Meet Margaret Josey-parker | Ceramic Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Margaret Josey-parker and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Margaret, what principle do you value most?
It is of the utmost importance to me to be able to create work that I want to make. I started making art because I love creating interesting objects . My work is narrative and primarily inspired by nature and my experiences. I love being able to take off in any direction I please and not have to worry about whether someone else will love it and want to buy it. I am lucky because I live in a duel-income family and I get to teach art. My teaching not only helps feed my family, it also feeds my creative practice. Teaching new techniques, figuring out technical and practical problems and trying to inspire expression in student work all are exercises that fuel my own practice.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
MY work tells a story of a time and a place in my life, reflecting who and where I am, what I am thinking about, how my family, garden and even the events of the world are affecting me. Typically a piece starts with form, a loose vision of what could be. It is through the work, the time with the materials, the hours of touching, tweeking, forming, adding, subtracting, contemplating- this is when the story takes shape. I begin to relate to the piece, to understand where the story originated and what I am trying to express.
I believe that anyone can be an artist if they take to time to get to know their materials, for example learning how to touch clay and understanding it’s strengths and limitations. That, and opening ones self up to expression, are to me, what makes one an artist. Art is communication, a language with which to share one’s self with the word.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I like to spend my free time outdoors so I take my guests to my favorite hikes, often in Rocky Mountain National Park or maybe paddle boarding on Carter Lake.

I love to garden and cook so I would feed them from my garden and encourage them to make art in my home studio. If there was time, perhaps we would take a class together at the new Ground Works Art Labs space in a medium we are less familiar with like printmaking or metal smithing.

We would probably poke around my home town of Hygiene; ride bikes to the Low Rider Gallery, Mountain Fountain or Cafe Fritz.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I had some incredible professors when I was in school. My very first was Jill Brugler who was a graduate student at the time I fumbled into my first clay class at NAU. She was so fun and her class so freeing that it got me hooked on clay.

Don Bendel the clay professor at NAU, would always answer my questions with: “I don’t know, you should try that” when ever I asked if something was possible. I always admired his approach to teaching. He made you feel like anything was possible.

While in graduate school at UofO, Sana Krusoe and George Kokis taught me a more expressive approach to creating. They inspired me to create work that reflects my life.

As a whole, I’ve found the clay artist to be a warm, welcoming and social bunch where one can always find community.

Website: https://Margaretjoseyparkerart.com

Instagram: margaret_joseyparker

Facebook: Margaret josey-parker