Outside Inspiration: A Few Words on Personal Voice

Today I’d like to introduce you to ceramicist Carolyn Genders. Her work and her books were brought to my attention by Irene Corman (who has authored an article on putting together a great class and workshop in the upcoming Fall issue, due out this coming week) because of this great quote Irene had pulled from Carolyn’s book, Sources of Inspiration:

“It is easy to get carried away by the feel of the clay, the excitement of mastering new skills…when in fact the most vital consideration is the “idea” and making work that has individuality and a personal voice.”

She may be talking about earthen clay, but quite a few of you know exactly what she’s saying, having experienced the addictive nature of polymer and all its endless possibilities. This quote actually ended up in the article about Dan Cormier’s Broken Telephone Project, as the discussion in the article revolves around the importance of developing and creating with your own personal voice. I thought a bow to the source of the quote and the idea behind it was worth a little Friday afternoon contemplation.

Like most of the artists you’ll find in the next issue, Carolyn’s  inspiration comes from nature, but particularly the Sussex landscape where she lives. She sketches her impressions of the landscape, then later takes these visual notes and abstracts them as she integrates them into her vessels and sculptures. Her  “Stone Sculptural Form” you see here has some obvious influence from the lines and veins of stone; but then there is the abstraction of color which is highly representative of her personal style and manner of artistic expression. The stone of her home landscape may have been the source for design elements, but the artist has inserted herself with a bold, confident hand.

If you enjoy Carolyn’s colorful, abstracted work, you can enjoy more of it on her website here. Irene highly recommends her book Sources of Inspiration. As for me, I’m waiting for my recently ordered copy to arrive so I can form my own opinion–a “job” I very much look forward to.