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Liz
Sparks
Liz
Sparks is a potter living in the mountains of North Carolina.
Since finishing her B.A. at Earlham College in 1995, she continued
her devotion to functional pottery at Penland School of Crafts
in North Carolina, Haystack Craft School in Maine, and in Seagrove,
North Carolina. She spent three years as a resident at the Energy
Xchange. Since then she has been making pots, and has returned
to Earlham to serve on the faculty for a sabbatical replacement
in ceramics. She also teaches at The Odyssey Center in Asheville,
is a member of the The Southern Highlands Craft Guild, and participates
in annual regional craft shows.
Of her work, she says, "The routine of pottery making is
grounding to me. It gives me the opportunity to be present and
aware through all the steps of the making process. I am just
as inspired by a bowl with a beautifully curved inside as I
am by a form or idea that is new to me. I enjoy decorating,
and my natural environment influences this.
A huge compliment to me as a potter is seeing my work in use,
or as part of someone’s daily ritual. Still, my reason
for making pottery is also self-indulgent. I make pots because
I love to do it. I mix my own clay and use local red clay because
I am fulfilled by my connection to the place, the material,
and the life force within it. Sometimes after I’ve laid
the clay out to dry in wooden racks, I will discover a sprout
or two growing in it. This excites me because it is a reminder
that the clay is alive! It is validation to me that pots matter,
that pottery is worth making, and that life is good and worth
living." |
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