Steve Forbes-deSoule

Artist Statement

After becoming a corporate drop out 34 years ago, I was trying to “find myself” and just happened to take a pottery class at Georgia State University. My love affair with clay blossomed and five years later, I received my Masters of Visual Arts degree. After graduation, I decided to become a working ceramic artist and the rest is history.

Philosophically, I am using ceramic art as a means to achieve a balance between conscious control and the more subtle, unconscious or universal forces that permeate our reality. Creating forms on the wheel successfully requires a high degree of control. As the pieces move toward completion, however, this control over them becomes less conscious and more spontaneous. The raku firing is the ultimate test of an intimate embrace between conscious action and the strong, yet subtle forces of the fire and smoke.

Change and growth are important aspects of the direction of my work. I believe that it should be fun to make pots, and that playfulness is a key to releasing creative potential. Exploring new forms and refining old ones, along with a “what if I try this” attitude in dealing with the glazes and surfaces, keeps my work moving and changing, and consequently, evolving.