Chameleon One, 2016

Chameleon     (January , 2016)

 

I am back to mindful meditation. Quiet time  in my studio.

I have been looking forward to playing with curves again. Last week, I started an old familiar form, one of my bird forms.

Those who have followed my clay for thirty odd years are very familiar with my birds. I always Smoke or Raku  fired them, enjoying the happy accidents of colour and smoke.

My biggest bird ("Birdsong") was over 3 feet high. I made her in my first sculpture course with Christina McEwen in 1992. She lived cheerfully in my garden  for several years, until a lovely lady decided she could not go home without her. "Thanksgiving" left my nest. 

My tiniest chicks are about 1/2 inch high. Their plump shapes, with tails in the air have trailed behind me  for decades. Last fall I experimented with them, new glazes of colour, and colour, and colour... They too have flown.

Last week I started out with the traditional rough form of a life-size bird. It came easily. BUT, my eye saw new shape in this very familiar form. Working on my Angel, Budform  and Dancer series' has changed my view. Elements of each form are involuntarily combining to create something new, yet old. It always surprises me when I look back at my old work, and see their essence following, creating my own, recognizable style.

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

It is very interesting to be 'Diana' observing 'Diana the artist'.

 

 

Stirring Angel Complete

Stirring Angel Finished

October 2015

 

 

 

Stirring Angel and I struggled.

I was rattled by the roofers, she got too hard, her head fell off, and I blanked out on her wing until Victor draped a tendril of Bittersweet Nightshade over her shoulders.

The glazing of 'Stirring' needed to be distinctive, in order to reveal how much energy and resilience she has. I wanted to show growth in organic, but soft colours. 'Stirring' needed to look related to 'Resting'. There needed to be a similarity in their pulse, and skin tones.

 I first glazed 'Stirring' the week after Potter passed away. I was pushing her, not feeling her. The result was aggressive. I walked away from her for several weeks...

When I came back, I was feeling  'our' peaceful resolve. I sprayed on more glaze, with confidence, and she came out of her second firing looking right.

She was the first piece I sold in "Before the Rush" 2015. She now lives with a resilient woman in the home she was destined to live in.

 

 

3 photos by Gary Viola

 

 

photo by DBE

 

Seeing My Work

How do others perceive us?
Those perceptions shift like grains of sand.

How do others see our work?
 
A photograph is a tool,
but those perceptions also shift like grains of sand.

I hope that the sand is golden!

                                                            photo by Bill Millward 

                                                       

                                                          photo by Gary Viola