May’s featured artist at the Potters Place is Ramona Gregory. Potters Place will be introducing a new pottery line by this very talented potter.
As a potter and painter, Ramona has long admired forms in nature, which has translated into her work in various ways.
Her most recent pottery line, Flora & Fauna, uses scientific illustrations to delve into the world of biology and anatomy, with images of everything from sea creatures, to insects, to a biological heart. Flora & Fauna began years ago when Ramona stumbled upon the beautiful illustrations of Ernst Haeckel and knew she had to incorporate them into her work. Haeckel was a German biologist, naturalist, philosopher, physician, professor, and artist who discovered, described and named thousands of new species, mapped a genealogical tree relating all life forms, and coined many terms in biology.
After some experimenting, Ramona devised a way to add the images to her wheel-thrown stoneware pieces using a printer and decal transfer process. Each piece is thrown using a white stoneware clay, fired and glazed to cone 6. Vessel interiors are a variegated blue like the depths and layers of the sea, which contrast beautifully with the pale white and sea-foam green exteriors.
Ramona’s functional work calls on us to contemplate the intersection of science and art while we sip coffee from an octopus mug. Her pieces inspire the user to marvel at the beauty, mystery, symmetry and strangeness of the natural world.
Come see Ramona Gregory’s “Flora and Fauna” – a beautiful show of nature inspired handcrafted pottery.
The Potters Place is located at the Potters Courtyard, 180 5th Street.