WHY DO I CALL MYSELF A  SHARDMAKER ?

CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW TO VISIT MY EARTHSHARDS SHOP AND GALLERY

Clay is comfort for me. Shaping it is like a meditation – almost automatic, but with an intuitive awareness of the ancient, earthy material.

In my early journey as an artist, I studied pottery, and always seem to return to working with earthenware clay when I need to feel centered.

 The concept of “shards” came to me fifteen years ago. I dreamed I was walking in an old graveyard that smelled of roses, looking at the carved faces and inscriptions on the monuments. I saw how dimensional impressions of small areas of these faces and these carvings could be pressed with clay, then fired as reverse molds and used to capture bits of remembrance, like intriguing shards of a once-whole vessel.

This fascination with fired clay shard pieces led to two things: my beloved assemblages of fired clay components which are assembled like dimensional collages, and my Etsy Shop called Earthshards.

Earthshards offers fired clay earthenware faces to artists to use in their own work, and many of these faces grace Spirit Dolls from makers all over the world.

Mother and Child Reunion, 2018