If you check the Gallery of this my web page you can see that the first part of the Gallery is dedicated to my ceramic pieces. Not all the ceramics I have created are part of the Gallery but at least you can notice my style. I have been working with ceramic for 24 years and since last year I was considering retiring from the production of them. Well, the time has come and I already announce in the social media that I will no longer be selling ceramics. Also, I will not be making any new ceramic piece the way I used to using raw oxides to decor them. I may still be making some for the store in Old San Juan that has been selling them for 21 years but in a very reduced way. Below you can see a display on the store...believe me, they have a lot more because they carry all my ceramic line.
That said, I am very excited to start a new era in ceramic as well as my creative art business. Before I announce my new projects I want to share a bit about my love story with ceramic that started when in college. At that time of my life it was just a simple interest of making something useful and easy using liquid clay and a mold. Nothing about creating or building ceramics and never crossed my mind that at some point in my life and after finishing my master's degree, I was going to be selling my ceramics to stores. When my then sister in law showed me a few planters she made at a ceramic store in her home town (the college was in the same town), I was very attracted to the possibility of making my own planters but also with the idea of creating an actual object that once it is fired it is transformed in something useful, like a planter. This was the first thing about clay that caught my interest. As an engineering student I was introduced to the concept of materials and its behavior and this thing about molding, drying and firing was very intriguing to me. Twelve years after graduating from college I made my first ceramic tile using red clay and a design that was not mine. I draw a funny chef right from a kitchen towel. I remember that day as if it was yesterday. I also remember the day I fell in love with the ceramic art. It was in a store located at the Old San Juan in Puerto Rico. The pieces were tiles made with red clay. I think this the reason that my first steps in ceramic were using red clay and almost all my work for 24 years was created using slabs of clay.
Now, I am really excited learning new ways of creating ceramics and doing it at my own pace just for the fun of it without the pressure of the selling. And, no, sadly it is not because I won the lottery. I am working on projects with less effort from my hands and my strength. Time flies and I don't want or maybe I can't work long hours producing ceramic. Those of you that have done ceramic production knows exactly what I am talking about. Another very important thing about me, and I think it is not the first time that I mention it, is that I get bored making the same thing over and over again and I need variety. That is why I also work with collage painting, fabric design, digital art, fabric projects and now embroidery.
The good news about ceramic is that I will be sharing my knowledge and experience in a YouTube Channel starting in two weeks from today. I am fixing some things to get it done. I'll be sharing how to make many of the pieces I have been creating for 24 years and of course I will be creating new ones. My goal is to share a piece twice a month and also introduce some other projects that are not ceramic, like those cute crafts using my art on fabric.... because this is me. I love to work in different mediums and create products around my art no matter which medium it was created first. I have been getting to know me better and accept and enjoy me the way I am. For example, I have learned that what I enjoy most is drawing my favorite things, the things that we see in our every day life. Reason why I used the clay as a surface to draw. I am learning and practicing drawing and using my drawings for different purposes. I will be sharing more about this on future posts. Life is easy and also hard, it is short and also long. We have the urgency to enjoy it as much as we can for as long as we can. I love the quote "Always do what makes your heart flutter". This is the foundation of a really fulfilling and abundant life. I didn't grow up thinking that way...It is time.....
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