Inspiration: Catherine Cleary

The first and second weekends in October Open Studios are happening in Boulder. It is a FABULOUS event that's been going on for 17 years. 135 artists open up their homes/studios to the general public and are there to answer questions and show people around. Every time I go I leave feeling so inspired!


Yesterday my boyfriend and I visited Catherine Cleary. I met her at the library's opening reception and just knew that I had to see more of her work! She had a clay sculpture of an iguana perched on a log holding an umbrella. It was amazing.  I was wearing a vintage polyester dress and she told me about her mother's bright pink polyester outfit. She promised that she'd show it to me if I visited her studio. Sure enough, as I walked in, she said, "Pink polyester!" (It was fabulous. I really wanted her to wear it!). 

Swine lake by Catherine Cleary

Catherine gets most of her inspiration from animals. Her pieces have an illustration quality ( Catherine's other love is drawing), are humorous, amazingly realistic and whimsical. Catherine creates her sculptures with low fire clay. Much of the form is made from slab construction. She adds all the details my hand with her "many many tools". After she bisque fires she achieves much of the color with underglazes. First she paints it with a black underglaze, then washes it off. Then she hand paints the colored underglazes, and puts a clear matte glaze over all of it. Catherine's studio was filled with pictures, toys, tools, creepy dolls with bad haircuts that she picked up at flea markets. I could feel the creative energy! I really just loved Catherine- her gregarious personality, her openness, and of course her art. 
Visit Catherine Cleary's website HERE to see all of her work.

Do these stripes make me look fat? by Catherine Cleary

This is my favorite:

Octopuppet by Catherine Cleary

Whimsy Inspiration

A whimsical installation by coe&waito. (their website can be found at www.coeandwaito.com)

First Friday Art Walk on Santa Fe - March

A piece by Kellie Cannon at Spark Gallery

 In Denver the galleries on Santa Fe host an Art Walk the first Friday of every month. I was happy to get the chance to get out there last night! I brought along my daughter (the purple hair) and her friend, Alison (the blue hair). It is always so inspirational!

 This was Hana and Alison's favorite show. My understanding was that it is a space about to be renovated to create artist studios. In the meantime the building owner allowed an inner city youth program to 'decorate' the walls. All of the graffiti was done by kids in the program. What a great idea! I love that the kids got to express themselves in this type of medium, and that it is supported and encouraged by the community.

Finger Painting by Lauren Reed

Detail of Finger Painting by Lauren Reed

 My favorites were over at Kanon Art Collective. I didn't see who the steel cube sculpture was by but after a bit of research my best guess is Jeff Erwine. Please set me straight if I'm wrong!

Finger Painting by Lauren Reed was the only ceramic art I saw! Granted, we only went into a few galleries. Also it is National Photography Month so that seemed to be the focus (ha ha, no pun intended!).  I'm a sucker for dots. They just seem so happy...

Artist of the Week- Eva Hild

 I found Swedish artist Eva Hild simply by typing 'ceramic artists' into a google search engine. A photo of Eva's work popped up and just I had to see more.... Something that surprised me about her work is how large it is. When I saw the photos I imagined a vase-sized piece, but seeing more photos demonstrated the dimensions- some pieces are so large that children can climb around on them! Another surprising detail is that these pieces are created using hand building techniques.

I thought this was a nice description of Eva Hild's creative process and also of the components of clay:

”Given the complexity of Eva Hild's forms one might imagine that she would need a computer to calculate them. This is far from being the case. Sometimes she makes a few sketches in advance but the details cannot really be foreseen. Somehow she manages to make clay, such a sticky and physical material, seem immaterial. Yet she could never produce her forms in any other material. Clay is wonderfully plastic and allows itself to be constantly reworked… "

Article in Ceramics Art and Perception 55/2004, text Kerstin Wickman

Find out more at www.evahild.com

Artist of the Week: Jeanne Quinn

Jeanne Quinn was one of the visiting artists mentioned in this post. While she was talking to my class I remember her saying, "I just like to make pretty things." It seems like a very simple statement until you see the  things she creates! Many of the pieces are very large, extremely detailed, and ornate. What stuck in my mind the most about Jeanne was how passionate she was about art, and how strongly she believed in her visions and ideas.

This is a piece called Perfect Lover. It is made with Q-tips and glazed porcelain. Each piece was meticulously placed to create a symmetrical design. 

This piece is titled A Thousand Tiny Deaths. There wasn't an artist statement, but from the pictures it seems like the black porcelain pieces are suspended by a string tied to a balloon which is holding the ceramic piece. As the balloons deflate, the ceramic pieces crash and break below. This is stunning. I LOVE the black porcelain (I'm going to look into how to color porcelain clay bodies!), and I love the concept of the exquisite pieces breaking. I can only imagine how amazing it would be to experience a piece falling!

For more information on Jeanne Quinn and her art:

American Craft Magazine interviewed Jeanne Quinn HERE

Find her website at www.JeanneQuinnStudio.com