by ~Cilophyte

Every sculptor has reasons for why they sculpt. Personally, I want my work to take viewers by the shoulders and shake some sense into them. Blow their hair back. Backhand them. Make my audience take a look at what's around them and realize that there's more to life than our "first world problems".

It's kind of hard to do that with something immobile. I'm still learning. We all are. No one ever stops, and if someone's acting like they know it all, take'em down a peg.

Of course we all have to start somewhere.
I had my first chance encounter with clay about 2 years ago, and (luckily!) a lot's happened since then. At the time, I was an art history major deadset on becoming a museum curator. I had an internship with the Indianapolis Museum of Art under the belt, was working with a world renowned professor of ancient art from Columbia and learning French, German, and Chinese. Then, ceramics came and rocked my world. I found working in clay therapeutic and didn't mind sculpting for hours on end. I was OBSESSED. After graduation, I couldn't decide whether to pursue a 9 - 5 office job or take a shot at making a career out of what I love. Then, I found a community center in the neighborhood and started taking classes there. Not for the instruction, since they only taught throwing there, but for the studio space and materials. Now I'm working at Appraisal Associates International by day and slowly creating a grad school portfolio by night. One stone at a time.

Please guys. Share your stories. A line or two about yourself, so we all can get to know the artist behind the art. We sculptors are but a few in the sea of painters, photographers, and manga-artists on deviantART, and sadly enough, in the real world. This isn't LinkedIn or anything, but who's to say we can't make an active community out of it?

As members of the New-Sculptors-Guild, each time you submit a work, you give ideas and inspiration to everyone who sees them. Stop being so tight-lipped and mysterious. Let's make this a place to share our thoughts too.