Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Farmhouse Mud


Rustic Acorns
"Picture this: a horseback riding, animal loving, blue jeans wearing, jeep driving, dirt digging, grits eating, tomato growing country girl. Can you see her? That’s me and it’s so nice to meet you, too. I truly am a southern girl at heart; an Alabama transplant from Houston, Texas. Playing in clay is a new found love of mine. My first introduction to clay was in my junior high school art class and I remember how much I loved it. My sculpture was of my rescued kitten that my mom named Horse because she knew how much I wanted a horse of my very own. After that art class, I didn’t sink my hands into clay again until 2006, when I enrolled in a pottery wheel class at my local art studio. I loved playing in clay again; it was like finding a long lost best friend, but using clay on the pottery wheel frustrated me. It felt so confined, structured and unbelievably mechanical ~ and so not fun for me. I decided it was time for me to buy my own clay where I could hand build at home, sitting on my couch, with a lap board in my lap and my pup by my side. And this little creative scene, today, remains my little piece of heaven! It’s been a real soul searching, eye-opening creative adventure for me playing in clay again. I started out with my creations being so stiff, perfected and overworked. I didn’t like anything I made and I had to keep asking myself: “Is this something common or does it look like a handmade original?” “Common” was the typical answer. It wasn’t until I had a tangle with my horse and broke my wrist, forcing me to let go a little more of perfection that my sculpting became a little more relaxed and handmade flawed."
bio written by Stephanine via her etsy profile

1 comment:

Anna said...

I think potters are a bit like young girls and their hair, never happy with how it looks to them and yet looks wonderful to others! I love the wheel and couldn't help but think how I might tackle making those acorns that way - of course they may not have that lovely rustic look :^)