MICHELLE MATTHEWS |
What clay body do you use?
Primary forming method?
Primary firing temperature?
Favorite surface treatment? "That is a hard one to answer. I use surface treatment I need to for the desired results." | Ephemeral Columns is a site specific installation that reflects the strong angular lines and light found in the interior of the new Glassell School of Art. Shown in Out of Clay, a Sculpture Month Houston Exhibition at Orton Gallery, Glassell School of Art. |
Favorite Tools?
Describe your studio environment.
| Studio Shot Experimenting with color at La Meridiana residency in Italy. |
How/Where do you market and sell your artwork?
| ![]() Local Column was created with regional clay acknowledging the craftsmanship of the locally manufactured bricks which were used to build Monk’s Church and the wood cravings found in the church's interior. 12' x 2', Clay Connection, MÖNCHSKIRCHE MUSEUM, Salzwedel, Germany |
What sparks your creativity? What drives you to work with clay?
Did you come to ceramics from a different career? Tell us about your journey to a ceramics career.
|
![]()
| Sculpted, Lawndale Art Center. Site-specific installation, raw ceramic material, size varies, shown, work in progress. |
How have you have taken your experience as a well-established maker in the field and passed that knowledge along to other artists?
"I don’t think of myself as a well-established maker… there is so much to learn. But as an artist, a person, I like to make things work well. Many people know of me as the Communication Chair of ClayHouston, which I did for over 10 years. After ClayHouston hosted NCECA, I felt the clay community needed to keep the moment going forward so stepped up as President of ClayHouston. We added a symposium, a regional show, and partnered with the Museum of Fine Arts Houston - all in effort to expand our exposure to the Houston and national clay communities as well as the general public. |
Last wood fire at Jeff Forster's place |
What’s the best advice you’ve been given by a fellow maker, mentor, or teacher?
|
Website URL and other social media platforms:
Website: www.michellematthewsceramics.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michellematthewssculptures/ Bio: Michelle Matthews (born 1959, Passaic, NJ) graduated with a BA from Wheaton College in 1981, and has studied at the MFAH Glassell School of Art BLOCK program and residencies in Germany and Italy. Her recent exhibitions include Sculpted at Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX (2018); Clay Connection at Mönchskirche Gallery in Salzwedel, Germany (2018); and Out of Clay at Glassell School of Art, Houston, TX for Sculpture Month Houston (2018). She has co-curated and published a catalogue for Collective Transference: Houston Area Clay at Stephen F. Austin State University, Cole Gallery, Nacogdoches, TX and Houston Community College Central Campus, Houston, TX (2017 and 2018) and is co-curating Without Borders at Mönchskirche Gallery in Salzwedel, Germany (2019).
|