Clay
Statement
I have been inspired to experiment in clay off and on during the past 30 years. When creating my early clay pieces, I was attracted to ancient ceramics from around the world. Terra cotta was my clay of choice. I would often wrap my terracotta sculptures in newspaper, sealed with tin foil, and low fire them to get a varied, black and smoked look.
Our trip to Barcelona and the Picasso Museum inspired my recent clay owl and raven series. I was impressed with how Picasso hired professionals to make hundreds of clay owls, which he would paint and decorate with abandonment. I hand built eighteen clay owls and ravens in five months. The painting and decorating of them became more deliberate, as I was learning each step of the way. While painting the birds with underglazes, Picasso’s spontaneity faded away, and I was reminded of a wonderful porcelain dog my father kept from his childhood. It had a handkerchief tied around his head, as the dog had a toothache… My father fell in love with this dog he had seen in a store window, and kept it safely until we children accidentally broke it 50 some years later. Like my father’s dog, my owls each began to develop a personality and magnetism of its own.
