ARTIST STATEMENT
As a ceramic artist and painter I find some of my greatest inspirations from nature; the colors, textures, and shapes found there. The colours, textures & imagery of the coastal region and rainforest area in my home area find their way into my work. I have a variety of glaze styles in my functional ware that reflect the geographical area that I live in. They are “Rain Forest”, “West Coast”, “Timberland”, “Summer Meadow”, “New Growth” and “Splash Dance”. These are made with either a white or iron based stoneware clay and fired in an electric kiln to 2200º F or 1240º C (Cone 6).
The ability to work with the clay to create useful and beautiful objects gives me great satisfaction. I feel that as a woman and artist this balance between beauty and functionality is often in conflict. Women are often valued and objectified by their looks alone. This is also true of art objects. Too often people want to create beauty in their homes and world but are limited by the need for functional objects. With clay I try to balance and speak to both these needs; beauty and function without compromising one for the other.
In my decorative ware I try to create contrasts and interplay between the density and heaviness of clay and the feeling of transparency and lightness with the carved out areas in my “Candle Pots”. I also have a body of Raku work that showcase the natural wonders of our Province. The pots are thrown and altered porcelain fired in a Raku kiln. The vessels depict the whales and birds found in our coastal region. Another theme are my decorative & functional Tea Cups (“Tea in the Garden”) that showcase the flora of our area.