The first thing I did when I got back into the studio this summer was to try a material I’ve only read about: paper clay. In some possible life, I could have been a ceramist! My history with clay goes way back to my childhood, making “grandma ceramics” with… yes, my grandma! She was a very good painter, and she knew her glazes. I think she would have loved to do hand-building, but she ran a business so the ceramics were more like a hobby. At any rate, I’ve always loved getting my hands in the clay. If it weren’t so persnickety, who knows? I had hoped the paper clay might help me solve some of the issues that come along with regular porcelain, but I entered into it with no great expectations. I just wanted to have some fun. In that I succeeded.
These pieces are very fragile, but I swear! I’ve dreamed of making both trees and roses with clay since I don’t know when. Impossible, right?! So even though this experiment might have seemed like a sidetrack, it was very fulfilling. It was like a gateway drug to the hard stuff — the oils! I do have other ideas about it, which I hope I can get to this winter.
