Finding Resonance in the studio
Improvisation guides the process of creation
“I ultimately found my creative voice in the clay studio.”
With clay, I can explore form and surface. It’s a generous medium.
Physical strength can be handy in the studio.
“It’s a really important thing as an artist to have … discipline, whether you feel like going to the studio or not. It’s like athletes you know, the more that you do it the more that you want to do it.”
Day at the studio
Ceramics is a process-oriented art form.
There are many steps and phases an artwork goes through from beginning to end. Much of the work isn’t glamorous. There is the wedging and preparing the clay, recycling the clay, hollowing the form etc. etc. Always many tasks to accomplish!
I work on several pieces at once and move back and forth between them. Clay takes time to set up, to hold its shape. It’s easy to overwork a sculpture which may cause it to slump or fall. By moving back and forth between pieces, I can allow works to stiffen up and hopefully retain some of the fresh mark making as the sculptures progress.
Deep looking is also an essential part of my process. I sometimes just take a cup of tea into the studio and look. I’ll rotate the artworks and return to my chair and look some more.
Q: What is the most indispensable thing in your studio?
A: The clay itself.
Q: What is your most important tool?
A: My most important tools are my hands.
Q: Favorite tool?
A: This small wooden stick with a diagonal edge on one end. I use it for everything, even though I probably have hundreds of tools.
Finished Works
I could probably keep working on them indefinitely.
I only stop if there is a deadline. And there is being finished with the sculpting and being finished with the surface, which are two different things. I can fire my work seven or eight times sometimes, changing the surface, altering the colors. I just bought a sandblaster. But the kiln has the final word.
“Standing in Michelle Gregor’s studio is an other-worldly experience. Clay figures in various stages of completion, too many to count, perch on makeshift pedestals or half-recline, simultaneously suggesting motion and repose. Their eyes are closed; if open, they seem to be viewing distant places that one can only imagine having visited.”
— Maria Porges, artist and writer, "Avatars and Angels," Essay. Michelle Gregor, 2013
There is a peacefulness about animals that I try to infuse into my figures.
Meet Fred, the leader of the flock, who lives on our farm next to my Petaluma studio.
Learn sculpture from a figurative sculptor who has succeeded artists such as Manuel Neri and Stephen De Staebler
Michelle teaches workshops and lectures on sculpting the human figure in clay domestically and abroad. Courses include live process demonstrations, improvisational exercises and slide presentations.
Experience the studio first hand
Michelle gives studio visits at her San Francisco and Petaluma studios upon request. She accepts inquiries from art dealers interested in representing her, curators seeking to include her in exhibitions or evaluating artists for public commissions, and art collectors who are working with one of her galleries to acquire an artwork.
To request a studio visit, please click the button below to complete the form or email her at info@michellegregor.com.