I grew up with clay. My parents were ceramic artists throughout my youth; my affinity for clay and my path through it began early.
I love the potters’ wheel and I also love handbuilding. I see these two aspects of clay as complementary in the creation of form and I often use both methods and enjoy combining them in an art form.This juxtaposition of differing elements, opposing aspects of the clay or of design, are often found in my work. I carry this idea of contrast further with the use of texture and glazing.
My work is a balance, an almost symbiotic relationship, between functional pottery and artwork. The skills and rhythms developed through the functional work further enable the growth of my artwork. The freedom inherent in the purely expressive nature of the artwork brings joy to the functional potter. I find in my work a balance of freedom and responsibility with respect to the clay. I love color and texture and make my own pallet of glazes in order to further the unique qualities of the works.
I am inspired by the infinite beauty of the natural world, observing its offering of color, shape, and texture. Also I am stimulated by the history of man’s response to that world through his creative, artistic endvors both ancient and modern, conscious and unconscious. These connections have been long represented in clay; and as a potter, I revere the classical forms to be found in the ancient works of various cultures. These forms appear and reappear throughout history. I expect their reappearance in my work and I hope to express therein some of the beauty of the natural and the manmade.
Claudia received her BFA in ceramics from California State University at Fullerton and has done post-graduate work at the University of Southern Mississippi in art education. In 1988 she was awarded a scholarship to work at the Penland School of Crafts, and in 1989 and 2011 she received an Artist Fellowship Grant from the Mississippi Arts Commission.
Claudia has been an active member of the Craftsmen’s Guild of Mississippi since 1978and has served on the Board of Directors and as president of the Guild. She has received the Honored Artist Award from the National Museum for Women in the Arts and has been featured in an award winning segment of Southern Expressions on Mississippi Educational Television. She is also a recipient of the Mississippi Governor’s Award forExcellence in the Visual Arts 2016