Welcome to earthword studios
earthword studios is me - d.l. clay - Deb Clay.
I am a writer and artist, a life long learner, questioner and observer of life.
The "earth" of earthword studios comes from both my last name and the fact that clay was the first creative medium I worked with after years of not making art . Handbuilding with clay taught me a new language of expression, called my attention to form, shape, texture, pattern and dimension. The process took me from words to visual language and back full circle to enhance my expression and my writing.
Words were my first foundation of expression, what I used (applied to paper) to make sense of the world while growing up. I found that combining words in certain ways created poetry and story just as I later learned to combine shape and color to create a visual story.
The word "studios" contains all my thoughts, ideas and various ways of expressing, exploring and inventing. The "plural" of studios has to do with the fact I used bits and pieces of rooms in a crowded household. My studios were a desk in one room, a kiln and workbench in the garage and the always popular and useful kitchen table. Since we moved to Vancouver Island I now have proper studio and office spaces though sometimes I still end up working at the kitchen table. Of course some rooms exist in my head. All are places of exploration and invention.
A short tour:
The journals page leads to galleries of handmade journals with painted canvas covers of many designs sewn with colored irish linen thread. Some are decorated with images derived from photographs I have taken.
The images page shows some of my photography and some of the altered images derived from the photos. My main subject matter recently has been the local landscape of Vancouver Island.
The curio page is about adornment and decoration. Here you will find small objects of handformed and fired clay, silver, copper and found objects.
For information about upcoming workshops, links and other news visit the news page.
For more about the meaning and energy behind earthword studios visit the artist info page.
Contacting me is simple - just fill out the form on the contact page.
I will reply within a couple of days (or hours).
