ABBIE EDMONSON |
What clay body do you use?
Primary forming method?
Primary firing temperature?
Favorite surface treatment? "Primarily smooth, clean and minimal. However, recently I’ve been experimenting with mason stain washes to create a more gestural and abstract “painterly” surface". |
Favorite Tools?
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Describe your studio environment.
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How/Where do you market & sell your artwork? "Most of my marketing for my work comes from Instagram, making personal connections, word of mouth and markets/shows. I sell my work through various places including brick and mortar stores in Houston and Atlanta, online retailers, galleries, markets, at my personal studio and my online shop. I’ve learned that it takes numerous spaces and connections to be able to do this full time. To see the full list of where you can find my work, you can visit https://boxsparrowstudio.com/contact/". |
What sparks your creativity? What drives you to work with clay?
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How have you have taken your experience as a well-established maker in the field and passed that knowledge along to other artists?
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What’s the best advice you’ve been given by a fellow maker, mentor, or teacher?
"A mentor in college once told me in so many words to “Make excellent work and don’t ever sell anything that you’re not proud of.” I was working as his apprentice and I’ll never forget one day as we were unloading a kiln and he noticed the tiniest of cracks on the foot of one of his bowls. He handed it to me and said, “Here, take it, I can’t sell this.” I was blown away by the integrity of his work ethic and the high standard that he held his pieces too. It’s a simple idea to make excellent work, but at times really hard to execute. When we get in busy seasons of creating, sometimes we push out work that isn’t our best quality. I try to remember that when clients are buying my work from retailers or galleries that it could be the first and maybe only encounter they’ll have with my work and myself as an artist. Whether they buy the piece or not, I want to make sure that they’ve taken notice of the craftsmanship, the aesthetics and that they can appreciate the hard work that has been poured into each piece. I want it to feel set apart and memorable". |
Website URL and other social media platforms:
artist statement: Originally from Georgia, I graduated from
Valdosta State University in 2009 with BFA in studio art. Shortly after
graduation, I moved back to Atlanta and worked as an Artist in Residence at
Mudfire Studio and stayed there until I moved to Houston about seven years ago
to work with a non-profit called The Art Project, Houston. The Art Project,
Houston is a therapeutic art and self empowerment program for men and women who
currently lived on the streets in downtown. I loved my time there as I was able
to see art making transform lives like I had never experienced before. It
pushed me to be open with sharing my own creativity and process at the art
table and with others. After my time ended at the Art Project I was yearning
for a space of my own to create. |