Handbuilt Ceramic Art

Artists Describing Their Art:

Robert Pulley - A friend told me recently that it was helpul for her to know how an art work is created and how the artist thinks. That led me to consider what I have to say about my art work. When one looks at my sculpture I hope one sees strength, mystery, sensuousness, spiritual energy and more. How these constructions in modeled clay can stir such responsed in myself and others is a mystery to me, but I can say something about my methods and way of thinking. I have always been intuitive, reactive and spontaneous. I love improvisation, expression and the power of chance and serendipity. This may not seem obvious in large pieces that must be carefully crafted over weeks or months. Here is how it works. When I began the first pieces in this body of work many years ago they were purely improvisational. I would begin each piece with a flat slab of clay that I cut into a shape that would be the bottom of the sculpture. I usually had a vague idea of the proportions I wanted. This general notion set the theme within which I worked. In the manner of free jazz I would consider ...

Avril Ward - Artist's statement. Creating has become an intricately woven part of my life. I must express nature, as it is my window to God. I must delight in the human body, a marvel that never ceases to amaze. I must express love and joy-this keeps them tangible in my life. I must trust my instincts and skills allowing them to lead me in the right direction. Most importantly: if my art can move a person to pause, think, smile, ponder, cry, laugh, be encouraged or give them hope, then I have served my purpose in life." To view a video about, my inspiration and work methods in sculpture please copy and paste the link to your browser.

Henry Funches - I do my work because it excites me to see others in awe by what i have drawn , when my piece is forming as planned , I can't wait to show people what I have created , and how vibrant the colors are that I've chose !!! I love when they appreciate the fact that , i took the time to make sure each line was bold and perfect . and my colors were blended to the best of my artistic ability one of my goals are to be world renown for my style of art and to be showcased in fine arts galleries around the world . I aspire to be like the great artist before me ,and to inspire those who will come after me . most artist are not noticed till they have past away. i would like to be alive and well to see one of my many portraits be considered a master piece. When i make a choice on what subject i am going to use for my portrait , i have more than likely been thinking of and, devising a plan to make this piece come to life for days in advance. I love to use my oil pastels on ...

Linda Casbon - In Paul Valery's words, "to see is to forget the name of the thing one sees". My work translates forms into a language of metaphoric associations. It hints at meanings without using literal descriptions. Objects are the visual sounds of this language. When placed together these words form a sentence, a poem, and a kind of narrative with its own internal logic. The pieces look like . . . feel like . . . sound like . . . but cannot be consciously identified or named. With this work I am striving for a sense of unnameable familiarity. Some of the work consists of single objects. I view these pieces as words or emblems. More often the work is a group of objects, or a composition. Ceramic forms are used as a sculptural canvas to draw on, creating interplay between painted shapes and actual shapes. The physical scale and formal qualities of the work reference the body. Current series include: "Pillows" which have a volume reminiscent of lungs and breathing, "Tunnels" and "Blankets" which focus on differences between inside and outside and the idea of transformational space, and "Cages" which utilize structural elements to create form and explore three-dimensional mapping and order versus randomness. The surfaces and ...

Linda Casbon - Daniel Janssens - "It is the woman's beauty and mystery that have made me paint and sculpt in the first place." The artist, who previously painted only one human figure per painting, has recently begun to represent several figures, and these figures are no longer exclusively women. In sculpture also, the single human figures of the beginning are gradually replaced by intertwined figures, that go by two, by couple, or even by trio or quartet. "Previously, it was the individual that questioned me. Now, increasingly, I paint and sculpt attitudes and relationships." Painting and sculpture are based on different relationships: that between the sculptor-painter and his painting or sculpture, that between colors and shapes, that between the spectator and the work of art, and finally, the possible relationship between the different spectators. "However, I have not become a narrative artist, even if the spectator can invent stories about the human figures they see depicted." - But why only one subject? - Because the more one concentrates on one - and only one - subject, the deeper one can go, and the more style and technique can speak freely. If one always seeks to change subjects, it becomes difficult to specialize in it." It is the...

Thomas Van Horn - I believe in an ongoing creation. All new moments and the events therein, even the thoughts, are evidence of the creation happening. When I work artistically, or any other way, I participate in that creation. I co-create with the mechanism of creation with what I like to call my heart mind hands. Every stroke of the brush is absolutely new to the universe. It's never happened just like that before. Even if I could make the exact same mark twice, which I can't, the surrounding circumstances and environment would be different for each mark. I don't try to plan a work too much because every work seems to take on its own life and guides me more than me guiding it. I jokingly call my genre accidentalism as so many works seem to result from happy accidents. In the balance of intuition and craft, I have leaned towards letting it go rather than making it come. ...