Erika W. Posey
Current home and studio in Simi Valley, Ventura County, California
Contact: ErikaPoseyCeramics@gmail.com
Artist statement
My entire perspective changes when I work with clay. Daily routines are full of creative sparks. The profile of a car, a fence’s rhythm, the colors in a billboard, a stranger’s gesture or hairstyle, catch my attention. I wonder how it might play into a new clay project. Components of other artists’ work in clay and other mediums present new ideas. Most of all, nature offers me infinite inspirations…a leaf, a tree’s bark, a stone, the sway of tall grass, the water’s color. My creativity blends these little sparks with technical processes resulting in pieces I hope you find beautiful and functional.
Artist Bio
Clay became my passion in high school and I continued ceramics classes in my early college years. Since then I have had a clay studio in my home but only occasionally found time to muddy my hands. I appreciated ceramics as an observer and collector until I finally found time for ceramic classes again and the inspiration to work with clay full-time. Please follow Erika Posey Ceramics on Facebook and Instagram.
I was born in Washington, DC, raised in Bethesda, Maryland, and lived in College Park, Silver Spring, and Highland, Maryland. In 2018 my spouse, our two rescued dogs, and I moved to Simi Valley, California to be closer to our only daughter, her partner, and their three rescued dogs.
ceramic studies
Carving and Burnishing Clay Workshop, Jeff Margolin,beatrice woods center for the arts - fall 2019
Hand building, judy Winard hirsty, Studios Channel Islands, CamaRillo, California - 2019
Surfaces workshop, beth tate, beatrice woods center for the arts - spring 2019
Ceramic Artist Studio, Inc, Newhall, California- 2018-2019
Columbia Art Center, Columbia, Maryland – 2017-2018
Montgomery College, Rockville, Maryland – 1978- 1981
Walt Whitman High School, Bethesda, Maryland – 1976 -1978
Memberships
Ventura County Potters’ Guild, Juried Member, Gallery member
NCECA (National Council on Education for the Ceramics Arts)
ICAN (International Ceramic Artist Network)
ACC (American Craft Council)
group shows
small treasures, VCPG juried show, Beatrice Woods Center for the Arts, ojai, California (November-December 2019)
student/faculty show, Columbia Art Center Galleries, Columbia, Maryland (September 2019)
Ventura County Potters’ guild pottery faire, ojai, california (June 2019)
Annual Ceramics Sale, Ceramics Artist Studio, Inc., Santa Clarita, California (November 2018)
Gift Shop at Columbia Art Center, Columbia, Maryland (2017-2019)
Student/Faculty Exhibition, Columbia Art Center, Columbia, Maryland (May-June 2018)
Singular Sensations, Columbia Art Center, Columbia Maryland (Dec 2017)
Columbia Art Center booth, Columbia Festival of the Arts, Columbia, Maryland (June 2017)
Awards
2019 Third Place, Juror award three-dimensional art
Columbia Art Center Galleries, Student/faculty show
Juror: Karen Isailovic, ceo,root studios
2018 Artist on the Rise, Juror Award Three-Dimensional Art
Columbia Art Center Student/Faculty Show, Columbia, Maryland
Jurors: Brenda Kidera and Ed Kidera, Kidera Fine Art
Artist story
Fate or fluke? I discovered clay in 1976 while attending High School in Bethesda, Maryland and found my creative passion. My ceramics teacher earned her Masters of Fine Arts in Ceramics from Antioch College’s Columbia, Maryland location. She was a very good potter and teacher. She taught me how to work with clay, but more importantly many technical aspects of the craft – how to formulate glazes and clay, how to pug clay, how to make my own tools, how to fire an electric kiln. She was inspiring and encouraging. I spent as much time as I could spare in the studio.
High school graduation approached and as much as I wanted to pursue ceramic art in college, practicality steered me to a liberal arts curriculum. Mom and Dad encouraged me to continue clay as a hobby and gave me a Brent electric potter’s wheel as a graduation present. My first two years in college included a ceramics class each semester plus as many art electives as requirements allowed, but a part time job and homework took over, so clay took a back seat, then went on hold entirely, so I could focus on graduating. And I did.
For forty plus years, my childhood sweetheart, lifelong love, and unrelenting fan has willingly accompanied me to many craft shows to explore other artists’ work. I especially enjoyed the potters and Alan, the woodworkers. After a few years, our visits to the annual ACC Craft Fair in Baltimore became a standing date. Alas, we both started demanding careers and dreamed of owning our own home. In a few years the dream became a reality and we purchased a real fixer upper. But in no time at all Alan began converting our garage into a studio for me. He built plaster wedging table, assembled shelves, installed a kiln, all a clay girl could ever want. I dabbled in the studio now and then even did a firing or two with mixed results. Improving the house and yard and a corporate career seemed higher priorities than my passion.
In 1992, the work on our starter home was finished, so it was a good time to move to a larger home and think about children. And we did. Alan built me another studio in our new house – even better than the first - which I enjoyed on and off. Emily arrived and filled our lives with joy and activities. Children grow up, and 24 years later this one moved to across the country with the love of her life. And I was still promising Alan I would make good use of my studio someday.
And I did. Fortunately, retirement came early in March 2017, and I started a clay class at CAC (Columbia Art Center in Columbia, Maryland) that April. Here is the fate or fluke twist – after a few weeks of class I learned the art center facility was previously Antioch College’s ceramics program facility - the same one from which my high school ceramics teacher earned her Master’s in ceramics.
CAC was far more than I expected. The facility includes everything a potter could wish for - lots of electric wheels, large tables, lots of gadgets and tools, plenty of shelf space, gas kilns, 18 glazes in a large, separate glaze room. It also includes a gift shop and gallery space. But what was most amazing to me is the quality of the instruction, the quality of the artists, and the comradery among everyone. The experienced artists and beginners alike are interested in learning from the instructors and each other. Another artist and I found our aesthetics and skills complimented each other, and we enjoyed working side by side. My primary instructor was amazing, successfully managing teaching high school, community college, and art center classes in addition to her production pottery business. Her generous instruction went way beyond the scheduled class and continued into open studio time. One of the major benefits of CAC is the abundance of open studio time that encourages practice of lessons and personal experimentation. CAC provided me a supportive environment in which to express inquisitiveness and creativity, and explore new approaches.
At CAC I re-learned the basics of centering, learned new techniques, and approaches. I practiced adding texture and animation to my work, altering forms, combining hand building and wheel work, and decorating and glazing techniques. Most importantly by stepping out of my bubble and engaging with talented artists, excellent instructors, dedicated administrators, I discovered the arts and craft community I needed to inspire and nurture my passion. Just as I was feeling a part of the community, another big life change happened. We moved to California to be closer to our only daughter, Emily, her love, and their dogs.
Our first order of business was to find a home with room for Alan’s wood shop and my clay studio. We found the perfect house with good shop/studio potential and moved in. The second priority was to find a clay class nearby. And I did. Ceramics Artists Studio, Inc. (CASI) in Santa Clarita, California is nicely equipped commercial studio with equally dedicated staff and artists. I am enjoying finding my way and inspiration in the CASI community. And once again, Alan is rushing to help me convert part of a horse barn into a studio. Concrete now replaces the feed stall dirt floors, electrical service and lighting is in, and the sewer hookup and plumbing should be completed soon. Throughout the remodeling I am finding ways to create in make-shift workspace in the barn…and loving it!
