Rosalia Lotspeich
I’ve had a long-life relationship with clay; it all started in elementary school in western New York and has continued throughout my education and the past 15 years as an art educator. I was trained in ceramics under artists Robert Wood and design under Stephan Saracino at Buffalo State College.
I have worked in many mediums but my favorite, well you guessed it!....... Ceramics! It’s Ceramics.
There is something that draws me back to creating beauty within the mud. I love the mobility of clay and how you can turn it into anything real or abstract. When you’re working on a piece there is an exchange that goes from artist to art that I find so powerful that is stronger than any other medium I’ve worked in because you become connected with your art on this whole other level.
Then there is the fire, let’s talk about that element of surprise as you fire a piece. The scientific chemical reaction that happens when the glaze changes to the color you had not imagined and it becomes better than you imagined. I love Pit fires and free form organic shapes that I sculpt, the juxtaposed with the soot, dark, and murky smoke patterns of pit fire with smooth or textured surfaces. There is a duality of dark and light, frailty and strength and it is powerful. Then there is Raku, the beauty of Raku with its luminous colors that whip throughout an artwork. Absolutely Breathtaking.
Clay is the most mobile of mediums and is in my opinion one of the ones I feel most connected to because you feel every inch of the piece as it becomes an extension of you as you sculpt and complete your art. I am very excited to share my love of clay with you here at the BAC.