Video (3min 40sec): Tammy Garcia Creates. The two-thousand-year-old tradition of southwestern ceramics has been infused with a new energy and enthusiasm that has surprised and excited collectors and artists alike. Thoughtful and demure on the outside, Tammy Garcia contains an inner fire to create pottery that crackles with a spirited vivacity original to the art form.
Anyone who sees one of Tammy's works is struck by her ability to stretch the boundaries of the clay to contain her vision. A potter's art is generally limited by the size and shape of the vessel he or she designs. In Tammy's case, it is as if the clay itself attempts to expand to better convey her dramatic design work. Part of that sense stems from the amazing proportions of Tammy's pots. She thrills at self-imposed challenge, and this often leads her to create pottery of almost unheard-of size. The other part, however, comes from a true symbiosis between Tammy and her medium. Pottery has been an outlet of creative personal expression for two millennia; Tammy was brought up in a family steeped in the tradition, and is both respectful of, and thankful to, the powers that allow her to share her exquisite talents. In exchange, it seems she has been rewarded with clay and ash that yearn to hold the voluptuous shapes she molds and display her intensely animated designs.
