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Artist Of The Month - September 2009
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Shannon Miranda
Location:
Vancouver, WA
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What do you love about Art Clay?
I love that Art Clay allows me to create in a more genuine, organic manner, and I love the tactile feel and workability of the clay. I also appreciate the fine finishing I can achieve with Art Clay. I work with other media too, but love the flexibility and looks I can achieve with the clay. |
What are your favorite Art Clay projects/creations?
My favorites change all the time. It seems whatever I’m working with currently becomes my favorite. It’s often hard for me to put my latest creations out to galleries for sale. However, I recently taught my seven-year-old son how to work with the clay, and I particularly treasure the pieces he comes up with. Those I will never sell. |
What other media do you work and/or teach in?
I also work in other metals, particularly 18K yellow and white gold, and platinum, and I carve wax for casting. Much of my custom, high-end work is done in wax and cast in gold or platinum and I set precious, unusual gemstones into the metal. I also paint with acrylic and mixed media, write some poetry, and I am a dance and Pilates instructor. |
Biography:
I grew up in the Rio Grande valley of New Mexico, amidst the confluence of three different cultures. My subjects come from a deep well of images from my past, as well as ideas collected from my travels around the globe. There are things that haunt me: Milagros pinned on saints; the loopy curves of Gaudi’s architecture in Barcelona; the archway of an adobe door. The weathering of wood, and faces, from sun. Bells on Buddhist temples. Dancing, anywhere.
I hope for my work to reconnect each of us with our rich and varied histories, so that we better understand and appreciate the intricate web that ties us one to another. I firmly believe that only by understanding our own human truth can we begin to see the real beauty in the world.
I hold a Master of Arts in Psychology and Bachelor of Arts degrees in both Psychology and English, from New Mexico State University. I now live in the lovely, green Pacific Northwest, in Vancouver, Washington, USA, with my husband and son. I am self-taught as an artist. |
Philosophy:
Each of us has a story: a quirky blending of brightness and shadow, comedy and tragedy. These stories, and the interplay of opposite elements, inspires my work. I create each piece hoping to capture the imperfect yet transcendent characteristic of being human. I hope for my pieces to resonate with the spirit of life, becoming totems to the wearer… becoming part of who they are and integrating into their own personal story. I like nothing perfectly precise: the work is organic, hand-formed, ancient-looking. The beauty is in the imperfection. |
Awards / Recognition:
I have a Masters of Arts in Cognitive Psychology from New Mexico State University, 1993, and Bachelor of Arts in English, and in Psychology, New Mexico State University, 1990. I also hold four patents. In addition, one of my Art Clay Pieces won an award in the NW Women’s Show in 2003. |
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