Hand-built red earth sculpture stoneware clay in a gloss black glaze. It is glazed on the interior and hand painted in a loose pattern on the exterior exposing some of the textured clay.

The vessel is hollow and water tight.

size H 9“ x L5” x D 2.5”

“ANIMATE EARTH”

This body of work draws on conversations and walks I had with Emily Johnson. In my studio I started to explore a few different concepts based on the boulders, mountain vistas and waterfall basins that we visited last year. About a couple of weeks into this exploration I recalled a small meadow we passed by on the way down to the Kaaterskill falls filled with dried grasses and wildflowers. The grasses had dropped some of their seeds and looking more closely, examining them in my hands I noticed some were split open creating flattened surfaces. Somehow the mystery of these dried seed hulls started to nudge me while I was working through some of the other sketches. Maybe it’s the mystery of the cyclical nature of these small but powerful life force s containing seed pods that got me thinking about how they are carried distances by the rain and wind . Replant ing themselves in different areas the seeds then enter a winter rest period before starting the cycle all over again.