Inspiration
Kay Franz
Artists take inspiration from varied sources, it is part of who we become as our work matures. Intially in our early stages of working, that inspiration may result in "copying". Copying is a form of flattery if the source is acknowledged and it is also a good way to learn the craft in what we create. As we mature and find our own voice, inspiration is absorbed and stored away in our memory banks. While working on a piece, we may have insights and instincts that are informed by that inspiration. That stored information may have lost it's direct connection and we are no longer able to identify what inspired our latest creation because it is integrated in who we are as artists. It became the base of soup mix of our work.
My art has been informed by my love of nature, Japanese and Korean ceramics, Native American and Pre-Columbian ceramics and so many artists in so many fields I could not begin to name them all.
While putting the finishing touches on this little bowl, I had flashed on the work of Richard Devore. I loved the quiet, elegance of his simple forms. The embodied for me the Japanese esthetic of wabi-sabi, a feeling I try to create in my own work. I in no way compare my work to his exquisite forms but I knew when as I finished this piece his work had somehow informed the way I was approaching this bowl.
You can find some info on Richard Devore by clicking here.