As a self-proclaimed perfectionist (both a blessing and a curse), I struggle to create imperfection, which is ironic because I love old, chipped, peeling and generally, all things shabby. It was once suggested by my mentor that I ‘loosen up’. As a wheel-thrower, I CANNOT make an organic looking pot (by that I mean wonky/off kilter) and believe me when I say, I've tried. I’m also a VERY messy thrower. In my mind, hand-building would be cleaner. No more spatters on the walls, caked clay on the floor and no more pails of sludgy water to dump. I was right! I was also surprised to find that I LOVE hand-building! I have always loved the tactile characteristic of clay and the smell… oh that lovely, earthy scent, especially red clays. Pinching little pots into fruit and vegetable shapes is so meditative and gratifying even when the piece I have in mind takes on a shape of its own and a pear becomes an avocado or an overly large apricot becomes a potato. Hand-building has become the perfect solution to my messy studio problem but more than that, hand-building has tamed the purist in me.
So too has my work with European florist crepe paper. While I’ve come to realize that I strive to create somewhat realistic pieces in both clay and paper, I recognize that imperfection in nature is beautiful. Crafting the stems, leaves and blossoms from the crepe papers for each fruit and vegetable became, what a very good potter friend of mine noted, a ‘clever combination’. Like clay, the paper beckons to be manipulated into asymmetrical shapes and I take great pleasure it cutting out tiny bug bites or adding colour to the 'dry dying tips’.
My work is inspired by fond memories of the abundant gardens of my parents and my Grandmother and the heaps of vegetables I once grew in my own patch. There’s something very comforting in self-preservation and the knowledge that we are so fortunate to have so much.