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Awakening Garden, 15.5” x 16.5” x 1”, clay and glaze

All day Rob (my work and life partner) and I make ceramic tile and mosaics for my clients and with every new commission we find ourselves problem solving to work through the unique challenges of each project. This daily immersion of creating within the criteria of a commission turns out to be a fertile environment for new ideas and ways of pushing out of these confines. We’ve found that the very nature of the limits can motivate us to explore our own ideas, techniques and push our creativity further than we may have without this catalyst. 

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So we often find ourselves kicking around ideas. Some are a flash in the pan, others have more substance and keep resurfacing until we make them. There are lots of “what if we tried….” and “sometime I want to make a piece that….”  “wouldn’t this be great if ….”  “I have this idea, what do you think of…..?”

The Awakening Garden grew from several ideas that kept resurfacing.

We wanted to explore making a collage in clay - a collaged composition of layered fantastical forms each having a different style and texture. Some forms would be carved, some would be very simple and/ or flat like a line drawing, some having relief, some highly detailed. This would be a mosaic of sorts but more easily recognized as a ceramic wall piece.

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creating our sketch

Conceptually the intention was to create a world of individuals who are unique but who are having the collective experience of waking up. The plants and rocks are different characters in the scene who are awakening to themselves, awakening after a long winter or period of dormancy, awakening to a new world. 

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the piece in the (mostly) wet clay phase of the process

Another idea that we had thrown around for years was to use elaborate textures and forms in a palette of whites. Each piece is a different white, or ivory and some with a glossy finish while others are satin, matte or eggshell. The effect is just as we had hoped with texture, line and form dominating. If the piece had been in color, the colors would have immediately distracted the eye.

We love color, but for this one piece we wanted to keep our palette quiet and toned down. Of course we couldn’t resist tiny pops of color showing the magic coming forth with the awakening. (rainbow detail)

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Over a 3 month period, we had worked out the entire piece in conversation before we were able to take even our first step. This isn’t typically how we work, for example our previous collaboration Spirit Owl (see my previous post), was created organically bit by bit and each step informed the next. But with the Awakening Garden, there just wasn’t time to physically begin so we satisfied our formidable creative drive by talking about it and building the vision until we were able to actually make the piece. As it turns out, both ways of working are viable and incredibly enjoyable.

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Here it is hanging in its home. A friend from college bought the very first piece of art I sold for $40. in 1987. This same friend bought Awakening Garden for $3,600.

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Awakening Garden: a collaboration of Ruth Frances Greenberg and Rob Streff
15.5” x 16.5” x 1”

All images and artwork are the property of Ruth Frances Greenberg and Rob Streff
and may not be used without permission.