Judith Richey

Artist's Statement:

I began my journey in clay in 1972 at the De Young Museum Art School in San Francisco. My work developed with a definite influence from an Eastern Esthetic, as my first teacher, David Fugiama, instilled in me a careful attention to form, balance, special finishing details, glaze application, and firing.

Several years ago, I enrolled in a porcelain class being taught at the University of New Mexico by Kathryn Cyman, that had a special relationship with Manji Inoue Sensei, National Living Treasure in Porcelain, from Arita, Japan. The Arita method of Porcelain is a process of working with porcelain that is unlike anything I had ever attempted with clay. Special tools are used, the wheel turns clockwise, and trimming is an art in and of itself. . . . It is a difficult thing to change the way you work with clay after 28 years; in my case it was an incredible challenge. When I look at the pieces that I have made, I am humbled by the process, and excited by the results.

I still continue to work in stoneware as well as porcelain, and fire in a gas kiln in both oxidation and reduction environments.  My work is wheel thrown and hand built, and I enjoy carving designs into the clay.  I make all of my own glazes and often use brushwork decoration with gozu, a Japanese colorant, or with metallic oxides. An avid gardener, I recently created a line of garden beads, sculptural pieces comprised of individual elements stacked together in interesting arrangements.  They are wonderful complements to any garden environment.