Mary Harding: Bead Artist

Mary Harding works mostly with earthenware and low-fire clay. She likes the way the clay expresses itself even after multiple firings. There is always that element of the unexpected. Mary's work expresses the subtle undercurrents and eddies stirred by her lifelong interest in contemporary masters such as John Cage, Freda Kahlo, and Marguerite Duras.

Mary's recent work involves gathering the timeless and enduring plants of the pastures of Northern New York and channeling these plants to create ceramic pendants, marks a fresh and imaginatively interpreted fusion of styles and material embodied in her colorful renderings of these resilient beauties.


Purple and Green Wild Leaf Ceramic Pendant
This earthenware ceramic pendant measures 1 1/4 inch in diameter. It is mason-stained and hand-painted. It has been fired multiple times at my studio in a digitally-controlled ceramic kiln. Mary designs and individually creates all of her ceramic pendants, and each one is a unique work of art.

Careful attention to the nuances of her work reveals the cross-current created by her fascination with folk artists, and her search to find and celebrate their work in both Northern New York and Mexico.

Each pendant marks its own creative journey as each work is individually hand-painted by the artist, fired, inspected, and then creatively finished to bring out the fusion of contemporary and folk art drawn from the qualities of the clay, the form of the pressed plant, and the glaze that brings the impression to life.

Mary uses dichroic glass in almost all of her fused glass work. This glass gives each piece a unique sparkle and a wide range of colors. This is one of her lovely dichroic glass pendants:

Fused Glass Pendant
This fused glass pendant in shades of blue and aqua looks like an underwater scene and is complete with some lovely tiny bubbles. Pendant measures 1 3/4 inches in length and 3/4 inches wide. It comes with a cold fused Sterling Silver Plate bail that is large enough for most chains and cords. Can be worn solo or as part of your beaded creation.
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Related Entries:

Bead Museum - 22 January 2006

South Africa Bead Show - 25 October 2006

Charity Bead Gifts - 29 November 2006

Bead Conference in Istanbul, Turkey - 17 May 2007

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[Source: The Jewelry Weblog]