Karin Noyes is a “2008 Art in the Round Contest” participant.
Polymer clay vessels by Karin Noyes (copyright Karin Noyes)
Artist’s Statement: My bowls are made from polymer clay, a man-made, colored acrylic modeling material. I began using the clay in 1994 and was immediately drawn to using the glass technique of millifiori to create the designs and images that are used in my work. Slices of millifiori cane are combined to form my bowls. The clay is then fired at 300 degrees F to cure the clay.
To produce my images I build, with different colored clays, a two-dimensional image that is about 2″ in depth. I usually start in the center, slowly building towards the outside until a complete circle or rectangle is formed. My more detailed images are as big as 6″x4″ and take approximately 20 hours to complete. At this point, I turn the image on its side and begin to press the sides together. This pressure begins to push the clay lengthwise and eventually a long “cane” or tube of clay results with the image running the length of it, the image being on the cross section. From changing the shape of the clay in this way, I end up with a 15″ long cane of the now 1″x1.5″ image. The cane is now ready to slice and use.
Each cane I produce is limited in length and therefore in the number of slices it contains. Though I can reproduce a design, seldom is the color or pattern a replica of the original. Therefore, most of my bowls are unique or are limited editions. Sometimes I feel that the patterns come together and the bowls build themselves. I feel that the colors I create and the intricate detail I put into my cane designs make my work unique.
My work is greatly influenced by nature and the rural landscape. I live in a beautiful part of Connicticut and spend as much time outdoors as possible. Gardens and woodland flowers influence many of the color combinations I use. I find plant structure and landscape patterns also influence my work, as well as the changing seasons. I am very much a part of the environment and only regret that I work with an unnatural material.
My studio has evolved from a basement corner of a prep-school dormitory apartment, to a spare bedroom, to an outbuilding with an extension cord to provide lights and heat, to a small converted barn with a view of the hillside/mountain that I climb before breakfast each morning with my dog, Elsa.
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