Featured Artist Patricia Griffin

Patricia Griffin’s functional ceramic work features delightful images that tell stories. Visit her website to see more from this talented artist.

 

 

When you drink your morning coffee from a handmade mug that makes you smile, you are taking an “ordinary” moment and turning it into something special.

 

 

That’s what my work is all about: I make art that you can use and enjoy every day in your home. It is my hope that my pieces create a pause in the rush of life.

 

 

My functional stoneware pieces are collected by people who appreciate the quality of fine handmade craft. Their investment may start with a handmade mug, a serving platter, or a large vessel for the entry of a new home.

 

 

What I’m Working on Now

My work features etched imagery that looks like woodcuts and scrimshaw on the finished piece. I tend to work in series, and a fascination with bees and botany is now reflected in a current collection.

 

 

This new collection – Bees in the Poppy Field – includes large vessels, platters, vases, tea bowls and mugs. No two pieces are the same, but they work together as a grouping, coming alive with the movement and rhythm of bees in a field.

 

 

This work was named a 2014 NICHE Award Finalist, in a program that honors fine craft in America and Canada. I am one of five artists working in functional ceramics to receive the honor.

Another new series is my Story Collection that features the woodcut patterns with etched line drawings of whimsical animal characters. Each piece has a distinct personality, with imagery that tells a story.

 

 

The Process – Form, Line and Pattern… Story!

I start most of my pieces on the pottery wheel, and often alter by adding elements, squaring rims, darting and carving. I also use slab-forming and extruding methods to make pieces.

I love moving from one to the other, having several forms in different stages of the creative process as I work – most often with music blaring in the background. When it’s all going on at the same time, it’s a delicious dance… and I’m in heaven!

 

 

Most of my work is decorated in what we call the “leather-hard” stage. I lay down blocks of color and then begin drawing and etching. I love working with line and pattern to tell a story on the pot.

 

 

My Awesome Studio

My studio is a converted 100-year-old schoolhouse on the Main Street of Cambria, a small artists’ colony on the central coast of California. I’m open to the public most afternoons and will share my process with visitors who come to shop, learn about my work, or just want to see the inside of this wonderful old building.

I’m often in the company of two lovely huge standard poodles, who are great companions, though they’ve been extremely slow in learning how to center anything on the wheel.

 

 

What’s next?

I am developing a small line of wholesale work that will be available to select retailers, fine craft galleries, and museum shops. My goal is to maintain the handmade quality by working on limited collections, and continually keeping the work fresh and exciting.

 

Patricia Griffin invites you to read her blog and follow her on Facebook.