parallel pots

25 or so years ago I was in a summer pottery class sharing the firing of the "Big Mother" with a fellow classmate.  I had always aspired to work in porcelain successfully and so had a series of box forms...organic soft folded shapes that opened...made in porcelain.  As we loaded the kiln my friend asked me if I was influenced by Mary Rogers?  I had never heard of her but went immediately to the library and discovered one of the most powerful potters in my own evolution.  I am still moved by her elegant forms.  She has whispered to me over the years...I love the thin almost not there quality of her pieces.  They are truly ethereal...I'm still working on it.

Years later a friend of mine lived in England for a while and I asked her to buy a Mary Rogers pot for me if she ever saw one...I would send her the money instantly!  She did, in fact see a show of her work but decided that the pieces were too expensive for my budget...I still think I would have eaten top ramen for the year if I could have owned one...but I also still think I would love it just as much today as I did then.  She endures...her work endures....in my "best in life" thoughts.  

Over the years I have discovered many people who seem to work with similar thoughts to my own.  Some of them are long gone and their incredible work remains...some are newly discovered.

I walked down a sidewalk and into a gallery/museum/studio/....I'm not sure what it was in a small town in, France in 2004 and found the works in wood of Alain Mailland.  

I have followed his work since then and it nudges my thinking every time I see it...

As I checked in on his current work online this weekend...one link led to another and I also found Sandra Davolio who lives in Denmark and Barbro Aberg who also lives in Denmark and Astrid Dahl who lives in South Africa...all potters...with some parallel thoughts.  

in progress....

repetition with eternal variations

Well, the shadows have it at the moment!  I almost always work in 3's.  That's because I also have a "wait" problem.  I get impatient to keep going when the porcelain needs to firm up a bit before I add the next row...having 2 more to work on creates the perfect distraction.  This time I had ideas for 5...but I can't do everything!

inspiration

As an art student learning about materials and techniques it didn't take long before I knew there would be a lifetime of practice  but...the bottom line for me was the question of where do ideas come from? What inspires a series? What do I draw?  I pursued this question relentlessly...still do.  (my masters thesis was titled "Artists and their images") As a teacher it seemed critical to pose open ended questions to set off an avalanche of thought...or at least a few snowflakes that would nudge the process. Art Forms in Nature by Ernst Haeckel is an amazing resource I have relied on for 30 years...these illustrations from the l800's...are totally coil pots!

I love clay's ability to showcase surface...most days the element of texture is at the top of the elements of design for me.  This book is full of beautiful examples of repetition, interesting shapes etc.  As these 3 pots begin to dry I open the book again.