N.S. artist transforms cloud formations into clay art

Judy Gordon's exhibition "Clayful Impressions" is inspired by cloud formations and summer fruits. (Source: Judy Gordon)

Judy Gordon was travelling in Newfoundland last spring, looking for inspiration. The Nova Scotia-based artist was booked for a solo exhibition in Halifax in August and she needed a subject or idea to transform into something eye-catching and striking for patrons.

One day she was driving through the Codroy Valley when she saw the clouds on top of the Table Mountains. It seemed as if the puffs in the sky were embracing the massive rock formations, joining into one natural work of art.

“I thought it was gorgeous, I thought it was really fantastic,” Gordon said. “How can I translate that into clay?”

Gordon’s pottery skills will be on full display at the Art 1274 Hollis Gallery for the next month. Her exhibition, titled “Clayful Impressions,” will feature her interpretations of clouds and fruit through the medium of clay.

“I’ve made platters that are shaped into clouds and vessels that have wide shoulders that remind me of clouds,” Gordon said. “It doesn’t have to be a direct translation but it can. I’m looking at all types of things.

“I’m exploring the fruits of summer. I make apples and pears and I enjoy that challenge.”

Judy Gordon's "Clayful Impressions" is on display until Sept. 3, 2024. (Source: Judy Gordon)

Gordon, the former president of the Nova Scotia Potters Guild, didn’t touch clay until she was more than 40 years old in the late 1990s. She says it was love at first contact.

“The touch of the clay was enough to do it,” she said. “Once you start working with it, it draws you in. There’s so many possibilities. There’s literally nothing you can’t make with clay.

“It opened a whole new world for me.”

Despite her adoration for clay work, she admits it can cause no end of stress and frustration at all stages of the creative process.

“You can lose the piece at any moment,” she said. “Every single step is a possibility for a disaster. They call it the heartbreak craft. You can get so far and it can crack in the firing. There are so many different ways to mess up.”

Lately Gordon has used the Raku style, which she says involves doing something to a clay piece while it’s still hot, such as spraying it with an iron solution or putting it in a bucket of combustibles.

“You have to be really careful,” she said.

Gordon’s clay interpretations of clouds and fruit will be on display at the Hollis Gallery until Sept. 3. There will be an opening gala at 3 p.m. on Aug. 10.

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