I think in pictures

I always have. What I see, what I remember, and what I imagine spark ideas, and those ideas grow ideas of their own. A color becomes a shape, a shape suggests a story, and soon I’m imagining all the ways I could bring it to life. That’s how my mind works. Art gives me a way to take what’s happening inside and make something you can see, hold, and connect with.

Then. 

That’s me in my high school graduation picture, ready to study art. I wanted to teach it, to help people see what I saw and discover what they could make.

In between.

The curls stayed. The glasses arrived. I built a career on the production side of visual communication, putting my technical side to work. Outside of work, I painted, took photographs, and loved being a wife and a mother. I never stopped finding something new to learn.

Now.

The curls are short and silver, and I finally have the time to be a full-time artist. These days, I put my ideas into clay. My Jewish heritage inspires my work, and I give myself room to explore where that inspiration takes me. I call it Jewish folk art, the way I understand it.

Artistic license, on purpose. 

I'm a potter making Jewish folk art, the way I understand it. Artistic license is the flame that ignites my interpretation. I gather inspiration from many Jewish sources, then make something by hand, rooted in tradition.

 The clay gets a say. 

Making with my hands takes patience, faith in myself, and a partnership with the clay. Sometimes a piece surprises me, and that's good too. A little humility helps, and so does knowing when to start over. That's the journey. The Prophets section of the Jewish Bible has a scene like it: Jeremiah visits a potter at his wheel (Jeremiah 18:3-4). When a vessel spoils in the potter's hands, the potter makes it into another vessel, as he sees fit. In the book, the potter stands for God and the clay for the House of Israel. As for me, the potter, I take ownership of my actions and choose to see life through a positive lens.

Words and pieces. 

I write these musings and I make these pieces, and one feeds the other. Which comes first? It depends. Sometimes a feeling needs words. Sometimes an image needs to be held. The writer Leo Tolstoy saw art as a way to share with others the feelings we’ve lived through. That idea inspires my musings. The artist Marcel Duchamp said "the creative act is not performed by the artist alone." The viewer adds to it. That idea creates my pieces. Turn one over and you'll find my maker's mark: my initials, NS. When there's room, I sometimes add an outline of Utah, the state I live in now, with a small hamsa inside it, palm facing down. Then it comes to your home and becomes uniquely yours.

If one of my pieces has found its way to your table, your shelf or your wall: thank you for letting my pictures, and the stories they carry, live in your home. Some of my pieces have already found their forever homes. Come meet them in my Past Creations gallery. Maybe you’ll find a little inspiration for your own home.