Artist Statement

 

2016-2018

    “My work uses a variety of sources that inspire my pieces, including conversations about functional applications with a strong influence from nature, incorporating texture and color.  My pottery brings beauty and captures attention yet allows for practical use.  By experimenting with color, form, and detail, I create delicate works of art, bridging between function and decoration, yet allowing the works to naturally develop.  I hand build my pottery using stoneware, and I include textures and designs in each piece that I find intriguing.  Each new creation is an enhancement of a previous work and leads to my next idea.  By attempting new things, my style continually grows and evolves.  I will continue making functional pottery that is aesthetically pleasing and brings joy to everyone that encounters my work.”

 

 

2015

     “Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.  Art is knowing which ones to keep.”  Scott Adams’ statement is very true to all aspects of art.  Creating art allows for multiple mistakes, some of which you have no control over.  Letting go and allowing errors to happen is a concept that must continually be allowed to occur.  Not all mistakes are bad, in fact some create outcomes that end up better than the original thought.

 

     In Sister Corita Kent’s list, Some Rules for Students and Teachers, attributed to John Cage, she states, “Consider everything an experiment.”  This is because there are different variables that can change the results, especially in art.  Kent also declares, “Nothing is a mistake.  There’s no win and no fail, there’s only make.”  While something may seem like an inaccuracy at the time, it is just something that was unintended.  It could possibly make the work better as a whole.

 

     Each new project is an experiment to figure out what comes next.  Work is a trial and error process.  By attempting new things in each project, it proceeds to grow and evolve.   Even though there is a vision for each work, it rarely comes out the way it’s intended.  Learning to let the outcome differ has great impact because it allows the work to naturally evolve into what it’s meant to be.  By continually learning about different media, new methods are more easily incorporated into separate works.  Exploration is a process that will persist over time because it’s what makes art exciting and challenging.  There is no way of knowing what my next work will look like because ideas come from various sources.  They come from reading assignments in class, from what my friends and family talk about, and from the environment that surrounds me.  Differing ideas within my projects keep me interested in that specific project, which is why my art varies each time.

 

     Lately, pottery making has been one of my interests, both thrown and hand built pottery.  Making these items is enjoyable because they are utilitarian and can be used in everyday life.  Even if the same shape or glaze is used for an object, each outcome is unique.

 

     Overall, experimentation will carry on from project to project and media to media.  This exploration will be evident in my work based upon the concept of the work and the materials used.  Mistakes will be made, and allowing the errors will help me to grow as an artist and will help my art expand as well.