Patricia Anderson Maker Mondays August 2023

Patricia Anderson

Patricia has been a member of SCAA since 2013. Her work has graced countless exhibits here over the years, including a Member's Invitational in 2014. We often see her works in clay, but as you will see, she has created with many different media including quilting, sculpture, painting, printmaking, and even calligraphy. Patty is a dedicated member of our Pottery Studio and is often found here making her intriguing creations. Read on for what guarantees to be a fascinating interview.

Where are you from, and what do you make?

Early on I wanted to make things with my hands. Visibly it started in 4th grade when I joined both ceramics and wood shop classes. I'm still enjoying the slippery physicality and 3-D potential of shaping forms out of clay, having now carried that torch way into retirement.

Along the way, as a student I ran a high school arts club, majored in art history and printmaking in college, received 2 graduate art degrees in painting and printmaking, and had a calligraphy/graphic arts business while raising our children, before computers could do all that. At the same time, thanks to a friend, I rediscovered clay and pottery-making which has been part of me ever since. I enjoy making, exhibiting, and selling both pottery and ceramic sculpture, and have collected a few prizes as well.

I was one of a large 5-person show entitled "Seductive Matter, Sensual Form" at Washington DC's Corcoran Gallery of American Art, have had several solo exhibits of my abstract sculptures, one also in Washington, DC, another, in New Bern NC, and one in Groton CT at the Lighthouse Gallery.

Alongside my artwork, I have enjoyed many years of teaching art to high school and community college students (art history, design, ceramics, sculpture).

What inspires you to create?

Why do I do it? The physicality of ceramics, a need for hand-eye coordination, and a lifetime of inspiration, practice and joy. The daily world becomes irrelevant while I am lost in the doing.
Anything arresting that I see or intersect with can inspire me: nature, color, architecture, dance, others' creations and comments.

Which artist outside of your chosen medium has had the most impact on your art? What do they do and in what way do they influence you?
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My college printmaking professor, Leonard Baskin was a dedicated artist who infused his work with meaning, opening what was going on in his soul. Such honesty, I respected that. I am also awed by the creations of the contemporary American sculptor, Martin Puryear, whose love of materials shines through his classic, iconic, clean and huge works.

Is there a work of art that has changed your life or how you view the world in some way?

I am intrigued and inspired by the fluidity of architect Frank Gehry's buildings. He has an architectural vision that almost shockingly celebrates movement. What is he saying about our world? It's somewhat scary. Artworks by others constantly fill and change my life. I want that stimulation and inspiration, always!

As a member of SCAA, what do you like most about us?
I choose to make my 3-dimensional work, ceramic pottery and sculpture, here at SCAA because of the encouraging atmosphere. I like the community of independent makers, staff, and students. I have found many wonderful friends here who constantly help each other, technically and personally: sharing, teaching, laughing and sometimes crying. ​

Our beautiful and well-run SCAA Gallery is also a great encouragement. I enjoy showing my pieces, moving my vision out. One probably wouldn't make art alone on a desert island. Art connects us, it's communication.

Tell us a joke: 2 Ys U R, 2 Ys U B; I C U R, 2 Ys 4 me.