Her favorite creations
Peggy Dickinson shows ceramic works in Ferndale
Longtime ceramic artist Peggy Dickinson is the featured artist this month at the Ferndale Arts Gallery, 580 Main St.
Dickinson has been working with clay and glazes for more than 50 years. Collectors of her work are familiar with the blue-on-white pattern of her soup bowls and tureens, and the earthy browns, golds and greens of her cups and kitchen pieces. Still, she never stops inventing new color combinations and playing with new shapes. On display this month at the Ferndale Arts Gallery are Dickinson’s “Favorites … Pots I’ve Lived With.”
Even after so many years, it is form that interests this artist the most. She gets ideas from everywhere. For example, the “Spirit Rattles” on display this month in Ferndale were inspired by the shape of regalia pouches in the Clarke Historical Museum in Eureka. In these works, Dickinson has made use of shells she collected in Fiji and feathers from beaches.
“I love to take a freshly thrown pot and play with the possibilities of the final form,” Dickinson said. “I pinch, groove, twist and facet to see what happens. I often get ideas from what happens, so I tend to keep experimenting, sometimes pushing the clay to the point of collapse.
“Clay is the ultimate recyclable material,” she said. “If you don’t like a form you’ve thrown or it collapses, you can throw it in the scrap bucket, wedge the clay and start again. The process is endless.”
Like many of the artists of the Ferndale Arts Gallery, Dickinson is generous with her works, often donating to causes such as Humboldt County Library auctions and other fundraisers. The Ferndale Arts Gallery is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The gallery is an artists’ cooperative, so there is always one of the 20 or so artists on duty to assist and speak with the public. COVID-19 precautions are in place. For more information, call 707-7869634 or go to FerndaleArtGallery.com.
“Clay is the ultimate recyclable material. If you don’t like a form you’ve thrown or it collapses, you can throw it in the scrap bucket, wedge the clay and start again. The process is endless.” — Peggy Dickinson, featured artist this month at the Ferndale Arts Gallery