Pottery is just the beginning

 

Learning the basic skills of making pottery is only the beginning when you allow your mind to run free with the unlimited ideas of what clay has to offer. Julie Ward has been creating and painting pottery for over 25 years and never runs out of new ideas for original beauty.

 

More than a few artists have fallen in love with the texture and smell of clay. Julie found her passion while in Junior College and saw more than just stoneware and high-fire glazes. To Julie, low-fire red earthenware clay felt like rich smooth butter in her hands. The natural rust color presented a different type of warmth and the cooler firing allowed her to paint pieces while retaining the brilliant under glaze coloring.

Moving away from the wheel, Ward found that by hand-shaping pieces, she began to let her mind and hands become one in a no-boundaries concept for building aesthetic sculptures from clay. She carves at the leather-hard stage and also paints with a thick under glaze to create a depth and raised textured original piece.

     “I bisque fire at cone 06, paint my bisque ware with under glaze, cover with a clear coat glaze and glaze fire at cone 06 as well.”

Influenced by the hand-painted work of American Indians and the patterns of Australian Aboriginal art, Julie has developed her own style in molding clay into works of art. The combination of one-of-a-kind patterns, vivid colors and risen texture, her finished products are also functional as platters, bowls and cups.

Asked how her ideas originated, Julie replied, “The warmth of the sun, the mystery and beauty of the ocean, the glorious and dramatic showing of Autumn and it’s colorful fall leaves all seem to be recurring themes for me, but my biggest inspiration are flowers and their truly awesome shapes, colors and textures.

     Mother Nature and all of her glory never seems to tire of showing me new inspiration which leads me to creating one piece after another and loving every bit of it!”

 

 

Born and raised in Southern California, Julie now resides in Utah with her husband and a few furry friends. More about Julie Ward and her amazing skill for designer pieces, see: http://jwardpotterypaint.homestead.com.