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(Sara) Art gave me a release,
because I was so nervous as a child.
I think it gave me a release where I could do things
that I was actually good at.
I usually start with going out to the rhubarb patch
and looking at my leaves.
I grew up with rhubarb leaves, we played with rhubarb leaves,
we did stuff with rhubarb leaves when we were growing up.
I need to find two similar leaves, of course, no two are alike.
And I look for a leaf that kind of spikes my creative interest.
I need a leaf also that will lay somewhat flat,
'cause if it's too much wavy
then you can't get it laid down into the clay.
The first time I got an inkling to use clay is,
I bartered with a friend, she made the cement leaves,
which I'm sure most people are familiar with out of rhubarb.
And I looked at them, I thought, it's so heavy and clumsy,
it's beautiful, beautiful, but I don't want it to be so heavy.
I thought... I can do clay!
And I have to do some trimming on the veins
because if the veins are too thick,
they will press all the way through your clay,
and then you don't have a leaf;
you have bits and pieces of mess! [laughs]
One leaf is pressed in, I flip it over, and I
actually devein the second leaf of the big veins, press it in,
and then I lay it into whatever form I decide
I'm going to be using with that particular leaf.
I always liked dirt and growing things, you know,
and I think the clay lets me express that passion.
I learned a lot in the production pottery,
learning more discipline actually there, you know,
in college they emphasize the creative more,
and when I worked at the production pottery,
I learned more discipline.
Just kind of ease it down into the bowl, it kinda,
somewhat decides on its own which way it wants to flip,
somewhat I decide it needs to go one way or another.
I don't want any real deep creases.
I allow them to dry; I pick some of the leaf out,
what doesn't come out burns out in the kiln.
Then I get to decide what colors
these leaves are going to kiss.
They don't have to be green; they can be
red, they can be blue, they can be combinations.
So I pick the colors that I want to go on the leaf, and I glaze,
and I usually use the pouring method just to let it
flow in with the leaf so it has
kind of a growing, flowing feel to it.
I don't know, a lot of it's trial and error.
You know, you try something, it didn't work,
well what did work? You know.
Some glazes work better with other glazes that you know--
'cause I do a lot of glaze overlay and you get
wonderful things, and sometimes they're not wonderful,
but you learn then from it.
Sometimes there's some glazes that work better underneath,
some work better on top,
some don't work together at all! [laughs]
I realized I could melt glass and this would make it look
like water running down into my leaf
and it just-- one thing added to another
and I went from flat leaves to more rounded leaves.
I can throw on the wheel,
and I can do other, other hand-built things, but my--
when I can use something
that has grown with the clay
and create something with it, it just,
that's when I feel the passion.
When I put the pieces into the kiln,
I teeter pieces of broken glass
where I feel like water would flow.
If you get too high with the glass, it starts dissipating
and makes kind of a weird charred look in your pot.
If you get the right temperature,
it has this wonderful flow.
Then it gets fired again and it's like Christmas
every time I open the final firing,
'cause you never know for sure if
it's going to work exactly how you planned.
It usually doesn't, but usually it's wonderful.
It's therapy, you know,
it's, you have the self-gratification
that you've made something beautiful.
There's something for me about digging in dirt,
playing in the clay,
that just makes me feel good,
and that's kind of a therapy for me too.
I really enjoy seeing it done, but one of the joys
is seeing how other people react to 'em.
You know, they see these leaves and they go,
"Wow! Is that real water?"
That's one of the first reactions.
They want to touch, they're scared to touch the glass
but they want to and I say, "Oh go ahead and touch it."
Then, "That's not water!" They expect it to be water
in the bottom of these leaves it's glass
then just watching their reactions
to the different colors and shapes.
The passion evolves into the next thing,
and who knows what I'll,
will be next, you know,
it just, it keeps evolving,
you know, and it's kind of a journey,
and it speaks a little bit of my story I guess.