Inspiring Women Winter 2017

Starting in about 2004, I took courses and studied with
a variety of instructors at the Silvermine School of Art in
Norwalk, Connecticut, and The Clay Art Center in Port
Chester, New York. I was really inspired by the clay
communities at those two institutions and by the rich
diversity in techniques offered. For example, I could
fire my work in electric or gas kilns, at high or low
temperatures and I could also participate in raku and
pit firings on a regular basis. And although I enjoyed
courses with young instructors straight out of grad
school, most influential was a series of workshops with
an older Japanese instructor; I smiled when I was told
recently that my work echoes an Asian aesthetic.
One thing, however, that I did not find was real
critique. And for this reason, in 2007 I founded Clay
Talk, a critique circle of eight women clay artists. This
proved to be one of my most successful endeavors in
the field. Art critique is never easy, but this group was
a resounding success and, I believe, changed the
lives of its members. Besides meeting monthly for
critique and companionship, we also showed our
work together in a gallery on Block Island, Rhode
Island, and established a tradition of a pop-up store in
New Canaan, Connecticut.
“Woman in White”
In 2007 I was also delighted to receive my first award
for sculpture in a juried art show. What a high! The
piece was one in a series of cut and re-assembled tall vessels. I had taken a standard ceramic
form, albeit a difficult one to throw, and in
altering it, removed its function. It became
art. (Admittedly, my German-born mother
did ask me, “Now what’s it good for?”) I did
something similar in my next body of work,
attaching hundreds of small porcelain bowls
to wooden boards creating wall pieces with
a pop art effect. For that series I won a first
place award and was said by the juror to
"inspire viewers to think in new ways about
the perpetually blurry border between 'craft'
and 'art' while still offering a distinct and
completely satisfying aesthetic experience."
That was a pretty cool thing to discover
about myself!
This concept of using a classic form in an
unusual way has become a theme in much
of my art. “Women’s Work,” my most recent
series, is another example. I threw a set of
classic urn forms, cut them to create wall
vases and then enhanced them with
sculpted human attributes (ears, eyes,
arms, nose, brow, mouth). I also added a
symbol (bird, button, cup, spoon or rolling
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