Maxine Chelini

Artist's Statement:

Ceramics is a passion, a challenge a meditation, and a salvation all wrapped up into one process. Dancing and flowing movements are vital to me as a way of expression. I love how clay can show the dance of the making, the gesture of the hand, and the heart of the artist. Along with the pleasure of the form I usually include a function.

I’ve explored many different ways to work with clay, but always come back to porcelain. The strong but delicate “lady of Clay”. I also love the technical side of glaze formulation, challenging my knowledge to solve problems and create new surface treatments. I am inspired by the glazes of 11th Century Asia. I work mostly with variations of Celedon, Tenmoku, oxblood, Shino, and Oribe. To me the quality of glazes can only be achieved by firing a kiln to 2400 degrees, usually a 12 hour process.

I was originally introduce to clay at the College of Arts & Crafts in Oakland, Ca quite by accident. I continued to work underground at University of California, Berkeley, Ca in the early ‘60’s and took classes at College of Marin, San Rafael. Ca. I was lucky to trained in glaze chemistry under the tutelage of Edith Heath of Heath Ceramics, Sausalito, Ca. After time off to raise a family, I took up clay again in New Mexico with John Reeve as his apprentice at Santa Fe Clay. John was an apprentice of Bernard Leach and a well known teacher and artist in the Leach/Hamada tradition. He had much to share. Other ceramic artists that have worked with are David Shaner, John Glick, Jim Robinson, Steven Hill, Kathie Triplett and Felipe Ortega.