Traveling always inspires a collection of pottery and this year’s 5 week trip to Florida was filled with stories I wanted to tell in my clay work. Below, are images of just finished work and their inspiration.
I will be selling this new collection at my two sales in May. Join me on May 7th with the Riverdale Pottery Collective in Dedham and on May 13th with the Westwood Artists outside of Decor and More in Westwood. Purchases may also be made by contacting me by email.
In September, I traveled to Iceland with my husband. Arriving by plane to Reykjavik, we set out by car to see glaciers, black sand, the golden circle, geysers, waterfalls, Icelandic museums and so much more. Below are some of my favorite pieces of wheel thrown and hand built pottery that this trip inspired me to create. Below the artwork are my images of places, color and nature that I used for inspiration. My artwork comes with a story… the pottery that make up this collection is meant to be used, touched and collected to bring joy and beauty to your home and those homes you visit and the people you share meals with. I hope the pieces start conversations at your table.
I’ll be selling this collection at my December Pottery Sales. Please click over to my events page for info.
In February, I traveled to Florida. Below you will find the inspiration for some of the many pieces I created using wheel-throwing, hand-building, surface decoration and glazes on my one of a kind pottery for a unique Spring Collection. These pieces are now available and for sale to all collectors of beautiful functional handmade pieces of art.
Click here to purchase directly from me. Join me this weekend for a sale with Westwood Artists on Saturday, June 4th from 11-3 at the Senior Center in Westwood, MA.
Traveling is a big part of where I find inspiration for my one of a kind wheel thrown and hand built functional pottery. I was able to travel this year to Bermuda in late August. Below are photographs of finished pottery and where ideas have come from. My collections should be seen as one big painting; all the parts together tell the story of the experience.
I’ll be selling this collection at the 7th annual Medfield Stroll on Friday, December 3rd. As one of 40 participating artists juried into this event, I will be situated in the Memorial Public Library, 468 Main Street, Medfield, MA. The event is one day from 4pm to 9pm. The Cultural Alliance of Medfield is organizing this event and very active in promoting the Arts. Click here to find out more about this event and the Alliance.
The COVID19 Pandemic and quarantine impacted my art. My ceramic homes represent my neighborhood.
One of my neighbors, a nurse, organized a “first responders” event in April. She emailed neighbors to ask for help in recognizing the health care workers in “Cloverland” (the name we use when referring to our Westwood, MA neighborhood). She asked for money to purchase restaurant gift cards for these families, to create signs of support, and help to decorate these homes with lawn signs, chalk signs and balloons. It was a huge success!
In the middle of July, some of these signs are still standing – through hard rain and wind storms – just like these health care workers. It takes a village… and my art reflects this life that is.
To see more work from quarantine, click here.
I am reminded of the “power of she” every year when I steal away for the weekend with my childhood girlfriends. This year, we included a trip to the Peabody Essex Museum to see the exhibit of Empresses of China’s Forbidden City. I was immediately drawn into the lives of these women and as curator Daisy Yiyou Wang said, “the broader reflection on the position of women in society and a sense of commonality and connection across time and cultures”
When I viewed the exhibit, I was already working on my spring collection. The peony was central to my theme. From the exhibit, I learned that Empress Dowager Cixi favored the peony, known as the “king of all flowers” and the flower of China, because the bloom signifies beauty and prosperity.
I found myself reflecting on women and the power of she. My spring collection widened as I chose an image that would live on and in the surface of my wheel thrown vessels and gave a second dimension to my collection.
The Pottery in Bloom collection and the Power of She collection become my spring collection together. Women have their own stories, shared in the company of other women. The power of she collectively creates strong, beautiful, feminine women who won’t be forgotten as these empresses might have been. The symbol of the peony bloom reminds us of their stories and of our own.
This collection will make its debut this weekend at Potters Place Spring Show and Sale, May 3-5. It is a small and intricate collection that begs to be touched as well as pondered intellectually.
Each year, my pottery studio, Potters Place announces a theme for its spring show and sale. It’s a creative prompt that sparks ideas for me and my studio mates. This year, the theme is “Pottery in Bloom”, a play on “Art in Bloom” that takes place at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts at the same time.
During the time the theme was announced, I was beginning my second of two drawing classes in Newton; a class is a perk of being an instructor for Newton Community Education where I currently teach clay to all ages. I was humbled and frustrated by the place I found myself when I arrived at my drawing class this fall, but by spring these two teachers had lead me past mental roadblocks and set me on the path of rediscovering my voice with skills that I could take to the clay surface.
I began working with a drawing of my hand holding the stem of a peony as a self portrait. The peony is the flower that blooms every year around the time of my wedding anniversary; it signifies the memory of the transition into a new role of wife and subsequently motherhood in a year that my children have left home. The negative space around the image in white is the silhouette of a woman’s shape. The pink of the peony, the gentle grasp of the stem, the soft form all suggest femininity to me. I worked on these two pieces at the same time, starting first with the bowl and moving to the plate.
When I look at the two pieces side by side, I see a bowl with an image on the left and a ceramic statement on the right. The bowl is a piece you might hang on a wall and contemplate in an intellectual manner. The plate is a form and image interacting as one. An only a utilitarian form can do, it invites you to interact by touch when the surface image draws you in. The two pieces together are a metaphor and entrance to my storytelling in this self portrait. Other pieces will follow to create a larger collection.
My process for creating these two pieces began with wheel thrown well made forms with a handmade swirl in the center to emphasis the human component of pottery. Once trimmed and in a “suede” state, I use a pencil to transfer my drawing. The lines are carved and then inlaid with green underglaze. Masters of this technique are Kristen Keiffer, Michael Klein and Julia Galloway, contemporary ceramicists who use Mishima in their work. Space is defined by layers of white and blue underglaze before the forms are dried and fired to bisque. Glazing has three layers and uses the characteristics of a clear glaze in conjunction with other glazes to enhance the surface decoration.
These two pieces are one of a kind and will be for sale at Potters Place Spring Show and Sale over the weekend of May 3-5. I think either piece will make the perfect wedding gift for a woman transitioning into the partnership of marriage, the celebration of a relationship.
I spent a lot of time driving in my car all over New England this fall. The foliage was beautiful and I found myself looking for glazes to create a memory of this fall season.
Using real leaves: maple, hydrangea, and more, and wet clay, I tell the story of how the leaves change over the season. Some leaves stay green and then turn brown, others delight us with color.
As an artist, I use this information to create a collection that celebrates the New England season with functional pottery. “Let’s Celebrate” with festive food and one of a kind handmade pottery!
Details for this weekend’s show & sale at Potters Place are below.
It is the first time my fall collection will be seen and on sale. All of my novelty pieces are one of a kind; I make them once as pieces of a story… together they “paint the picture” of a memory.
“Flowers”: a summer collection installed at the Dedham Square Artist Guild located in historic Dedham Square, Dedham, MA
In the summer months, I enjoy working with low fire clay. A lower firing temperature allows me to utilize brighter colors that can “burn out” when the temperature in a ceramics kiln is higher. I began creating my “Flowers” collection while working on my summer art classes curricula.
I spent time at my local library, pouring over books to come up with new and exciting ideas for my students and found myself interested in learning more about certain flowers.
Vessels were hand built and ready for surface decoration. Slips, textures, carving and underglaze ceramic paints were used to create imagery; low fire glazes completed the vision.
“Flowers” can be functional for bouquets in water, food for a party; or, individual pieces can be hung on a wall or displayed on a tabletop. My ceramics are meant to be picked up and explored. Textured surfaces to the finger tip are a delight. Three dimensional art begs to be touched, picked up and interacted with. Ceramics is functional art.
Please visit the Dedham Square Artist Guild to purchase a piece from “Flowers”. Each piece is one of a kind. The collection is small but varied. Each piece stands alone but works well together. “Flowers” is perfect for the collector and just right for a wedding gift.
Here is a sneak peak of my Special Occasions Spring 2018 Collection of hand built and wheel thrown high fire pottery..
Buy handmade for Mother’s Day, Spring & Summer weddings & birthdays, plus graduations & bridal showers. Enjoy one of a kind functional art that can be hung on a wall, and used with food and drink. Celebrate Art with your purchase of locally made wares. At Potters Place, 23 clay artisans will be participating in this amazing spring sale – join us for fun and find something to celebrate your special occasions with!
Artists reception on Friday, May 4th is open to the public. There is free parking and transportation on the commuter rail to Walpole station.
lisa w.b. walker 