Chamber Member of the Month: Ceramic Artist Lauren Jawer
Posted August 9, 2017 at 5:32 am by Peggy Sue McRae
Chamber of Commerce member of the month Lauren Jawer describes her inspiration for Belle Terre Ceramics…
Lauren Jawer – Contributed Photo
Belle Terre Ceramics rose to the surface while I was working as a sales person for Pelindaba Lavender farm in Friday Harbor, Washington. Being surrounded by lavender products of all sorts charged my creativity for the development of a much-needed soap dish to fit their lovely square lavender soap. This effort directed me to make a dish that protected the soap as well as esthetically representing the botanical image. Using a relief technique with clay accomplished raising the soap away from the surface to drain and dry it as well as delighting in seeing the lavender with dimension.
It became apparent that there were many wonderful handcrafted soaps being produced and not an enormous selection of soap dishes to cradle them. So off I ran to make soap dishes of many patterns of raised images. This moved into other dishes such as trays for food or jewelry or tiny dishes like tea caddys.
I currently use a white earthenware which acts as a good canvas for my soft and light colored palate. I chose these colors because I want the pieces to have a sun lit reflected quality that creates good feelings. I like to think of the pieces as functional eye candy.
Living in a place such as Friday Harbor, an island accessible only by ferry, I am away from the strip malls and housing developments. I have found this emersion into my rural surroundings a unique opportunity to slow down and see the pieces that make up my island home which then gets transposed into patterns and images on clay. It has become my circle of life which I am happy to share with you when you visit Belle Terre.
Ceramics can be purchased at Pelindaba Lavender stores, Island Studios on Spring Street and Belle Terre Island Ceramics at 970 Terrace drive. 360/378-9425 [email protected]
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Categories: Around Here, Arts
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