Artist’s Statement

When I was a kid I loved playing in the mud! I think that that was my initial attraction to pottery. I took a few wheel throwing classes when I was in my early 20s but I was a failure! As hard as I tried, I couldn't center the clay. I made many wobbly pots and then gave up. About 10 years ago I tried it again. Without much effort, the clay magically centered on my wheel! My life is much more centered now and I think the clay responds to that. It's a very spiritual experience for me.

Clay is my passion. After I got the hang of wheel thrown pots, I branched out into hand built vessels. I love building larger coil type pinched vessels as well as slab built pieces. I often don't have a plan for the piece I'm about to make. I let the clay show me what it wants to do. Sometimes the results astound me! I've done a lot of experimenting with different clay bodies and have grown to love porcelain and paperclay. I've also tried various glaze techniques including Raku, wood firing as well as spray glazing.

I discovered a method to make jewelry from precious metal clay. It's a fascinating process where I am working in what resembles clay, but is in fact silver. The clay itself is a lot more difficult to work with. I make each piece by hand and each piece is unique. After the clay dries, I finish it and then fire it to 1650 degrees in a small kiln. The non-silver material burns away and what's left is a piece of jewelry that's composed of 99.9% fine silver. Fine silver is different from sterling which is 92.5% silver. Fine silver is more delicate and doesn't tarnish. I love using it in earrings as it can feel almost weightless.

My journey to where I am today wasn't the typical one. It was long and winding. I worked taking pictures of kids on Santa's lap, as a rape crisis counselor and then as an attorney and a law professor. I'm the founder and owner of SpaZend and the Onondaga School of Therapeutic Massage, with my husband.

— Liz Goldenberg