The Sunday morning guest speaker at the 2012 Texas Federation of Fiber Artists – Fiberwerkes is San Antonio-based, Diana Kersey. The title of her presentation is Creativity: Finding Fulfillment.
Read more about Diana at her website: Kersey Ceramics.com. You can also email her at: diana @ kersey cermanics.com
Diana will share a presentation that explores the topic of creativity. Specifically, she believes and will present information that reveals that everyone has the capacity to be creative and that specific skills can be developed to increase creativity in one’s art practice and daily life.
Diana Kersey is a visual artist who works in clay, creating both studio pottery and architectural ceramics. She earned a MFA in ceramics from Washington State University in 1997, and a BFA in drawing from Texas Tech University in 1994. She has served as an instructor at the Southwest School of Art, San Antonio College, and Palo Alto College and has lived and maintained a studio in San Antonio, TX since 1998.
Included with this article are images of Diana’s work demonstrating a raw, textural quality, with the clay encompassed in a translucent, earthy glaze. Birds, insects, fish, and flowers present in her work suggest a primordial narrative, while the underlying decorative grids and motifs capture the relentless energy, complexity, and contradictions that pulse through our contemporary society.
Her Process? Before Diana begins to create a vessel she first visualizes the form and surface design. “During this process I am paying careful attention to the diameter of the rim versus the height and shape of the form, balancing the proportions until they become harmonious.” Part of her process includes the application of sprigs to the pot by loading small plaster molds with soft clay and firmly pressing the molds against the side of the pot. I make my sprig molds in advance and currently have over 75 different designs in use.
Her Inspiration? “Ideas for sprigs come from hikes in nature, books, historical design references, birds that frequent my yard, and sometimes suggestions from friends and collectors. Design work continues on the vessel until the design becomes unified. This is my favorite and intellectually most challenging part of the process because it involves constantly making decisions and reevaluating the decisions after each element of design is added. It is through this process that creativity and inventiveness are rewarded. “