Laura Peery
"The past is with me every day. As a child, I spent time with my grandmother in her dress shop. Today I revisit those memories while I make my textured porcelain teapots."
Laura Peery draws inspiration from the dress shop her grandmother once owned in New Orleans. As a young girl, she spent hours in the alterations department, fascinated by the scraps of fabric, colorful threads and tailoring tools. When working in clay, she often returns to feelings of wonder – composing teapots resembling fabrics of multiple textures, prints and colors.
Peery works with ultra-fine clay, which shows textures extremely well. She rolls fabrics such as canvas and lace onto the clay surface, then cuts, shapes and assembles each piece as if from a dressmaker’s pattern. Color, applied in all stages of the forming process, accentuates the textures. As a finishing touch, the artist makes roses from polymer clay, adding color contrast and an additional bit of delicate whimsy.
100 Teapots, Baltimore, MD, Baltimore Clayworks, 2013
