5" x 14", Stoneware, Glass, 2023

The idea behind this was to be able demonstrate feeling in a way that forces people to stop and think, to get their attention.  It is made to be both haunting and elegant.

The process was very similar to making any other bust.  I started by working on the face first, molding it to a mannequin head to get the correct sizing before pulling it off and working on the smaller details.  I then created the back of the head before fusing the pieces together with slop and then blending the seams.

Every piece and element of this work was very intentional.  The unglazed piece of clay representing how those with anxiety feel as if they can’t speak their real, raw feelings for fear of being judged.  The colors all have meaning as well.  The grey peeking through representing how the person can feel dull and lifeless.  The black showing the fear they feel in their darkest moments.  The brown representing the resilience they carry with them.  The faint red peeking through represents the anger they feel towards themselves.  The small shimmer in the glaze representing the faint hope they carry with them.  The flowers are additionally adding meaning.  The deep crimson roses representing the grief and mourning of a normal life.  The iris representing courage.  The two hellebore representing anxiety.  All of this should make the viewer think about how there is layers upon layers of things people go through beyond just the general perception.

The hardest part of this was probably getting the proportions correct.  I had initially planned to make a mouth, but I ended up covering it with the canvas because I was unable to get the size and shape correct.

This piece is meant to have some realism with alot of symbolism.  Its interpretation is up to the viewer and how they want to perceive it, which is what I really love about this work.

4" x 8", Stoneware, Glass, Faux Flowers, 2023

The idea behind this was to be able to show emotion in a way that was both disturbing and beautiful.  It is meant to be a piece that stops and makes people stare and have to think a little bit.  It is meant to be bold to catch attention and then have a lot of small meaningful things in it.  This piece originated as a thing to experiment with and learn, and it quickly turned into what it is now.

This was the first person that I’ve sculpted.  The way I started was really just with a solid lump of clay that I shaped into the person I wanted it to be.  I then carved in features and did smaller detailing with a needle tool before carving it all out with a smaller loop tool as well. 

Everything about this work is intentional.  The bust is small because grief makes someone feel small.  The partially open mouth is the need to say or do anything, but being unable to.  The wide-open eyes are meant to show the soul breaking.  The coloring of red for anger, blue for sadness, and purple for the in-between of those emotions as you progress through grief.  The deep, deep blue— nearly black, shows the initial desolation the person feels.  The glimmer is the idea that there is light at the end of it.  The red feather represents strength and protection from someone beyond the living realm.  The crimson roses represent mourning.  The white flowers symbolize the innocent once had being lost.  The single golden rod strand represents the growth that will result in the end.  The marigold represents death.

The hardest part of this project was the learning curve it took to figure out how to get everything to look seamless and how to integrate the small details.  Working on a smaller scale with something like this was much more difficult than working on a larger scale.

I’m not exactly sure what style this falls into, but it is certainly unique.  I tried to make it more realistic with the actual sculpting, but then the glaze is very interpretive.  The piece itself is very near and dear to me as I feel it was a large step in my artistic skill to create something like this.

5" x 16", Stoneware, Glass, 2023

The idea behind this was to create a bust that demonstrated a more serene emotion.  It just originated from my other busts and grew from there as a concept.  I first had to mold the clay around a mannequin head before getting started on the sculpting part of it.  I added and subtracted clay in different areas to get the correct proportions.   There is a lot of symbolism in this piece, from the coloring choices and the flowers I picked.  All of it has meaning, as well as how it shows the figure looking both old and young.  I want the viewer to think about life when they view it.  The hardest thing with this piece was removing the interior when it wasn't too soft or too hard.  It took a while to get it to just the right firmness.  I would change how the lips looked if I could do it again.  The piece itself borders on realistic and impressionistic, which is definitely the style I tend to lean towards.

5" x 4", Stoneware, Glass, 2024

The idea behind this was to just create a work to get started on the wheel.  I wanted to get back into it after having been focusing mainly on sculptural work.  I started by just throwing it onto the wheel and seeing where it went.  It ended up being a little bit crooked, but it ended up giving it character in the end.  This has no real meaning behind it, it was mostly just used as a warm-up to get back into wheelwork.  I struggled at first to get the piece centered and to recover from when I made a mistake on it, and if I could start over I would have chosen a different glaze than what is on it now, just because it doesn't really interact with the texture as much as I would have liked it to.  This piece is non-objective in its art style, although it does border abstract. 

4" x 10", Stoneware, Glass, 2024

I wanted to create something simply beautiful with this piece.  I really wanted to work on and focus on blending together blue hues into a bowl.  I made this on the wheel, and I am very happy with how it turned out.  It is very symmetrical, and the glaze is very even, with the texture in it giving it character.  I struggled a lot with this, mostly in moving and trimming it because it was very soft and I struggled to keep it from collapsing in.  I also chose to trim it on the wheel, which was a new experience.  It is meant to instill a sense of calm with the blue shades, and I think it does that very well.  This art is realistic as it is meant to portray a bowl, which it is.

5" x 7", Stoneware, Glass, 2024

Both of these were intended to go together as a pair.  They were inspired by vases that I see in my grandmother's house that hold her flowers because her vases are always mismatched but they tie together well.  I struggled to create the form of these shapes because I wanted them to be similar but different at the same time.  It took a lot of referencing their shapes and curves to get them correct, and I trimmed them on the wheel to get those curves correct.  The darker vase ended up being thicker than I wanted, but it still turned out well.  Their meaning is the idea that two different things can come together into something unique and creative.  These are two very different vases but the pull together into one pair.  I wish I could have made them a little bit more different in color, but I still like how they turned out.  They are realistic in their style.