Annette Weaver | Ceramic
I first found my hands, arms and clothes covered with clay in 1965 while taking an art class at Southwest High in Kansas City, Missouri. Clay always made me late for my next class period and continues to make me late to this day. I would rather be potting than doing anything else.
My life has also been defined by gardening, in some circles I am known as the “Queen of Compost”. I have lectured extensively on how compost enriches the life of the soil and our lives too. The children who walk by my home know my front yard as the “Secret Garden”. So it is inevitable that my pottery would involve flowers, fruits, vegetables, leaves - all things from the natural world.
Over the years I have dabbled in oils, acrylics, watercolors, colored pencil, colored inks, wood- carving, knitting, crocheting, needlepoint, count-ed cross stitch and crewel embroidery but clay has been my most enduring free time occupation. In 2000 after 20 years of hard work I sold my Interior Plant Service to do clay work full time.
My husband Jim built my studio in 2002 to house my old small kiln and my new large kiln. The clay work is done on my back patio and is a bit arduous in the cold or the heat but well worth the effort to me. I work in the mid-range firing temperatures utilizing cream white clay with a smooth porcelain texture. I love to do ceramic pieces that are wall mounted as well as mosaics and other sculptural pieces. I also value functional ware bowls, dishes, etc. Incorporating texture as much in my functional ware as in my more decorative pieces is one of my great delights. I hope that textured pieces, whether functional or decorative, would tempt the viewer not only visually but physically to touch and investigate the pottery.