Hi, I am Hosanna!
I am a descendent of early American settlers from the Anglo-Celtic Isles, living on Kalapuya territory in the foothills of the Coast Range in Western Oregon.
I am an educator, artist, pigment forager, amuture geologist, wild clay potter, and homesteader. I blend bio-regional history and land stewardship into my earth pigment arts practice and place based pottery. These crafts have sparked a passion for clay chemistry and deepened my sense of belonging and responsibility to the land.
I have always been drawn to all things local, ecologically wise, and pre-industrial for meeting my everyday needs. I believe that the land, the animals, and waters have never forgotten what so many of us humans have forgotten. I want to remember, so I am listening to them and practicing the ways of living that help me shed the expectations and objectifications that I learned within a consumer culture.
It is a subversive act in an over industrialized society to cultivate and make the things we need with our hands. It is one way I remain grounded and am fighting for a regenerative future that honors life.
I am not conventionally educated; classroom learning never worked for me. I like learning directly on the land, from the teachers who are living what they teach, and developing my understanding slowly through practice.
While, I have identified as an artist most of my life, to go deeper on this path of paint making and pottery, it was essential for me to begin learning the language of the rocks and soils.
I have spent the last 12 years studying the geology of my home in the Southern Willamette Valley through observation, experimentation, and research. Like any relationship with a person, I am having a dialouge with the land through my creative process.
These conversations are so rich. I am learning how to feel and hear the land through sculpting with their clays, blending, testing and transforming them at different temps. I make offerings and amends, grieving and singing, asking questions and receiving feedback. I watch how iron moves through the strata, how a place heals from disturbance, and sometimes can sense how time might feel from the minerals point of view.
Relationship with our materials restores the continuity that our creative practices crave. When we cultivate, tend, and process our materials from the source, we understand that our crafts are inherently dependent upon the gifts of the living earth.
I feel a resonance with the materials I have gathered. While I am painting with an ochre I remember them in their home, the sounds of their landscape. While shaping wild clay, I smell the iron and bog and remember them in their home. Such beautiful things can be made from the earth right around me!
Below you’ll find more of my musings, specific to the crafts. Enjoy!
