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CERAMIC SHADOW BOXES FEATURE MYTHICAL WILDLIFE
By Gladys Blews Wilson
Jun 4, 2007, 13:56

The dictionary defines a shadow box as a shallow enclosing case usually with a glass front in which something is placed for protection and display. Without a doubt, you have a mental picture of a wooden box filled with three-dimensional figures.

Think again. Extend your imagination to the outermost limits and think ceramic; a shadowbox cut out of stone, perhaps in the shape of a paw print that lends realism to a woodland scene.

This is what Vickie Stitt did. She stretched to the limit her background in teaching ceramics and developed an art form that is new to Shaker Woods this year.

“Cutting windows into ceramic shapes for nightlights or into the side of floor- size vases is a tricky business,” the Kittanning, Pennsylvania artist says. “My husband, Ron, has another fulltime job, but he’s the one who has the ceramic cutting timed to perfection.”

Making the unique ceramic scenes requires a three step firing that takes each piece from greenware to the finished artwork. Vickie keeps two kilns running 24/7. After the first firing, she cools everything to what is called the leather stage. At this point, the clay shape may be cut and bent.

“We cast our pieces in January, February and March. The kilns warm the studio and our workspace is always filled with pieces in progress from the cooling stage to things that are ready to cut and shape.

“Then, we clean the winter’s work in spring. While I rub the edges of the cuts smooth, I’m imagining what kind of a picture each shape demands. My schedule is the same as someone going to an office or factory. The difference is walking out my door to the studio that we built on the back of our garage and loving what I do. From my workstation, I can see what’s going on outside a big picture window. Nature inspires me.”

The nightlights are wired into the ceramic frame and she adds a china ink into the final glaze.

A handsome buck seems to be emerging from the bush in one shadow box. Wolves in various stances are her most popular scenes. Native American family scenes and cowboys riding into the sunset are part of the Southwest they portray. A train, a bird, a scene from a myth or ethnic legend appeal to a broad range of tastes.

“The vases are more like floor urns and there is enough space to tell a story in these. I color the clay in a variety of ways. The vases will hold up well in a garden although I think people are more likely to choose my figures for their gardens.”

Iguanas and gargoyles are favorite garden ornaments. Their antique finishes create an illusion of age as if they had been found in an archeologist’s dig. She may set these three dimensional figures into scenic groups. A lizard perches on a log. An eagle prepares to fly. A lion head mounted on a log seems to be the mythical ancestor of a group of less fierce looking cubs that surround it.

For those who enjoy humor, she makes a smiling sun and moon. Cattle skulls might be emerging from a wind swept desert. The smallest ones are inexpensive “take homes” for children who favor tales of the wild west.

“An avocation that became a business when my two children were young is something my husband and I can do together now that we have more time.”

She prices her art works between $5 and $65.

Find Ron and Vickie Stitt in booth 120.


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