“Art is Life.”
Art is in every aspect of our lives, day and night, while awake or in dream. The artist recognizes the influences, inspirations, and interactions with the world around him/her and creates from it. Each creation holds the spirit of the artist. The mugs, cups and bowls I offer are not empty. They are full of inspiration, joy and dedication. I am not capable of making pots out of frustration or anger. Angry pots crack or reject glaze. A clear mind and thoughtful concentration make the best pots. I am very proud and honored to be living my life as one who takes in the world and creates from it. I invite anyone to interact with my work and enjoy its function, and I will continue creating.”
My work reflects the beauty and wonder that nature has to offer us through its’ dynamic forms and diverse color. Living in Montana, with wide-open spaces of land and sky, it is hard not to have it affect you in some way.
I find I cannot copy nature; instead I need to play with the natural forms and color to create my own landscape. By doing this I believe I can express my true feelings and compliment nature rather than merely reproducing it. Trying to capture the subtle and harmonious relationships between the natural forms of the earth has proven to be my biggest challenge.
I start by concentrating on the abstract beauty of the landscape, moving and playing with just the shapes of trees, clouds, mountains, until there is some harmony. Then begins the layering of color. As the drawing develops I make little attempt to control the textures. Part of the excitement of working with the pastel is allowing the textures of trees or fields to create themselves; this keeps the piece a mystery to me until completion.
The chalk pastel becomes more diverse the longer I explore with them. working with 20 to 45 layers of color almost any variation of hue can be created, achieving extremely subtle changes to bold contrasts, yet, maintaining an overall harmony. Unlike painting, a chalk drawing cannot be drastically changed once your halfway through without destroying the paper. Saturation of the paper with pigment is a limitation, but is also a challenge that drives me to continue to use the pastel.
Like pastel drawings, I use a similar approach in oil painting to capture the interplay between light and abstract form. Starting first by finding a natural harmony to the shapes present and proceeding to layer colors.
Over the years the techniques I have described have evolved enough to express my personal “vision” of the world. Even though my landscapes are more of the mind they are directly influenced from my continual treks through the wilderness. Even here in Montana, the adulteration of the environment is becoming more prevalent. I hope the creations I present to you can inspire a sense of preservation, if not just to provoke an awareness.
A professional designer for 35 years, Len has earned national and international recognition for his logo and publication designs. Len began serious painting in 1997 working in oils and acrylics. His emphasis is on exploring and interpreting the vibrancy and life discovered in the common sites and objects throughout our Western surroundings. Simple, strong compositions in bold colors typify his work.“I explore ways of interpreting my surroundings. It is a process of discovery. I strip away detail and visual clutter, seeking the simple forms and powerful compositions that inspired these works. I use vibrant colors and contrasts to intensify the energy I unearth in each of these discoveries.”
I am a self-taught artist and I am delighted to be in a constant process of learning. As a metalsmith, I feel lucky to be surrounded by the influences of nature and history. I make jewelry to remind us of who we are; endless, timeless, magificent as a mountain range – sweet and simple as a robin’s nest. I want my jewelry to be a talisman of pure joy, an amulet of sacred beauty – an affirmation of the romance we have with life.
“let the beauty you love be what you do” -Rumi
I love jewelry and my next piece is going to be my best!
Narrative sculpture is my true passion in clay; however, functional pots are my first love and I always find time to make them. My pots help me unwind and have a little fun in the studio. They come together faster than my sculptures do and provide a canvas for playful, animated drawings of the wild and domestic animals living in our neighborhood. As I go to my cupboard for a cup each morning, I know that someone out there is finding one of my cups, filling it with coffee or tea, and enjoying a gift from my home and my hands.
Currently, my work is exploring the poem. I work with a variety of poems—both my own, and those of poets such as Ted Kooser, Mary Oliver, Pablo Neruda, Ranier Maria Rilke, and ee cummings. Through surface layer, obscurely written words, and a variety of symbolic drawings, my pots are abstract interpretations of either an entire poem or a line of poem. Through this process of investigation, I am seeking to understand the nature of human interactions, relationships, how we communicate, and how we connect to the people and moments in our lives.
Palouse Creek Pottery is located near North Bend, on the beautiful Oregon Coast. We live and work in our hand built home and studio which is solar powered and off the grid. My husband and I fire our Fred Olsen inspired fast-fire wood kiln with scrap wood from our neighbors portable mill, drift wood off the local beaches and myrtle wood branches from our seven acres.
Each piece is thrown on the wheel, dried thoroughly, glazed and painted with designs using a fine slip, or liquid clay, called terra sigillata. The designs reflect my love of nature and care for the environment. Waves, spirals, fish and fish bones, insects, rain, swirling water, seed pods, and circles find their way onto the pots. Doors, ladders and paths do too. The designs are also inspired by the clay forms and used to compliment and accentuate curves and angles. Variations of color on the clay bodies and glazes are effects of the flames, ash, salt and minerals from the drift wood, moving through the kiln.
We begin the firings with small sticks and fire very slowly until the temperature is above the boiling point of water, then slowly work up to larger wood. The firings last sixteen to twenty hours. During that time two people are constantly feeding the fire boxes until the temperature reaches Cone 10 which is 2345 degrees F.
Every piece is food, microwave, oven and dishwasher safe. I hope you enjoy using my pottery as much as I enjoy making it. Come in and check out my new “Global Dreams” line of pottery!
