Daily Inspiration: Meet Cristine Boyd

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cristine Boyd.

Cristine Boyd’s parents lived and raised four children in a highly creative atmosphere in the rural area  west of Denver Colorado. Her mother was a painter, seamstress and a wonderful craftswoman. Her  father was an engineer and made all sorts of stuff from high end scientific equipment to yoyo’s and  skateboards and later in life ceramic pots. She grew up learning to combine the family traits; art and  engineering. She made a living as a puppeteer and teaching art classes to children until she got married  and started a family at 31. She went back to college at the age of 32 and obtained a BFA with an  emphasis in clay from Metropolitan State College of Denver. She worked as a full time potter and  mother from her home studio for ten years, teaching classes and workshops. She sold her work at art  fairs, shows, galleries and direct from her studio. 

Her career was exciting and gaining momentum. Due to a serious accident in 1999 she lost her relied  upon ability to throw, so she got to work developing the hand building methods she uses to this day.  She makes full use of plaster molds, a tile press, the extruder, and a slab roller to create non-round  plates, bowls and other useful and decorative objects. In 2016, she relocated her residence and studio to Pueblo, Colorado and has a beautiful studio downtown. She spends most of her time exploring ways of  evolving and changing her forms, color palettes, imagery and designs. Additionally, she teaches  workshops and private lessons. 

 Statement:

Creativity is my pocket pal. I carry it with me as I burrow into my everyday life. It is the way I see,  think, and arrange my environment. Creating tableware, functional-sculptural, or dysfunctional  sculptural objects for the home, such as lamps and bobbleheads, allows my art to integrate into the  important and mundane aspects of everyday life. For many years my color pallet was black and white;  it was clean and satisfying. The discovery of how to produce saturated, bright color on high fire  porcelain encouraged color to make an unexpected and gratifying appearance in my work. Using  images that were seeded in childhood, I’m constantly experimenting with color combinations, pattern  and shape, thus my understanding is becoming deeper, more complex and exciting. Magpies, crows,  snakes, insects and foliage, are the basis of the imagery in my work.

The fluttering of leaves, ripples on water, and the cacophony of rush hour traffic are part of what  inspire me to create pattern and rhythm that enhance and compliment the image. Sgraffiato, painting,  mono printing, paper resist, wax resist and slip trailing decorate the surface. Materials such as metal  tape measure, sticks, dental floss, synthetic make up brushes and hot glue are the basis of the arsenal of  tools that I make to precisely meet my needs. The ability and fortune for me to create is one of the most valuable assets of my life that I will cherish as long as I am able. Clay work has satiated my desire and  longing to make beautiful useful things as well as my urge to engineer.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My first major challenge was the 1999 accident. I had to rebuild everything. My next major challenge was being priced out of Denver and moving to Pueblo Colorado in 2016.

What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
First life lesson learned and will be applicable till I die: Be kind. Vocation/Art lesson: When I was seventeen, thinking I was so profound, I came up with the saying “perfection can be obtained but is perfection perfect? I am not he first or only person to explore that line of thinking. What I have learned from that is perfection is a growth inhibitor. I turn my “mistakes”, an unintended mark in my carving, splattered or misplaced slip, into design elements. Allowing me to create subtle focal points adding detail to my work. I no longer confuse perfection with craftsmanship. Craftsmanship to me means well-made sturdy, smooth, no sharp edges.

Contact Info:

• Email: boyd@allclay.com
• Website: www.allclay.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allclay/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AllClayCristineBoyd/

Image Credits:
Karen Foglesong
Bruce Burkhart
Jeffery Morre
Cristine Boyd