Meet Artfully Iris
My Story
I don’t have a traditional art background, but creativity has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. As a child, I was constantly making things with art supplies and found object and exploring creative ideas. Like many people, that changed as I grew older. Life took over, and I eventually built a career in information technology . Yes I spend most of my days working with the analytical, left side of my brain.
Years later, as the demands of work and everyday life grew more stressful, I felt a strong need for a creative outlet. About twenty years ago, as an adult I decided to reconnect with art. I began taking classes, worshops exploring a wide range of mediums including painting, jewelry making, textiles, glass blowing, assemblage, and mixed media.
Then I discovered ceramics.
From the moment I first worked with clay, it felt natural and deeply engaging...almost like rediscovering something I had been missing. It was love at first touch. Eight years later, ceramics remains my primary artistic focus, and I haven’t looked back.
Returning to creativity has been one of the most rewarding journeys of my life. Through sculpture, I’ve rediscovered the joy of making and the endless possibilities that come from shaping an idea into form.
Style
My work explores themes of meta - the idea that something can reference itself - along with personal narrative, surrealism, and humor.
The objects I sculpt range from pears, shoes, to figurative to vessels and surreal forms. While the subjects may vary, they share a common thread of curiosity, humor, and quiet contemplation. The work often balances simplicity with surprise; familiar shapes that reveal something unexpected.
Through this approach, my sculptures invite viewers to explore the relationship between perception and meaning.
Process
It begins with a single flicker of inspiration.
A quote, a song, a life event, a passing thought, or a memory.
That moment stays with me.
From it, an image begins to form, but not as a direct translation. I don’t seek to recreate what I’ve seen or felt. Instead, I reinterpret it. I abstract it. I reduce it to a suggestion.
What emerges is not a full revelation, but something partial…intentional.
A form that holds meaning, yet withholds just enough.
Because part of the experience remains mine.