CLAY 2024-

Clay. It’s so very squishable.

I actually did work with it way back in the day, I sculpted a bust in college (1983) and did some more figure sculpting in the early 1990’s. But I can’t say I learned anything about the material. I knew nothing about the logistics of the clay from start to finish. I was missing the language of clay.

In March of 2024 I started a figure sculpting class and quickly felt out of my league. What did they mean by “What kind of clay body do you want to work with?” I must have looked quite blank when they talked about cones and firing and what kinds of underglazes and glazes and…None of this made any sense. They might as well have been talking in Turkish. The learning curve felt overwhelming. Despite that, the clay felt familiar, like it had been waiting for me to find it again. I was home.

Now I am a little more comfortable with the language and have done some experimenting to find out what kinds of clay bodies and underglazes I like. The rabbit holes with this medium are endless. And I am having the time of my life. Clay has already sent me to Chicago just to see a show at the Institute of Art of Japanese women ceramic sculptors. It was amazing and humbling. And it made me want to immediately go back to the studio and create stuff.

FIGURE SCULPTURES

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