Artist’s Statement



I was always a tactile person ----touching, brushing, squishing, smoothing things --- a real mudpie girl--- so when I moved to South Africa from China in 1997 it seemed logical to take a messy little course in ceramics just for the fun of it.



I was smitten from the moment my hands first touched wet clay. Altered life.



And, in turn, the life I’d been living altered my thinking about clay. In the 30 years I’d spent living overseas, I’d loved clay works from Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Somehow, in my mind, the stark, majestic pots I was looking at during my clay apprenticeship in Africa were interspersed with memories of more complex and intricate shapes and surfaces from the Far and Middle East. I was drawn to the elegance of both simple and complex forms.



My path was sometimes a lonely one because some of my work is done using clay that I color with stains and oxides: this presents some significant technical obstacles. Nonetheless I relish the effects that come from a multicolor clay canvas.



My other joy is glaze: the sheer sassiness of it. Even when I am rigorously trying to control and keep consistency in my glazes, I like it that glaze can still surprise ---and sometimes astonish. The possibilities for new directions and applications, new colors, new textures will keep me experimenting with glaze formulation for a long long time.



Best of all, I love that clay is an art form that begs to be touched and often used..

For more information, please visit my website http://www.CaroleMcCracken.com.