Linda Jerome
(Hillsboro, OR)

Beloved, Cone 6 stoneware, 15.5" x 5" x 7"
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The figures I make have a life of their own. They begin in my heart and mind as vague feelings, which grow into specific ideas in the process of their making. Their posture usually comes to me first, and shows itself in the initial clay forms I pull, twist, add onto in clumps and dabs, stretch- to watch it sag, I stretch it again, prop up, and wait. As they start to set, and dry, I do more poking and pulling, and start to think of the head- the face, the expression, does what they’re thinking show up in the eyebrows, in the set of the mouth. How can the position of the arms and legs restate that, and add more depth to this character. And they always seem to have a lot going on, on top of their head. I’m still not completely clear what that’s about. Often, other bits of whimsy and otherworldliness show up. I’m not sure why. But it gives me so much satisfaction and joy, I can’t resist to ask these questions- to state these signifiers flowing out of them.