Ceramic Embellishment

Ceramic art is a medium that has been used for time in memoriam. A permanent part of the historical record directly ajacent to the fossil record. It records the emphasis on what is important in a society, an amphora for wine, beautiful Incan  bowls for grain storage, and the simple chai cups tossed out of train windows onto the tracks in India. It is as close to permanent as you can get, not rotting or rusting away, And most importantly, it is used world wide my many cultures.  

I am primarily a quilt artist, and while textiles are found in many places and the variety they are infinitely rarer in the historical record. Organic and subject and rot and ruin quilts are also seen as women's work, utlilititarn in nature and often made of discarded materials. The art of quilting was easy to dismiss. Only in more recent years has quilting seen as a form of art to be shown alongside paintings and sculptures in large museums, not dedicated to the quilt niche.

This series was started soon after my mother passed away.  A lifelong potter,  Lynn Woodson created an enormous body of work. Upon her death, I was gifted her studio equipment. Lynn made pottery for the beauty and fun, and while she considered it a hobby, it was a pursuit she was driven to engage in. Later in life when arthritis robbed her of much of her hand mobility, she continued to read about and discuss the way of creation.  Lynn admired the techniques, artistry, and vision of other ceramic artists, but  she never considered herself an artist. She was a proud craftsperson, making beautiful utilitarian pots. She sold her wares cheaply and in volume, to both clear out space and to make enough money to buy new equipment and materials.  Due to her productivity, I have had friends travel all over the east coast and discover her makers mark in houses and inns. It is a truly great legacy to be cherished in so many homes. 

I think about the meaning crafts person  in the artistic community due to Lynn's debate over craft v. art. When something is beautifully made, learned through formal and informal education and trial and error, artistry and care is that art or still craft beacause of the history of the media? Both textiles, specifically quilting, and pottery are traditionally crafts: utilitarian and often women's work. But there is were intention comes into play. I believe a talented quilter or potter can be a crafter making traditionally utitlitarian quilts and pots, but they can transcend into artistry, with the intention of the maker creating fiber art. 

With this collaboration I worked on extending  my mother's legacy and my desire to create my own body of work. I strive to create art from craft through intention. My art and was inspired by the marriage of the hard and soft, the transient and permanent, craft and art.