Artist- Elaine Ray :: Studio- Elaine Ray

Elaine has transformed her love for the earth into these small pieces of art. As earth-tone glazes, rich in organic hues, enhance and highlight the individual clay forms her most important message is to celebrate the fact that these beads and pendants are made of clay - tiny bits of the land we walk and live on. She always leave a bit of clay showing to remind us of the small pieces of earth that we are holding and wearing.

Elaine writes about her beads:

The beads and pendants are hand formed and then glazed while still in the greenware stage (commonly referred to as "raw glazing"). They are once fired to ~ 2200 degrees Fahrenheit. I use commercial glazes, some applied right from the jar, some mixed together then applied to the clay and some with different glazes layered onto the clay pieces. Glazes are applied by both brushing and dipping.

Many of the tools I use are commercially available, but the most important ones tend to be homemade. As unartistic as it may seem, I enjoy the "production" part of my business almost as much as making the beads and pendants. I enjoy challenging myself to make the beads in a timely manner, constructing equipment to use in each step of the process and working to minimize the steps needed for each product. (Steps of the process and steps of my feet around the studio.)

Many of my pieces have been referred to as "challenging" to work with for the designers, but they report enjoying this challenge and are always looking for new and unusual shapes.
 

Website: www.elaineray.com

Blog: http://elaineray.blogspot.com

Raleigh, NC

919-210-7271 :: elaineraybeads@gmail.com

Silverhawk Maintained Website