• • ~ 2012 Back Room Gallery Shows ~
  •   June 2012
  •   May 2012 (1)
  •   May 2012 (2)
  •   April 2012
  •   March 2012
  •   February 2012
  •   January 2012
  • ~ 2011 Back Room Gallery Shows ~
  •   December 2011
  •   November 2011
  •   September – October 2011
  •   August 2011
  •   July 2011
  •   June 2011
  •   May 2011
  •   March – April 2011
  •   January – February 2011
  • ~ Shows Before 2011 ~
  •  

"ANCIENT IMAGES: EARTH, AIR, FIRE, WATER"

by
By Jean Steele
For the month of August, 2011

Opening Reception First Friday: August 5, 2011, 5 p.m. - 7 p.m.

The grandest and most subtle forces of nature are brought together in this intriguing show of clay works.

When I have a completed form -- when it comes out of the kiln -- usually only then do I recognize what Mother Earth has wanted me to portray.

Large craggy bowls speak to me of the Earth's generosity, or perhaps of her pain, such as one bowl I have on display at the Kenai Visitors Center, that looks like a nuked out strip mine. Other bowls are like water flowing. Not any water. Not any where; the water which flows less than 500 feet from where I'm creating is the powerful Kenai River joining the strong tidal water of Cook Inlet. I follow my intuition in forming and glazing.

Working on this show has been an amazing experience. I ended up a long way from the initial intent of the show . . .but yet, with a theme of ancient images, I ended up where I started, in awe of our great Mother Earth and her powers of nature. The earth moves under our feet. The water pulses constantly. The wind and the calm bring forces of brutal power or brutal cold or stunning beauty. And all the while forming powers of fire, beneath us in the core of the earth, are churning.