Elaine Biery

Artist's Statement:

I was raised on a farm in Iowa where I was surrounded by animals, woods, creeks and cornfields.  I have had a passion for drawing since the moment I was born.  As early as kindergarten, my teacher praised my drawings and my creative use of color.  Drawing became my favorite pastime in history class!  My love of nature and the outdoors has inspired my work.  Images of flowers, turtles, quail, fish, lizards, birds and horses decorate my work.  I am interested in the ancient rock art drawings that provide a window to the past.  These images found on towering cliffs and canyon walls make me ponder the meaning and spirituality of these galleries.  My pots and bowls are one with the tradition and spirit of the great Southwest.

I throw and handbuild both functional and decorative pieces fired in the mid range temperature.  My latest creations are a series of “Bosque Bowls” one of which won Best of Show in the 2003 Celebration of Clay held in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Bosque is the Spanish word for forest or woods.  These bowls were inspired by the 2003 bosque fire along the Rio Grande where hundreds of acres of old cottonwood trees were destroyed by the fire.  Where once groves of lush, graceful cottonwoods thrived, now lays only the charred remains.  The images of these magnificent trees will live on in my “Bosque Bowls”.