An Interview with "Art-to-Art Palette.com"

How did you first get interested in clay?

I first became interested in clay when I was in high school. I took every art class that was offered and especially loved clay. My mother still has a really ugly slab built pitcher that I made in high school. After high school my love for art was put on the back burner and getting married and making a living took me down a different path. I lived in Tulsa, OK for a couple of years and they offered wheel classes through their Parks & Rec Dept. The instructor was very positive and encouraging and I loved having my hands back in the clay. But again, life happens, I moved to the Atlanta area and clay was shelved once again (literally I had a 50 lb. bag of clay that I moved from Tulsa to Atlanta that sat on a shelf for several years). I had convinced myself to go back to school and get a degree in Library Science and become a Media Specialist. The first math class I had to take was excruciating and a friend of mine gave me a class schedule and application for Gwinnett Council for the Arts. I dropped out of college and enrolled in pottery classes at the art center and haven't looked back since. I took every pottery class they offered from every instructor. Gwinnett Council for the Arts has a wonderful facility with 2 raku kilns. Raku appealed to me because of the surprise factor. The same glaze will turn out entirely different depending on the thickness of the piece and the reduction time. A sculpture class taught by Greg Johnson was offered at Gwinnett and I knew after taking that class sculpture was the direction I needed to go.

What is your basic approach to sculptures? What is the nature of your raku works?

My basic approach depends on the piece. I sometimes carve the figure out of a block of clay, cut it in half, hollow it out and put the two halves back together. Other times I coil build the body. I always work on the head separately and attach it last. Native American artwork and Southwestern artwork are very appealing to me and influence my work. I think if you asked a therapist they would say that my fascination with mother/child sculptures helps me deal with unresolved childhood issues. Working in clay is cheaper than therapy and way more fun.

My raku kiln is home made out of a trash can and I fire in my back yard. I typically use three glaze recipes, one is a shiny luster, one is a matte luster and the third is clear crackle. These glazes help define the native, rustic look that I try to achieve.