I love having the freedom to ask “what happens if I do ….?” and having the opportunity to find out.  I like that I can work with the same processes and glazes as other potters, and yet my work is distinctly my own. I didn’t know originally that I had a potter’s voice, but as it turns out, it is very identifiable, and in resonance with my fiber arts voice. I continue to be intrigued and inspired by the conversations that happen between the mediums. 

 

I am compelled by surface and texture.  Sometimes gritty and crunchy, not at all traditionally, aesthetically beautiful, but fully authentic.  Sometimes pattern, which inevitably relates back to nature. I enjoy layering surfaces, and sometimes Raku over a piece previously wood-fired to add extra dimension or a different quality.

 

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