CIDER CREEK COLLECTIVE
The prospect of spending time working at Cider Creek Collective was profoundly inspiring. I looked forward to the artistic exchange and opportunities for collaboration in a vibrant creative community, with old friends and new. The possibility of making sculpture for the anagama kilns is an honor; it's an amazing opportunity to explore materials and methods not otherwise available to me.
The Cider Creek residency gave me access to an environment completely different from my home and studio in post-industrial east Oakland. The art of place has an important role in my work. Since 2006, an ongoing series of landscape figures, including work in Montana, Arizona, Wyoming, Oregon and both southern and northern California, have been created in direct response to the landscape around me.
During my work period at Cider Creek, I expected to explore and experiment within the framework of sculpture and wheel-based work, which is part of the education I received in the 70’s and have always maintained in my practice. I looked forward to responding to the beauty of the new setting, the excitement of new possibilities, and the deep pleasure of engaging in creative community.
Many thanks to the guiding lights of Cider Creek: artists Jess Thompson, Nick Schwartz and their children Archer & Phoenix, and residents Mike Francoeur, and Austyn Taylor,.
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