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 At age twenty one, after living a sheltered life in my home in Lima, Peru, I
had the notion to go to Europe to study jewelry design. My parents supported
me in what seemed a promising and exciting career in the art field in Rome,
Italy.
I stayed in Rome for a year learning to solder silver to silver but that was
not what I wanted to learn. Disgusted, I traveled to Africa where I had some
very interesting experiences but none enhanced my knowledge of jewelry
design. I later returned to Peru defeated, and none the wiser in the art field.
I married an American and moved to the US in 1971. I am now an American
citizen and proud of it! I have two incredibly wonderful, smart and loving
children (Cynthia and Rob Lowry), and I am now happily married to my second
husband, Charles. We live in a lovely wooded setting in Raleigh, North
Carolina, where I have my studio.
I started making pottery, without formal training, about 20 years ago and
then left it for 15 years because I felt I had expressed everything I wanted to
say in clay. I devoted some time to pen and ink drawings and making cards and
prints of a graphic design nature. Six years ago I was introduced to
Raku by Julie Olson, the most accomplished potter in my area, and I have been
involved with it ever since. I combine the coil, pinching and the stone and
wooden slab methods to build my pots; I use the wheel only occasionally.
My designs are inspired by symbols, pottery and jewelry of the past. I make
some of the cabochons I build into my pots and I also like to incorporate
textiles and add small individually fired pieces to my work.
Besides the enjoyment I get from creating designs in pottery, the main
purpose of my work is to communicate some of my feelings and thought processes.
I like to use the symbols for life, the elements, eternity, alchemy and other
arcane concepts because they are fascinating ideas that I want to express by
sculpting them in clay.
I sell my pieces when I have so many I cannot comfortably get around my
workshop. Otherwise, I like to keep and study them for other ideas or
improvements on the design. Working with clay is a most rewarding and
meditative process. I am grateful for the opportunity to work at a home
studio in most pleasant and quiet surroundings with people and creations I love.
Angela Smith
angelita@nc.rr.com
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