A POTTER IN THE MEADOWS

Author/Creator

Author/Creator ORCID

Date

2016-04

Type of Work

Department

Hood College Arts and Humanities

Program

Ceramic Arts

Citation of Original Publication

Rights

Subjects

Abstract

Potter in the Meadows is a collection of wood fired ceramic vessels that utilize a visual vocabulary to communicate a concept rooted in the gratitude of a place that cultivates the ebb and flow of a simple ancestral, agricultural inspired life. Historic forms echo ideas of ancient agricultural utilitarianism and the inherent links between the life of a potter and the life of a farmer. The use of custom clays, glazes, and surface embellishments capture quiet moments on the land that inspires spiritual reflection, stewardship, and a deep sense of belonging. The wood firing process is the vulcanization through which sweat drenched labor hardens earthy material and artistic character alike. It is the perspiration, the salty liquid itself, which evokes the spirits of the past who reward resolve. In the whirlwind of our modern lives, these ideas that connect labor to land, hands to clay, and thoughtful meaning to true value are made critical and are born anew.