Pintail © Paula Cooley
I am so excited to introduce you to ceramic artist
Paula Cooley!
When Paula sent me images for the spotlight I should have known I would find a new favorite, and I did!
I love Pintail. LOVE!!!
For a long time I admired Paula Cooley from afar and I always wanted to meet her. The collective Paula belongs to (330 Design Group) and mine (St. George Studio) were both part of last year's
Art Trek: Studio Discovery Tour, but she and I had never been at any of the same meetings. As it turned out a couple of months later Paula was at the Kenderdine Campus taking the sculpture class while I was there taking the class on abstraction. Paula immediately struck me as a generous, down-to-earth person who was game to try anything (art-related) once. At Kenderdine she was a workhorse, putting in long hours honing new
skills and making her ideas a reality. My favorite things she created were metal sculptures to be mounted above ceramic faces; the metal sculptures represented the
state of mind behind the face. "Rational Thought" below is an example
and I adore how it turned out!
Rational Thought © Paula Cooley
Up until last year I was more familiar with Paula's beautiful pottery and earthenware- lovely, simple shapes with beautiful glazes making functional items so much more delightful to use. When I saw some of her sculptural ceramic pieces at an opening for 330 Design Group, I was struck by her unique approach, her organic sensibility and her quirky creativity.
Couple © Paula Cooley
Through planning this spotlight I have been fortunate enough to learn more about Paula. She was born and raised in Ontario and moved to Saskatoon in 1989 (turns out we are neighbors- she lives a block away from me!). She started taking classes at the Saskatoon Potters Guild as a way to find time for herself unrelated to work or children (sounds familiar). What I find inspiring is that she took this new-found passion for clay and ran with it. As a busy mother she went on to get her diploma in Ceramics through SIAST in Prince Albert and then her B.F.A. at the University of Saskatchewan. Paula has had two successful applications for CARFAC mentorships (these are not easy to get, so props to her!); one with Alicia Popoff and another with Anita Rocamora.
Creeper © Paula Cooley
From all of these accomplishments I realize my first impressions of her were bang-on. She does not mind hard work, she can't get enough of learning and she loves to experiment. Speaking of experimenting, feast your eyes on the horse hair vase! Yes, I said horse hair!
Horsehair Vase © Paula Cooley
To get this effect Paula heats up an unglazed, bisque-fired white pot to about 1000 degrees C and then quickly removes it from the kiln. At this point she has less than two minutes to drape strands of horse hair onto the pot so it burns to the surface before the pot is too cool. I think the effect is stunning and I hope to own one someday.
I mentioned that Paula struck me as a generous person. This is because I saw her support and engage in the efforts of other students last summer at Kenderdine. Back in town I began following her
Facebook page and I discovered that she shares more work of other ceramic artists on her page than she shares of her own! Definitely generous.
image © Paula Cooley
Paula's art is now her full-time career, but her schedule this spring actually sounds more than full-time. Along with the 330 Design Group, she has a show on right now called
"Incite Insight" at the Affinity Gallery in Saskatoon which runs until April 19. Here is the rest of her schedule for the next couple of months:
Black Strap Studio Arts Tour, Blackstrap, May 25 and 26
Stags © Paula Cooley Pleien © Paula Cooley
I hope that some of you might now be inspired to seek her out at some of these events. The beautiful photography of Paula and her work can be credited to Grant Kernan at AK Photos.
Artist Statement:
"I am a full time ceramic artist, living and working in Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan. I have been a studio potter since 1999, and my artistic
practice includes functional and sculptural work, both of which influence and
inform each other. My domestic ware is uncomplicated
and elegant while my one-of-a-kind sculptural work blends technique and
craftsmanship with more experimental shapes.
I am interested in organic and voluptuous forms with a touch of attitude
and/or whimsy. I strive to make
sculptures that appear ready to grow or move, shaping and animating the space
around them. My work tends towards
abstraction as I want to encourage various and individual interpretations or
readings of my sculptures.
Curiosity fuels my practice.
I am fascinated by the plasticity of clay and the almost endless ways in which
it can be manipulated, decorated and finished.
I work with wheel-throwing, hand-building and numerous firing
techniques, ranging from low temperature barrel firing to high fire atmospheric
firings using salt or wood. In the last
several years I have begun investigating how to incorporate other materials
such as metal, bone and glass into my ceramic sculptures and I am excited by
having even more sculptural possibilities to explore!"
Please follow these links to learn more about Paula and her work. FYI, the photos on her Facebook page are excellent!
