Bonnie Belt

I think I fell in love with clay while still in grade school after seeing a film showing a potter throwing pots on the potter's wheel.  I was not able to learn how to use the potter's wheel then because my small school had no ceramics department, but I did take the first class I could while attending the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. The school did not offer an art degree in 1970, however, it did have a wonderful ceramics studio nestled in the trees on the hillside above the campus.  I took all the art and ceramics classes offered and obtained a degree in Social Science with a minor in Art.  I gained experience and improved my work by taking community college classes and studied Chinese Brush Painting for three years under a master brush painter.

I began to seriously pursue my ceramic career after moving from the Mojave Desert to Northern California in 1992 and found my inspiration in the coastal redwood forests.  I began to interpret Nature in clay by sculpting the cypress trees seen on the ocean cliffs.  I am inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement from the early 20th century, which had the ideals of creating harmony with Nature and creating a sense of peace away from jobs and factories, and I think this goal is even more relevant today due to our immersion in technology.  I also incorporate the curvilinear shapes and romanticism of the Art Nouveau movement and see this influence in my bird and tree sculptures, along with my carved "wave" pieces influenced by the Japanese woodcuts of Hokusai.

I sculpt each piece individually from white stoneware clay, often attaching my trees and birds to a vessel made on the potter's wheel.  I like combining the symmetry of the vessel form with the flowing movement of my sculptures.  I hope the viewer can feel the tranquility and harmony of the subject, but also experience the tenacity of the natural world.  I use detail to define my subjects, and while realistic they are fanciful.