Since The California Clay Competition at The Artery in Davis was cancelled, I have offered to interview and highlight some of the artists here. I decided to volunteer to do this because I thought the competition had some great work this year and it would be interesting to hear some different perspectives on what is being done with clay. Plus, most of the fun around this show comes from meeting the artists attending the Ceramic Sculpture Conference CCACA.
JULIE CLEMENTS
I have enjoyed the charming animals of Julie Clements and am delighted to share her work with you as the first of the CA Clay Competition artist interviews.
Julie Clements of Clay Pigeon Ceramics, came to clay at Emory University when her twin encouraged her to take a sculpture class on a whim with Linda Arbuckle. Subsequently she worked with Diane Solomon Kempler and Glenn Dair, whose encouragement opened her to the possibilities of art as a way forward.
Clements inspiration comes from nature and specifically animals. Working as a veterinary technician she has had experiences with sled dogs in Alaska to lions at the San Francisco Zoo. Clements uses her knowledge to create playful animals with lots of personality interacting with objects she grew up with in the 70’s and 80’s. Most recently her works include old wind-up toys, polaroid cameras and polaroid “selfies”, lunch boxes and matches.
Clements hand-builds and slip casts using a fine low-fire sculpture clay with little grog so she can get fine details without having to deal with porcelain. She spends anywhere from two weeks to a couple of months on a piece and enjoys the obsessive surface finishing details using a variety of underglazes, china paint, luster, slip, terra-sigilata, decals and gloss finishes.
Starting a piece is difficult and Clements has been struggling to get back into the rhythm during quarantine. “It’s hard right now to settle my mind enough to generate ideas. I had been working toward a show at the Roscoe Ceramics Gallery in April. I poured everything into it and then it was cancelled. It was a huge blow to my impetus to make work.”
But recently she has been able to process the past two months and has started a piece of a semi realistic squirrel, with a wind-up key, clinging to a pile of acorns called “Mobius Strip” which was inspired by watching backyard wildlife.
But recently she has been able to process the past two months and has started a piece of a semi realistic squirrel, with a wind-up key, clinging to a pile of acorns called “Mobius Strip” which was inspired by watching backyard wildlife.
Look for Julie Clements work coming to the Pence Gallery, Davis, Ca in mid-May, and at Arthouse in Sacramento, CA this August. You can also find her at: www.claypigeonceramics.com, Instagram: clements.julie and Facebook: Clay Pigeon Ceramics.
