Ceramic artist, Erica Lynn Hood, treats nature as an important part of both her work and life in general. So it makes perfect sense that her creations (that include mugs, and plates, and anything in between) showcase her love of nature.
“My surface design is inspired by animals, wallpaper, nature, and ink wash paintings,” she shared in an interview with Boston Voyager. “I loosely sketch out all of my ideas first and then refine the illustrations based on the form that they are going to be transferred onto. Each illustration is painted with black underglaze on top of a piece of tissue paper. The illustrations are then transferred onto the clay surface. I use watered down black underglaze to add shading and other details onto the piece before it is fired. Once the surface is decorated, it gets fired in the kiln, glazed, and fired one more time.”
“I am really interested in illustrating a variety of animals,” she added. “I like animals that have a lot of personalities, but I also enjoy using my work as a platform to start conversations about threatened and endangered species. Right now, I am obsessed with Condors and Vultures, but I have a soft spot for any birds of prey. Nature is such an important part of my life and my artwork, so I have been slowly building up a body of work that illustrates all the amazing animals that I love.”
Having graduated from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2014 with a BFA in ceramics, she has since made and sold functional ceramics (which are really one of a kind works of art) online and in person at markets and open studios. We recommend you visit her Etsy shop and check out her Instagram page for more.
