When Barbara Johnson adds a new plant to her landscape, she has an ulterior motive.
"If I see plants with leaves that would look good in clay, I buy that plant," says Johnson, a potter for 25years with a passion for natural textures. The porcelain and earthenware artist will be selling her work at Danville's Art in the Park festival next week.
"I love working with the different kinds of leaves," the Tracy potter says. "All the leaves are out of my garden."
Once she traveled to Livermore vineyards to get grape leaves -- her favorites -- to press into wet clay. Eventually she planted her own grapes. Since then, her yard (also the site of her workshop) has become a haven for plants bearing interesting leaves for use in her creations.
The art from her Chrysalis Pottery is inspired by nature; it fits into the landscape, too. Johnson says many of her pieces are designed for use in the garden. She suggests adding water, a few stones and a miniature pump to make outdoor art. She assures people her pottery will stand up to the elements.
"I test them out at home first," Johnson says. Her eclectic, colorful pieces include everything from a small sunflower table of glass mosaic, to huge earthenware leaf and flower platters, to birdbaths reminiscent of ponds -- complete with lily pads and frogs.
Johnson is among the 50 artists displaying their work at the eighth annual Art in the Park on Front Street. The event, taking place Saturday and Sunday, is a fundraiser for the local Community Art Education program. Stefan Baumann of "The Grand View: America's National Parks Through the Eyes of an Artist" and PBS fame is the guest artist Sunday.
Johnson is one of a half-dozen potters on hand for the show. Her new favorite medium is Japanese precious metal clay. She makes heart- shapedcharms of the soft substance that turns to near pure silver when fired. The charms can be worn as jewelry but also adorn some of her work.
Johnson began her love affair with clay pots as a girl after her mother and sister got frustrated with their own attempts at pottery.
"They got frustrated with it, and I decided to take it over," she says. "And conquer it."
She had her first gallery showing at 18 and has been hooked on pottery ever since. It's more than a hobby but less than a career for Johnson, who works at a software mapping firm. While raising three children, she spent less time in her shop than she does now, her last child having left home recently.
Johnson, who fires pottery in her own kiln, sometimes gets the best results from trying something new. For example, jar-shaped vases with whimsical, hand-braided wire handles seem a natural for rustic earthenware, but Johnson chose porcelain to get the glaze colors she wanted.
Even though the paint she uses is lead-free, most of her pottery is more for decoration than dining. Her pottery also is available at Cedar Mountain Winery in Livermore.
She offers custom creations based on examples from her Web site (www.chrysalispottery.com). She may be inspired by a previous design, but she emphasizes that she cannot make exact copies because the variable nature of the glazes and her penchant for exploration defy mass production.
"If I see plants with leaves that would look good in clay, I buy that plant," says Johnson, a potter for 25years with a passion for natural textures. The porcelain and earthenware artist will be selling her work at Danville's Art in the Park festival next week.
"I love working with the different kinds of leaves," the Tracy potter says. "All the leaves are out of my garden."
Once she traveled to Livermore vineyards to get grape leaves -- her favorites -- to press into wet clay. Eventually she planted her own grapes. Since then, her yard (also the site of her workshop) has become a haven for plants bearing interesting leaves for use in her creations.
The art from her Chrysalis Pottery is inspired by nature; it fits into the landscape, too. Johnson says many of her pieces are designed for use in the garden. She suggests adding water, a few stones and a miniature pump to make outdoor art. She assures people her pottery will stand up to the elements.
"I test them out at home first," Johnson says. Her eclectic, colorful pieces include everything from a small sunflower table of glass mosaic, to huge earthenware leaf and flower platters, to birdbaths reminiscent of ponds -- complete with lily pads and frogs.
Johnson is among the 50 artists displaying their work at the eighth annual Art in the Park on Front Street. The event, taking place Saturday and Sunday, is a fundraiser for the local Community Art Education program. Stefan Baumann of "The Grand View: America's National Parks Through the Eyes of an Artist" and PBS fame is the guest artist Sunday.
Johnson is one of a half-dozen potters on hand for the show. Her new favorite medium is Japanese precious metal clay. She makes heart- shapedcharms of the soft substance that turns to near pure silver when fired. The charms can be worn as jewelry but also adorn some of her work.
Johnson began her love affair with clay pots as a girl after her mother and sister got frustrated with their own attempts at pottery.
"They got frustrated with it, and I decided to take it over," she says. "And conquer it."
She had her first gallery showing at 18 and has been hooked on pottery ever since. It's more than a hobby but less than a career for Johnson, who works at a software mapping firm. While raising three children, she spent less time in her shop than she does now, her last child having left home recently.
Johnson, who fires pottery in her own kiln, sometimes gets the best results from trying something new. For example, jar-shaped vases with whimsical, hand-braided wire handles seem a natural for rustic earthenware, but Johnson chose porcelain to get the glaze colors she wanted.
Even though the paint she uses is lead-free, most of her pottery is more for decoration than dining. Her pottery also is available at Cedar Mountain Winery in Livermore.
She offers custom creations based on examples from her Web site (www.chrysalispottery.com). She may be inspired by a previous design, but she emphasizes that she cannot make exact copies because the variable nature of the glazes and her penchant for exploration defy mass production.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire