“Exploring the Versatility of Hand built clay”

The vessel is an inviting form. A face elicits a natural human response, perhaps haunting and possibly memorable. Gently expressive, serene, stern, smirking – the personality of the face involves the relationship between Page Candler and her memories.

Candler tries to achieve interactions and attitudes through considerate use of curves and angles within the body of the vessel. The relationship she has with clay is a sensual one, as she develops the personality of the piece, stroking the bridge of the nose, coaxing expression from the lips, engrossing herself in the size, position and direction of the eyes and wondering hot to add texture to the surface.

A single vessel, while suitable as an independent piece, Candler always thinks they should be viewed as a component of a larger changing story. Groups of vases lend themselves to new and different arrangements, suggesting changed circumstances within the interactions of daily life, with always a companionable face somewhere in the mix.

“My work is primarily figurative. I like story and detail.”

Page Candler obtained her Bachelor in Fine Art from Virginia Commonwealth University in the 1970’s and has been a clay artist ever since. Candler’s whimsical clay creations can be found here, at Mullaly’s 128 Studio & Gallery in Elk Rapids.