Ancient pottery has always been particularly interesting and inspiring to me. I study the designs for relevance to more contemporary arts, and I look at the bowls and pots, trying to guess how they were used and by whom. To me, these old artifacts are an instant connection between me and the women who made them, perhaps a thousand years ago. I listen for the whisper of voices from the past, I try to imagine the smells from the simple kilns, I wonder what was cooked or stored in the pots and bowls. Perhaps a woman like me designed a pattern that reminded her of a celebration or of favorite grandchildren or perhaps the design was a prayer for rain or healing or safety.
"Summer Bouquet"
"Summer Bouquet" started out as a painting featuring the black-on-white ancient pot with large white flowers in an oblique movement against a blue and violet background. Then I began to add layers and layers of flowers and twigs in different sizes, colors and shapes.
As I added in the layers in different colors and shapes, I tried to think of the beautiful wildflowers that grow in our desert!
Inspiration: Beauty from the present (the flowers) combined with beauty and mystery from the past (the pot).
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