THE ART ON MY BOWLS

Nearly 18 years ago I had the pleasure of having a Dutch master realist painter, Braldt Bralds take a pottery class with me. We had so much fun together that he asked to rent a small space from my large studio and loft in which to paint.

Upon being offered my first one-person show in 1997, he offered to paint his trompe l’oeil work inside one of my porcelain-smoked bowls. He worked for nearly 48 hours straight.

I delivered this magnificent bowl – complete with imaginary cracks – to my show. Four minutes prior to the opening it sold! We have continued our collaborations ever since. He is a world master, having painted over 20 covers for Der Spiegel Magazine in Germany, Time, Newsweek, Rolling Stone covers, book covers, stamps for the United Nations and illustrations for Celestial Seasonings Tea.

I have also done collaborations with the noted painter, Alexandra Eldridge in Santa Fe. Presently, I have commenced working with Gigi Mills, also of Santa Fe and New Orleans. What’s fun about Gigi is that she lyrically applies her imagery with glazes directly onto the moist porcelain I’ve completed on the wheel. I am creating enormous scaled platters, some even with curves, for our collaborations.

–Heidi