Calaveras County Arts Council • 22 North Main Street• San Andreas • CA • 95247
  • Home
  • About
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Guitars Un-Strung
  • Events
  • Blog
  • Arts In Education
    • Poetry Out Loud
    • ArtSpirit
    • Scholarships >
      • Online Scholarship Application
  • 2022 Artists Studio Tours
  • Artists Studio Tour
    • For participating artists >
      • How to have a successful Artist Studio Tour
      • How to submit photos
  • Call for Entries
  • Artist resources
  • Artists Studio Tours

What's going on at the
​Calaveras County Arts Council?

Marlene Bradford creates ideas in clay

5/4/2020

0 Comments

 

Isolation has given this ceramic artist time to think

Ceramic figure of girl with birds
For ceramic sculptor Marlene Bradford, the nation’s isolation order during the time of Covid-19 has been a time of introspection about her art. “It’s been great having the time,” she said. “I enjoy working by myself. Although I also enjoy having company.”
 
This enforced time-out came just as Marlene started to pull back from perpetual activity. For the last seven years, she’s been a popular teacher of clay sculpture at Quyle Kilns, where she has instructed many in the skill of how to roll, knead, bend and convince clay to take animal and human form. But recently she gave up teaching regular classes, preferring to teach small groups or individuals on request. “I’ll be 87 in June,” she said. “I don’t have the energy I had before, or the patience.” 
Artist Marlene Bradford
When you take a class from Marlene, you tap into a life dedicated to art. She has always been an artist, and she returned to college in her 40s to complete a major in art. Clay is her first love.  “I like the way it feels. I like being able to move it around and change it back and forth and create my ideas using the clay.”
 
Her ideas, brought to life in clay, bring smiles to viewers. She still has a big presence at Quyle Kilns, where ceramic faces and animals peer from the walls, smile mysteriously, and catch your gaze and make you smile. Making the viewer happy is what Marlene intends.
 
She doesn’t strive for strict accuracy in her animal sculptures.  Instead, she tries to express her feelings about them. “I really want to bring joy through it, and have people enjoy looking at my pieces.”
Ceramic Big Mouth Bass
Ceramic Totem
“The reason I say that is because there are many pieces of art that are not about joy. They are expressions of sadness and illness. That isn’t what I want to think about and express. I enjoy trying to reproduce the shape and idea of different animals. And again, I want them to look peaceful. With them I want to express some kind of good thoughts.”
 
Her portraits of people reflect not just a physical likeness but also the emotional personality of the subject. She honed her accuracy with acts of generosity. “I started having people I know pose for me so I could practice. I said if you like it I’ll give it to you. That’s how I got my technique worked out.” Her commissioned portraits of two doctors—Dr. Milton Ben Smith and Dr. Dante Albasio—greet people at Mark Twain Medical Center.
Bronze bust
Ceramic Bust
​Now sheltering at home, she spends time in her studio in Murphys working on a series of pieces intended for totems, large pieces of art that comprise animals, figures, and objects.
 
Isolation has given her a chance to delve more deeply into her work. “It’s a chance to concentrate on your own ideas and think about what you’re doing. Often we want to discuss things with other artists or teachers. This is a good time to really look inside of ourselves and try things and see if they’re going to work. And figure out how to do something, or what we want to do. What you want people to think about it.”
Keep working during this time. “If you start something, it will be on your mind. You’ll be thinking about it and then you’ll want to get back to it.”
She welcomes the chance to pull out her own ideas and not be influenced by another person. Isolation has made her more thoughtful, sometimes changing her creative plans overnight as she’s slept on an idea. Isolation has made her work more deeply personal.
 
And so the work goes on, although she admits that she hasn’t been working everyday. “There are other things to think about. The garden. Friends to talk to.” But she encourages others to work creatively during this time. “If you start something, it will be on your mind. You’ll be thinking about it and then you’ll want to get back to it.”
Picture
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Become a member of the Arts Community in Calaveras County
      Get news about the arts in Calaveras County and the Mother Lode directly in your inbox. We never send spam, and we guard your personal information like a jealous pit bull with a bowlful of steak.
    Join our arts community
    Picture
     Join the CCAC!
    You can still join the CCAC in 2020! Your membership helps the arts grow in Calaveras County. 
    Become a member

    Calaveras County Arts Council

    Our goal is to support, nourish, and awaken the arts in our community.

    We rely on people like you to help support the arts in Calaveras County. Click on the Donate button below to help us in our mission to make Calaveras a healthy arts community!​

    Donate

    Archives

    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    October 2021
    August 2021
    March 2021
    December 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    March 2019
    November 2018
    September 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017

    Categories

    All
    Calaveras County Artists

    RSS Feed

The mission of the Calaveras County Arts Council is to build a united community by awakening, supporting, and nourishing the arts. 


Gallery Hours

Monday - Thursday: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Friday and Saturday by appointment only
Email goldrusharts18@gmail.com for an appointment or call 209/754-1774 (message)
Logo Calaveras County Arts Council
Contact the Arts Council

Address/Telephone/Email

PO Box 250​
​22 North Main St.,
San Andreas, CA  95249
209.754.1774
goldrusharts18@gmail.com
The Calaveras County Arts Council is a private non-profit 501(c)(3) public benefit corporation.  Founded in 1981, our purpose is to coordinate excellence in the presenting and promotion of the visual and performing arts of all cultures for artists, residents and visitors.  Our staff is comprised of an executive director, a consultant grant writer, and a part-time assistant under the direction of an 11-member volunteer Board of Directors.  FIN 94-2779793
© Calaveras County Arts Council - 2021 | Designed and maintained by Margaret Sloan Creative Services​
  • Home
  • About
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Guitars Un-Strung
  • Events
  • Blog
  • Arts In Education
    • Poetry Out Loud
    • ArtSpirit
    • Scholarships >
      • Online Scholarship Application
  • 2022 Artists Studio Tours
  • Artists Studio Tour
    • For participating artists >
      • How to have a successful Artist Studio Tour
      • How to submit photos
  • Call for Entries
  • Artist resources
  • Artists Studio Tours